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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nJohn Curtin gained some office space in the 1930s when the family extended the lounge room by filling in the verandah. We placed a typewriter in this spot, along with a replica of the letter he typed one Sunday evening in 1935 to Professor Robert Cameron, whom he had just finished listening to on the radio. Curtin wrote, \u2018\u2018the University \u2026 has its barnacles, true, but it also has its men of rare courage and rich insight who go on doing what they believe is right in scorn of consequence. And the Perth University is foremost in this, I do most firmly believe.” On 28 January 1942, seven years later, Curtin made a radio broadcast as prime minister from the same room at a critical moment in the Battle for Australia. The Westralian Worker<\/a> <\/em>reported, “Mr. Curtin recalled that in the room from which he was speaking he had written many articles and prepared many speeches calling upon the workers to stand together. He now asked them to stand together with all their fellow Australians against a foe that thunders at the doors of their homes and seeks forcibly to enter as a ruler.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The tour also highlighted Elsie Curtin\u2019s steadying influence in Curtin\u2019s life, managing the household, fielding phone calls and visitors, taking a leading role in Labor women\u2019s groups, and becoming the face of austerity campaigns during the war. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When tour groups reached the dining room, they were shown three of the John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library\u2019s collection treasures – a silver cigarette box presented to John Curtin by his colleagues at the Westralian Worker <\/em>when he was first elected to parliament in 1928; Elsie\u2019s score of Handel\u2019s Messiah, <\/em>with the dates of her choral performances through the 1910s and 1920s in Tasmania, South Africa, and Perth; and one of Curtin\u2019s cutthroat razors. We also had original issues of the broadsheet West Australian <\/em>from 1941 and 1942 for participants to browse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One participant commented, \u201cIt makes the history come alive when you can immerse yourself in the very place where history was made.\u201d Another told us, \u201cWhat a lovely, gentle, thoughtful exploration of Curtin’s home and home life. I’d definitely go again!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n We are grateful to the National Trust of Western Australia for giving us the opportunity and plan to offer further tours in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you would like to be notified about John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library (JCPML) and Special Collections events, sign up for the JCPML mailing list<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Written by Nathan Hobby, Special Collections Librarian\/Archivist<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/IMG_2783-1000x500.jpg\")
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