Senior Researcher

Cate Elkner

Cate Elkner joined the Cultural Heritage Unit as a Senior Researcher in 2006. Her PhD (2003), an industry partnership between the University of Melbourne and the Italian Historical Society, Co.As.It., explored the contemporary intersections between archives, history, identity and memory.
In the past, she worked for Public Record Office Victoria (PROV), most recently in its Koorie Records Unit. Within the Department of History, Cate has tutored in Australian history and contributed to the Applications in Public History subject.
Cate has a special interest in archives, particularly using technology to make archival collections more accessible. She is currently working on the eGold project, developing content, as well as working with Austehc (the Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre) and utilising the Online Heritage Resource Manager (OHRM) software. Another project due to start soon involves the digitisation of an 1862 map of Victoria held by PROV with a view to producing an online interactive map using the TimeMap software.
Other research interests include child welfare, migration, Indigenous history, and urban history. She is currently working with Associate Professor Shurlee Swain on a pamphlet history of the Tally Ho Boys' Home.

Recent Publications
'The Internment of Italian-Australians: a perspective from Melbourne, Victoria', in Enemy Aliens: the internment of Italian Migrants in Australia during the Second World War, (Bacchus Marsh: Connor Court, 2005).
'Remembering Migration through Personal Papers: the Lena Santospirito Collection', Spunti e Ricerche, vol 17, 2002.