Victorian School Archives SIG talk given by Mrs Ann Neil, President of the PLC OCA March 2013
PLC Alumni and Archives
Notes of a talk given by Mrs Anne Neil (Hare 1963) President of the PLC OCA,
to ASA Victorian School Archives SIG at the Term 2 Network Meeting, Presbyterian Ladies College in 2013
Presbyterian Ladies' College Old Collegians' Association has been part of Melbourne since 1903. It’s one of the oldest alumni associations in Australia; this year is our 110th. It was founded when Nellie Melba, the first of the international musical celebrity superstars, returned to Melbourne in 1902, and was met by her old school friends from PLC, who then decided to meet regularly, and formed the PLC OCA. Dame Nellie herself was President in 1907 and 1918. (So much for the apocryphal story told when I was at school that she had been expelled for throwing a chamber pot over a maid- you see the importance of Archives?)
We now have 12,000 members, aged from 17 to 105. We have 5 Branches in regional Victoria, and 6 Branches interstate, with another 8 Branches overseas: Canada, Dubai, Edinburgh, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, London and Singapore.
The brand of a school, what sets it apart, is very much in its history (that’s you) and its alumni (that’s us). Why the School is the way it is, why the School achieves what it does. Archives create and sustain that narrative, and the alumni connections flourish as a result.
Our School, Presbyterian Ladies’ College, was established in 1875, by the Presbyterian Church. It was to be a girls’ school that didn’t just teach dancing, needlework and sketching, but taught Greek, Latin, Maths, Physics, and Chemistry.
(To put this in context, my mother went to a highly regarded Sydney girls’ school in the 1930’s, where Physics and Chemistry were not taught because they were too difficult for girls. My mother went on to do Medicine, having done well in the pre-requisite subject for Medicine, which was Latin. However, she struggled with University level Chemistry, never having been able to do the subject before.)
So PLC in the 1870s was unique in its time. Why was it established? It didn’t come out of nowhere. The School was the result of the core beliefs and values of its Presbyterian founders.
These were firstly, that, as it says in Genesis, “God made man in his own image, male and female created He them.” Women, as well as men, were quite specifically created in the image of God.
Secondly, that the purpose of both male and female, as expressed in the Presbyterian catechism, is to “glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”
This thinking therefore encouraged 3 things in practice:
- Literacy, so that you can read the Bible to know about God, and are able to "glorify Him".
- Study of language (particularly the languages of the Bible- Hebrew, Greek and Latin.)
- Study of the world around us, because God is known through knowing about His Creation, so therefore study of
Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Astronomy, Biology, and Botany.
If we don’t understand the way they thought, then we don’t understand why these founders did what they
did…and we can impose a retrospective 21st century way of thinking on them which is not the way it was.
The results were revolutionary.
PLC was the only girls’ school in Melbourne that offered the required academic subjects such as Latin, Greek, Maths
and Physics, to “matriculate” or pass the University entrance exam. The only alternative was a private tutor.
Girls had been allowed to sit the matriculation exam only 4 years before, in 1871, but not enter University. (This was
before women could vote, remember.)
The girls did so well in the matriculation exam that there was then a lot of pressure to admit them.
It took Acts of Parliament in 1879 to allow women in to the University of Melbourne.
The Act of Parliament allowing women to study law was popularly called the "Flos Greig Bill", after the girl from PLC
who would not give up her dream. Girls going on to do law are enriched by knowing this heritage.
As are Old Collegians involved in politics, such as the Federal member for Higgins, Kelly O'Dwyer, whom you will have
seen on “Q and A.” She has a heritage in Old Collegian Vida Goldstein, who spoke and wrote in support of women’s
suffrage. Once women were given the vote at the first Federal Parliament in 1902, Vida then promptly stood as
candidate for the Senate. She didn't get in, but she polled very well for a woman Independent, and was the first
women to stand for Parliament not only in Australia but the whole of the British Empire.
Her 2 passions were votes for women and Temperance from alcohol- "to give the vote to every woman, and to take
the flowing bowl from every man." (This may explain why she ran for election 5 times but never got in.)
She was however renowned for her wit. One time at a political meeting a man called out, "Don't you wish you were a
man?' to which she replied, "Don't you wish you were?" She also campaigned for equal pay for teachers (not realize
until the 1970s) and better care for the disabled- a debate still current today.
The Dame Phyllis Frost Remand Centre is a result of an Old Collegian’s care for women on trial and in prison. Another
Old Collegian, Salvation Army Officer Nikki Capp, is today working to prevent the trafficking of women in the sex
industry in Melbourne.
The Heritage Centre has developed valuable curriculum materials appropriate to every year level from Prep to year
12. In this way, the traditions of the School are made known to the students of the 21st century; so that current
students know they are part of an ongoing stream, not just individuals, not just part of the alumni year of 2013.
Members of PLC OCA also work as volunteers in the Heritage Centre.
The alumni are thus encouraged to become part of the ongoing narrative of the School.
We also use the Heritage Centre space in various practical ways. We have had our AGM there, and we hold Coffee,
Cake and Conversation afternoons there with various speakers, such as Sue Thompson from Lilydale Historical
Society speaking on Melba, in conjunction with a fabulous Melba Exhibition.
Heritage Centre Manager Janet Davies and Archivist Jane Dyer spoke to the Old Collegians’ Christmas Luncheon on
Nellie Melba memorabilia in the PLC Archive, providing us with placemats for the Luncheon. The placemats consisted
of a laminated A4 page of photographs of the items they were talking about, such as Melba’s swan’s-down fan.
ASA School SIG (Vic) Talk given by Mrs Ann Neil, President of the PLC OCA
Guests kept the placemat as a souvenir, and were invited afterwards to the Heritage Centre to see the Melba Exhibition.
Also, Old Collegians always feel welcome to drop in at the Centre, particularly for cake at morning tea on Tuesdays, which is volunteers’ day!
Anne Neil, President, Presbyterian Ladies’ College Old Collegians’ Association.
March 2013
Addenda:
The objectives of the PLC OCA are pretty much the same today as in 1903.
Firstly, to maintain connections between Old Collegians through re-unions, social activities, interest groups and mentoring, and a web site. This includes Branches of our Association throughout Victoria, interstate and overseas, because we are an international boarding school, with alumni all over the world.
Secondly, we fund scholarships through fundraising and managing our assets sensibly.
Thirdly, we support recording of the history of the school through the PLC Archive Centre.
Fourthly, we have input into the selection of some of the members of the School Council.
Fifthly, we work with groups such as the National Council of Women for the benefit of all women in our community.
Comments
What a beautifully written tribute to the rich heritage of the school and the dynamic potential it has fostered.