BORDER students have discovered compelling histories in their own backyards.
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Albury-Wodonga La Trobe third year history students Sidney Mason explored the media coverage of The Pyjama Girl murder case in Albury while John Miller discovered a history of interstate rivalry behind Albury Railway Station.
Bendigo student Melissa Morona focused on the history of patient experience in Mayday Hills Lunatic Asylum at Beechworth.
Ms Mason said Australians were intrigued by the 1934 Pyjama Girl murder mystery.
“Despite the ultimate identification of the Pyjama Girl as Linda Agostini, and the conviction of her husband Antonio Agostini, there is still a fair amount of scholarship which doubts this conclusion,” she said.
“It has all the necessary elements for a compelling narrative. It has mystery and it also has the element of scandal – why was she wearing silk pyjamas? She must have come from good money, given that her body was found during the Depression. Was she a prostitute?
“The story is really akin to crime fiction, and it takes place in our own Australian country town.”
John Miller’s grandfather was a history teacher with a keen interest in rail.
“His enthusiasm rubbed off on me and I enjoyed sharing conversations with him on the topic and bouncing ideas off him,” he said.
“I was always particularly intrigued by the issue of the disunity of gauges in Australia, and wanted to know exactly why the different states (specifically Victoria and NSW) couldn’t seem to co-operate.
“This issue is one thing that surprised me, as I learned how it wasn’t just a silly lack of foresight that caused the mess of different gauges, but that the issue was understood before the first tracks in Australia were laid, as there had been a similar problem in Great Britain.”
Senior Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Studies at Albury Wodonga campus Dr Jennifer Jones said the major research projects enabled students to discover something about their region.
“It is exciting that students at La Trobe’s Albury Wodonga campus are gaining new understandings of the past and communicating these histories in contemporary multimedia forms,” she said.
“The public history projects reflect La Trobe University’s commitment to community engagement and to empower graduates to make a difference in the world.”