ABSTRACT

This chapter examines the use of international collaboration to explore shared local histories within a global framework. In Australia, over the past decade, there have been determined efforts to document and amplify this previously silent history before ageing migrants pass on. The Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM) supported Melbourne's Immigration Museum to create a small display, Stolen Childhoods, which focused on the experiences of child migrants in the states of Victoria and Tasmania. The Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM) collaborated with Merseyside Maritime Museum (MMM) at National Museums Liverpool (NML) to develop a travelling exhibition about British child migration schemes. Former child migrants have published their memoirs and taken part in oral history projects, and a number of memorials acknowledging child migrants have been unveiled across the country. The colloquium provides a forum for academics, researchers, policy makers, curators, historians, authors, artists and former child migrants to participate in a multidisciplinary, transnational dialogue about the legacy of British child migration.