Frank Wright was a renown resident of Smeaton, where he was born on 2 August 1901. He lived at Laura Villa, and attended Smeaton State School. His father William was a gold miner and his mother's name was Sarah. Their family won many singing and instrumental awards. Frank was tutored by Percy Code and was awarded a gold medal for the highest marks in the ALCM examinations in the British Colonies at the age of seventeen years. He became the Australian Open Cornet Champion by the age of eighteen. A year later, Frank conducted the City of Ballarat Band, and later the Ballarat Soldiers’ Memorial Band. He formed the Frank Wright Frisco Band and Frank Wright and his Coliseum Orchestra. These bands won many South Street awards, and Frank as conductor won many awards in the Australian Band Championship contest. In 1933 Frank Wright sailed to England to conduct the famous St Hilda’s Band and was later appointed Musical Director of the London County Council, where he organized many amazing concerts in parks, in and around the London district. He was made Professor of Brass and Military Band Scoring and conducted at the Guildhall of Music and Drama. Frank was often invited to adjudicate Brass Band Championships around Europe, in Australia, including South Street and in New Zealand. The Frank Wright Medal at the Royal South Street competition is awarded to an individual recognized as making an outstanding contribution to brass music in Australia.Black and white foolscap pages of a typed script for the radio show 'In Town Tonight'. The personalities interviewed by John Ellison included Frank Wright and the L.C.C. Band, Burl Ives and Audrey Hepburn.Written in pencil on front - Frank Wright % Playhouse Theatrefrank wright, in town tonight, john ellison, brass bands, london county council band, burl ives, audrey hepburn

Various movies made by the RVIB and transferred on to digital media. These were created for raising awareness of the RVIB and to appeal for donations from the general public. Most are assumed to be from the 1940s. 1. Brief image of children at RVIB. Various girls knitting in the grounds of St Kilda road, with a quick cutaway to two babies in prams. In the middle of the girls is a globe with a rainbow style surround that reads "The sun will never set on our Empire / Because we have the will to win!" The Australia flag and Union Jack flutter above the words and in the middle is the AIF rising sun badge. There is a brief shot of uniformed girls holding up a rug. 2. Two men stand beside a Clarke and Smith talking book player. One man guides the other to the cartridge and to open the cartridge mailing container. 3. "The work and play of the babies and children give our supporters never ending interest and enthusiasm!" A boy weaving cane on to a timber frame, a girl reads her piano music as she plays, whilst another writes in Braille. 4. "This girl is studying for her leaving Certificate to enter the University for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts!" Phyllis Lawson at a typewriter, a classroom of students and a girl reading a book. 5. "Arithmetic and algebra sums are worked out by steel pins placed in octagonal holes." Students using a Taylor's Slate. 6. "Born into a world of darkness. They depend upon for the LIGHT! Through education, training, recreation." A teacher helps a girl read a raised map, a boy finds the South American landmass on the globe, and a boy feels his way around a toy galleon. 7. "You can quite understand why the School Inspector said the manual training and work of our pupils would do credit to a normal School!" A boy adjusts the rear wheels of a wooden model biplane and spins the propeller when done. 8. "Little fingers which are frequently stiff and clumsy through lack of training are guided into confidence and self help." Various children are shown weaving canework baskets or stringing beads, and a younger child creates plasticine models. 9. "Out of the Shadows of ignorance into the Sunshine" of Happy, useful Citizenship. With your help!" Two children make a bed in a dormitory, a girl brushes her teeth and washes and dries her hands in a dormitory bathroom, children eat with napkins tucked under their chins at tables covered in cloth and with flower centrepieces in a dining room, and girls in various costumes dance in the garden. 10. "They afford an object lesson on how to tackle and vanquish misfortune!" Four children row an adult on Albert Park Lake, children play on a swing carousel next to a building on which is painted 'Blind Babies Nursery', a boy winds up a train and places in on the track, and two children play with blocks. 11. "And now we come to our blind toddlers! Our Nursery School is the only one in the Southern Hemisphere!" Children play with dolls, a playhouse and a rocker swing. 12. "Only for your support their lives might have been pitiful tragedies!" Children cuddle or play with soft toys, rocker swing and playhouse whilst a younger child sits in a chair. 13. "All that sight means stimulates our minds to express the sympathy of our heart to them." Three girls sing their dolls to sleep as they cradle and rock them. 14. Outside of St Kilda Road building from various views. 15. "Our hostels for young blind." Raleigh Street hostel. 16. "The Lighthouse is the symbol of the Institute's activities. It spreads light through education and training into the lives of all eligible blind babies, children and adults of Victoria! A peep into our factories!" View of factory building, workers making millet brooms, weaving mats and basket weaving. 