In 2017 Curtin University celebrated 50 years of innovation since the commencement of classes at the West Australian Institute of Technology Bentley campus in 1967, which later became the Curtin University of Technology. Since the inception of the institute the University Library has been acquiring not only books, but many ‘objects’ which are part of the library history. Most of these are housed within the Special Collections storage located in the John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library, very safe and secure, but out of sight.

Beginning in January 2017, the 50 Objects for 50 Years project features fifty significant items drawn from the Library Special Collections, with a few special items that are part of the library, but won’t be found on the catalogue. It has been curated by the Library Archivist Sally Laming, with support from colleagues Sara Culverhouse and Debbie Williamson, and with photographs by Aleisha Davidson. This online exhibition was first inspired by the work of Alison Cullingford at University of Bradford Special Collections, 100 Objects Bradford and also by the British Library Untold Lives

What began as a project to highlight some of the untold and less well known stories in our collections turned into a discovery journey for us as we unearthed some of the hidden gems in the Special Collections.

We hope you enjoy discovering our 50 objects as much as we have enjoyed bringing them to you.