Nooks and Crannies: Stories of South Australia

In Nooks and Crannies, the History Council of South Australia showcases its wares.

Celebrating the History Council's 20th anniversary is this eclectic collection of short essays by its varied membership. Experienced and emerging historians from various fields of academia and institutions cast new light on stories of inventions, migration, industry, heritage, museums and associations, both new and old, Indigenous and settler.

Featured are both the well known and the previously untold or unnoticed narratives of South Australians whose contributions to the state have been significant. The Both brothers from Caltowie saved numerous lives by inventing a cheap and efficient iron lung during a poliomyelitis outbreak, and improving the electrocardiograph and humidicrib. In Mile End, in 1942, a high-ranking American army officer commandeered a small Mile End factory, transforming it into an operation producing more than 100,000 cans of rabbit to help feed American military forces.

Three discussions, histories-within-history, reveal the origins of the Council, which arose from activist concern during the 1990s for the return of history in school curricula and developed into the non-government representative body it is today.

As a collection, Nooks and Crannies traverses widely through the past to reveal hints for South Australia's possible futures.