17. "Although our income totals 40,000 pounds annually the hand made articles of our sightless workers have to be sold at a heavy loss to compete with machine made goods! This loss, and the 10,000 pounds given annually in compassionate allowances to the adult blind to help them to support their wives and families can only be maintained by donations from Citizens!" Various workers making a range of brooms in the factory. 18. "All our blind adults live in their own homes. They receive 36,000 pounds annually, including nearly 10,000 pounds in compassionate allowances! We can NEVER THEREFORE BE SELF SUPPORTING." The range of goods produced by RVIB (baskets, mats, brooms and brushes) is shown hanging from the swing carousel in the children's playground. "Our blind workers can support their wives and families by constant employment only if Citizens ask Storekeepers for "BLIND INSTITUTE" goods. 19. A man adjusts the dampeners on a piano. "Please engage our expert blind piano tuners and repairers. They attend to more than 1000 pianos and pianolas every year!" A man puts in a row of dampeners and then tunes the piano. 20. "Our gymnasium, social, dancing, cricket and other forms of recreation give the sightless endless pleasure!" Male on a stationary bike, using a skipping rope, weightlifting and Greco-Roman wrestling in the gym, men playing cricket, people playing cards, a tile game, dominoes, checkers and a pinball game. 21. A girl using a wireless set. "For many years now we have given and maintained FREE wireless sets to all needy applicants throughout Victoria!" Girl puts on headphones and adjusts the dials. 22. " "TALKING BOOKS" have now been invented for the education and entertainment of the sightless. Literature of all kinds is thereby read to them by means of special records." A boy puts on headphones to listening to a recording. 23. Couples dance as the RVIB Orchestra plays on stage. Plates of cakes are passed around a table amongst tired dancers. The camera pans across the four piece orchestra (piano, saxophone, drummer and double bass). 24. "To lighten their darkness is a work of mercy! Please help us to give them The courage of usefulness, The privilege of work, The happiness of comradeship". 25. Various people at a meeting, one with a dog guide at his feet and some with dark glasses. Three men stand near a Clarke & Smith cartridge player talking. Two of them appeared earlier. 26. Women working in a room. A man gives dictation to a women, who is using possibly a Stainsby-Wayne embossed shorthand typewriter, a telephone operator connects calls, a man takes notes on a Stainsby-Wayne crab writer, a room full of people working, a metal device moves between two springs and two men work with timber. 27. RVIB sign, outside front of RVIB building and a group of adults sit on benches under the giant central trees, children have running races, children cheer and one receives a ribbon for her sash that is over her school uniform, a woman writes down the results, a man uses a device, various shots of children, games such as ball tossing, winding up string race, younger children have a running race holding hands with nursing staff. 28. "Melbourne, Blind Childrens' Annual Sports". Outside of RVIB building and sign, children compete in a variety of games as adults watch on. 29. "Melbourne, Swimming Under Handicap". Children walking along a street, past a Holden, to enter the City Baths. Inside they swim, learn to swim, jump and dive into the pool under the watchful gaze of a group of women. This portion of the film then is repeated in segments.1 colour video recordings with no soundroyal victorian institute for the blind, phyllis gration, rvib nursery, rvib school, rvib orchestra, braille equipment, braille music, recreation, fundraising, education, employment, buildings, raleigh street hostel, audio books

Collection of newspaper articles related to Ballarat School Of Mines.They cover activities and advertisements for staff. The papers concerned are The Courier, Ballarat, The Australian, The Age ad other region papers over the period of 13 May 1995 to 30 June 1995.Book with yellow cover, front, spiral bound. teaching positions advertised, pre-employment courses, courses available, enrolment for smb courses, smb recognises achievements, sharon boyd, anne-marie vance, julie hayter, ellimatta exhibition, b&w photo exhibition of aboriginal community since 1850s, music theatre institute plan, vacant sacred heart site, ub new engineering course launched, dennis else, budding builders, folio workshop, courses take mystery out of computers, ararat tafe funding, workskill awards, melissa cameron, clinton miller, stephen flood, aaron mercer, dan daly, luke stevens, focus on tafe colleges, disabled out to improve services, smb and box hill co-operate, smb helps neighbourhood house, geoff mainwarring, painting a picture of the war, v-p day, playhouse-disabled children program, rockie morris awards, farewell to ararat technical school, ruth zegir master builders association apprentice of the year, ballarat university open day, new craftsmen recognised, associate diploma of ceramics, smb development starts, paul hutchison graduates, exhibition opens at ararat art gallery, motor mechanis top of their classes, cade smart, jason chetcuti