Photographic history archived at USQ

Some of the Garden City’s most historically significant archives dating back to 1861 have found a new, secure home at USQ.

Scores of microfilm rolls, more than 1.5 million photographic negatives, 90 scrapbooks and books of records involved in the publication of some 37,000 editions of The Chronicle and Queensland Advertiser were recently relocated from The Chronicle in Ruthven Street to USQ Media Services in Toowoomba.

This relocation was made for reasons of security and posterity through a co-operative agreement between USQ and The Chronicle, with USQ Senior Photographer Lisa Mattiazzi and The Chronicle's Chief Photographer Bev Lacey playing a pivotal role in the process.

USQ Corporate Records manager Derek Turner said the arrangement would ensure the preservation of a significant and valuable community asset as an integral part of the USQ Historical Archives.

'It also provides accessibility as a research library for the benefit of Toowoomba and Darling Downs communities and the wider community,' Mr Turner said.

Members of the public, including those researching family histories and historical books, and the USQ community, can continue to access copies of images contained in the Collection by contacting the Toowoomba Chronicle.

The collection not only represents a comprehensive pictorial coverage of daily events of Toowoomba and the Darling Downs region from 1953 to 1992, but also includes every edition of the Toowoomba Chronicle newspaper and the former Darling Downs Gazette from 1861 to 2009 held on microfilm rolls, as well as an outstanding scrapbook collection containing Chronicle newspaper clippings (photographs) from the 1950s onwards.

The negatives collection includes work from the nationally renowned Fred Crook-King, whose work is amongst the “150 Years of Photography in Queensland” recently exhibited at the Queensland Art Gallery.

The geographical coverage of the photographs (negatives) includes the whole of the south-east and south-west Queensland regions.

The collection’s new home at USQ has been custom-built to ensure its preservation and security.

'A dedicated environmentally controlled space within USQ Media Services has been allocated to house an estimated 1,500,000 plus negatives, in addition to, several hundred rolls of microfilm in purpose built cabinets,' Mr Turner said.

'An extensive card referencing system developed over many years by Chronicle staff enables easy identification of subject matter for retrieval purposes. Despite some of the earlier negatives showing early signs of deterioration the Collection, generally, is in very good condition.'

Planning and resourcing of future conservation and preservation initiatives undertaken by the USQ Historical Archives will include specialist collections such as the Toowoomba Chronicle Archives.