Vignette 130: A record of our beginnings

Our very beginnings are captured in this collection of minutes, correspondence, reference files, registers and indexes, made and maintained 1872–1924 by the University’s Registrar. Together, these documents preserve the vision that early settlers had for higher education. Within Australia’s first free settler colony, progressive political reform and religious freedom thrived; the University arose from that kind of forward thinking and has continued to inspire it.

What makes this collection special, compared with similar collections of other Australian institutions, is that it is complete and comprehensive. It is significant as a record of the University’s history, but it is also an invaluable record of the colony’s history.

The collection is inscribed on the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Register.

The University of Adelaide: 150 Years of Making History.  Preserving a legacy.  p.177