Practical work in a workshop at Canberra High School, Acton, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory

Abstract

Photograph of two high school students working at a bench in a technical drawing classroom. There are drawing boards, set squares and similar tools on the benchtop and folders in a shelf underneath. Both boys wear long trousers and the nearest has a short, back and sides haircut. A glass-fronted cupboard holds geometric forms and measuring equipment and on the wall is a poster about the parabola. In the background are more shapes and two empty painting stretchers. Canberra High School, designed by Charles Whitley, opened in 1939 and was regarded as one of the most modern high schools in Australia. Over 300 students attended at the time the picture was taken. In the 1960s the school vacated the Acton site and occupied a new building in Macquarie. Over a number of years the old premises came to be used as an art school. In 1992 the Canberra Institute of the Arts, as it was now called, amalgamated with the Australian National University.This photograph is from an album that was held at the London office of the ANU over the period 1949 to 1952. The album was used to inform prospective staff about Canberra. These images are part of the series produced by the Department of Information and kept at the National Archives of Australia in Canberra. National Archives holdings in this series have gaps and some images may be held only at the ANU Archives.