Historical information

James McConnachie worked in the Emerald Co-Op from 1981 until his retirement in 2012. In that time he served as the Secretary Manager, General Manager and Managing Director. Founded in 1945, the Emerald and District Co-Operative Society was established in the wake of the Second World War when a shortage of stock feed created a desperate situation for local farmers.
The co-operative movement is a workers movement that grew out of industrial Britain when underpaid working people banded together to buy goods at wholesale prices (Jenkinson, 2005).

Significance

This photograph is historically and socially significant because it depicts a long-serving member of the Emerald Co-Operative. Since its establishment in 1945, the Co-Op has become an integral part of the community. It is an active supporter of local sporting clubs, schools and groups. Sponsorships have included the football club, the primary and secondary schools, and the Emerald RSL. The co-op movement is an historically significant movement that has ties with the broader social and labour movements of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Physical description

Black and white rectangular photograph. The photo is of James McConnachie, manager of the Emerald Co-Op. He is wearing a plaid shirt and has a pen tucked into his right ear.