Fellowship: Experiences of Polio in 1950s Australia
at Theatre, National Library of Australia
Thursday, 18 June 2026 from 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM (AUS Eastern Standard Time) + Add to calendar18/06/2026 12:3018/06/2026 13:30Australia/SydneyFellowship: Experiences of Polio in 1950s AustraliaFellowship: Experiences of Polio in 1950s Australia
Thursday, 18 June 2026 from 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM (AUS Eastern Standard Time)
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Professor Catharine Coleborne presents her recent Fellowship research, focusing on her discoveries about the health and illness experiences of poliomyelitis (polio) in regional Australia across the 20th century.
Poliomyelitis (polio) has largely been hidden from national historical narratives of post-war Australia. Professor Catharine Coleborne has closely examined the Library’s collections, particularly interviews from the Social history of Polio oral history project. These testimonials share details about treatment and care, family interactions with medical professionals in regional settings and evolving understandings of the illness. Focusing on the period 1950 to 1970, it reflects the most significant polio outbreaks and their aftermath.
Professor Coleborne is a 2025 National Library of Australia Fellow, supported in memory of Professor Ivor Jones.
About Professor Catharine Coleborne
Professor Catharine Coleborne is Professor of History in the School of Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Sciences at the University of Newcastle. An Australian academic historian, she specialises in the study of illness, health and medicine, with a particular focus in mental illness and institutional settings.
Professor Coleborne’s career contributions include a focus on patients, narratives and storytelling. This includes using oral histories and the changing understandings of health and illness over time. She has published numerous books, chapters and journal articles, with her work receiving international recognition. Her most recent book is Vagrant Lives in Colonial Australasia: Regulating Mobility, 1840-1910.
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National Library of Australia
0262621111