Bio
Bio
A little bit about me
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Long time territorian
I have lived in the Northern Territory since 1987. Until 2001 I worked largely in the field of Aboriginal tertiary education. From 2007-April 2019 I was the Manager of the Northern Territory Archives Service Oral History Unit.
I completed my PhD at Darwin’s Charles Darwin University in 2009. My thesis is entitled ‘Contact Zones: Sport and Race in The Northern Territory, 1869–1953’. A revised version of his thesis with the same title was published by Charles Darwin University Press in 2010.
In 2011 I undertook museum studies in the conservation of photographs and photographs in the museum environment.
Currently
I now focus full time on NT History & Memory.
Image: DCRC Soccer Team, NTL, Peter Spillett Collection, ph0238_0485
My research into Northern Territory history continues with a particular interest in oral history and photography and why some stories are ‘often told’ while others are ‘forgotten’. These themes are explored in ‘Colour Bar: Remembering and Forgetting Northern Territory Football 1916 to 1955’ published by the History Society of the Northern Territory in 2015.
Since establishing my history consultancy I have completed commissions for the Northern Territory Government Department of Sport and Recreation, The Northern Territory Stolen Generation Corporation, The AFLNT, football clubs and the Darwin City Council. All were completed on time on and on budget.
- Dr. Matthew Stephen
Background image: Don Pictures, NTAS,Wilson,NTRS 335, Item 387
My CV as follows
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Education
Education
Qualifications
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2010
Doctor of Philosophy
Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory
Faculty of Law, Business and the Arts
My thesis is entitled Contact Zones: Sport and Race in the Northern Territory, 1869–1953.
2000 - 2001
Masters of Public Management
Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia.
Focused on Indigenous decision making processes and project management governance involving Indigenous communities or groups.
1990 - 1994
Masters of Education
Deakin University, Victoria
Participatory action research focused on Adult Education and Health in remote NT Indigenous communities.
1986
Bachelor of Education, Honours (Sports History)
Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia
1981 - 1984
Bachelor of Education, (Physical Education)
Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia.
BACKGROUND IMAGE: Smith Street, c1930. NTAS, Wilson, NTRS 335, Item 306
Publications
Publications
Publications
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Wanderers Football Club Illustrated Centenary History
Published 2018.
A Century of Northern Territory Football
In Celebrating 100 Years of Territory Football. AFLNT, September 2016. Published 2016.
Colour Bar: Remembering and Forgetting Northern Territory Football 1916 to 1955
Darwin: Historical Society of the Northern Territory. Published 2015.
Contact Zones: Sport and Race in the Northern Territory, 1869–1953
Darwin: Charles Darwin University Press. Short listed for the NT Chief Ministers History Book Award, 2011. Published 2010.
Published December 2018
$50 from this website
Published December 2019
$25 from this Website
Australia’s Stolen Generations is a blight on its history. Its impact then and now on those removed from their families and the generations who followed is ongoing and profound. The Cummings Family’s story is case study of how one family has lived with and overcome this traumatic event through keeping family close and reclaiming their culture through their connections to Country. It is a story of love, resilience, and courage.
Published December 2020. Available from NT Stolen Generations Corporation.
This case study focuses on the life of Lance Stott. Lance was removed from his family when his mother died in childbirth in Darwin in 1959. New born baby Lance was taken to the Garden Point Catholic Mission on the north-west coast of Melville Island, approximately 125km north Darwin. In 1969 Lance was put into the care of his own family which, until that time, he did not know existed.
In his own words Lance has 'taken life as it comes.' It has not always been an easy journey. His early life at Garden Point Mission has left a dark lifelong legacy that cannot be forgotten or forgiven. Lance tells his own story convinced that ‘You got to tellem right story'.
Published December 2020. Available from NT Stolen Generations Corporation
Shirley Collins (b. Darwin, 1938) is the daughter of a Stolen Generations mother. Shirley’s remarkable story traces her life from her evacuation from Darwin during World War II to her career as an Indigenous trailblazer in the Northern Territory’s commercial Aboriginal art Industry, 1974-2005.
Shirley’s early life was shaped by the Northern Territory’s World War II history. Evacuated from Darwin with her family just prior to the Bombing of Darwin in February 1942 they did not return until 1948. Growing up in post WWII Darwin was a happy period in Shirley’s life, but tragedy struck in 1953 when her mother died. Her family had to fight the authorities to remain together.
In 1974, in the aftermath of Cyclone Tracy, Ms Dorothy Bennett invited Shirley to manage the Commonwealth owned Arnhemland Aboriginal Art Gallery where they forged a formidable working partnership between 1974 and 1986. In 1986 Shirley established her own Raintree Aboriginal Fine Art Gallery. She poured her heart and soul into the business until 2005.
Despite all the challenges thrown at her during her life Shirley Collins’s place in the history of Aboriginal art in the Northern Territory as a trailblazer and advocate is assured. Her story is integral to the history of Australian Aboriginal art and Australia’s national heritage.
Published December 2021. Available from this website $50 + postage
Published December 2020. Available from this website $30.00 + postage.
