{"id":6754,"date":"2026-07-14T05:29:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T05:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/library\/?p=6754"},"modified":"2026-07-14T05:29:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T05:29:01","slug":"jcpml-2026-exhibition-john-curtin-a-life-with-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/library\/jcpml-2026-exhibition-john-curtin-a-life-with-books\/","title":{"rendered":"JCPML 2026 exhibition &#8211; John Curtin: A Life with Books"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Our current John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library exhibition features books once owned by John Curtin (1885-1945) and his family. In it, you\u2019ll find glimpses of intriguing history, colourful covers from a century ago, and revealing inscriptions.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"565\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1.-John-Curtin-LWB.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6757\" style=\"width:auto;height:600px\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Books were central to John Curtin\u2019s life. After leaving school at thirteen, he continued his education by reading books on social problems, politics and history as well as novels and poetry. &nbsp;In 1917, he moved to Perth to become editor of the <em>Westralian Worker<\/em> and married his fianc\u00e9e, Elsie Needham, who shared his love of reading. The family library had pride of place in the lounge room of their Cottesloe house. Curtin\u2019s reading journey continued as his political career took him from member for Fremantle in 1928 to prime minister in 1941. His family library offers a window into his intellectual world and his formation over a lifetime, in preparation for his ultimate role as Australia\u2019s wartime leader. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The exhibition showcases a wide range of books from the family library, including poetry, pamphlets, history, novels and practical books on editing a newspaper. Many of the books were gifts and the inscriptions and associations with friends, family, and public figures add an extra layer of significance. The exhibition also features the family scrapbooks with newspaper cuttings relating to the Curtins\u2019 reading habits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can view the exhibition at any time until the end of the year on Level 3 of the TL Robertson Library or online <a href=\"https:\/\/curtin.primo.exlibrisgroup.com\/discovery\/collectionDiscovery?vid=61CUR_INST%3ACUR_SPECIAL_COLLECTIONS&amp;collectionId=81285303140001951&amp;lang=en\">here<\/a>. In celebration of John Curtin\u2019s love of reading, the exhibition offers a free book to visitors for a limited time. <em>Friendship is a Sheltering Tree: John Curtin\u2019s letters 1907 to 1945<\/em>, edited by David Black and published by JCPML, presents the personal side of John Curtin through the letters he wrote to his wife, friends, family and colleagues.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"544\" src=\"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5.-JCPML00453_270aab-dedication-page-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6760\" style=\"object-fit:cover\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5.-JCPML00453_270aab-dedication-page-1.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5.-JCPML00453_270aab-dedication-page-1-768x522.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photograph: An inscription from a copy of Alfred Tennyson\u2019s poems, John Curtin\u2019s first gift to his future wife, Elsie. \u2018J. Curtin \u201cWho would know the truth and point the way\u201d Hobart 1912\u2019. JCPML00453\/270.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Written by Nathan Hobby, Special Collections Librarian\/Archivist<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our current John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library exhibition features books once owned by John Curtin [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":6756,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wds_primary_category":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,4],"tags":[73,56,39,46,48],"class_list":["post-6754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-library","tag-73","tag-curtin-library","tag-exhibition","tag-jcpml","tag-john-curtin"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6754"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6754\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6773,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6754\/revisions\/6773"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}