Stockton School of Arts / Literary Institute 1936 Catalogue and 1954 Membership Register

Our digitisation program continues at a great pace!! This week we were able to digitise the entire collection of the School of Arts / Literary Institute. This includes a number of catalogues (containing over 4000 books), membership registers, financial information, building plans, and various ephemera related to the organisations.

The Stockton Literary Institute was an extremely important local institution that was part of the wider School of Arts/Literary Institute movement. It was a focal point for many community activities as it provided a meeting space for many different community groups - including the local municipal council before their dedicated chambers were built. 

Its collection helped to form the basis for the Stockton Branch Library when its collection was absorbed into the Newcastle Council Collection in the late 1960's. Below is a page from the 1936 catalogue. Can you spot the famous author?

CHART Grant Success - New Banners

 In early 2022 members of the Stockton Historical Society Inc submitted a grant application to the Culture, Heritage and Arts Regional Tourism (CHART) Program. The submission included items to conserve and protect original material in the custodianship of the society, cleaning materials and items such as banners to promote the history of Stockton. Below is an image of two of the banners produced using the money from the grant. The first is a general banner about the Society and what we do. The second banner highlights some of the Industrial history of Stockton, including shipbuilding, saw mills, the Tweed Factory and the many other industries that were undertaken on Stockton over the years. 

We will be developing a number of other banners on different themes such as schools, sport, community groups and other topics of interest. These will then be produced as funds become available. These will then be available as a pop up exhibition for any groups that wish to utilise them. 

Digitisation of Newcastle District Baseball Association 1934-1937 and Stockton Baseball Club 1949-1961 Records

The Stockton Historical Society Inc has begun an intensive digitization program of records related to Stockton. We are starting with records held at the Local Studies Section of Newcastle Council library. The first records to be digitised relate to baseball in Newcastle. The records for the whole Newcastle competition range for 1934 to 1937. This record contains 142 pages listing teams, team uniform colours, game results, competition and trophy results and team membership lists.