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30 June 2009
29 October 2009
BLAINEY TO GIVE FOUNDATION DAY ADDRESS
Parramatta City Council is proud to present distinguished historian Professor Geoffrey
Blainey at the inaugural Annual Foundation Day Address.
Appearing at Riverside Theatres this Sunday 1 November, the controversial historian will
deliver a lecture entitled Parramatta: the River Story, which will examine the central role of
Parramatta in the history and development of the nation and discuss its ongoing importance
as a symbol for Australian identity.
Foundation Day celebrates the day on 2 November 1788 when Governor Arthur Phillip
travelled up the Parramatta River and ordered a settlement be made at the place where tidal
water became fresh water.
Initially named Rosehill, the area became Parramatta in 1791, and was declared a City in
1938. It is now a $14 billion economy and the capital of western Sydney - the fastest growing
region in Australia.
The eminent and often provocative historian has been one of the key thinkers engaged in
the so-called ‘history wars’. He devised the terms ‘Three Cheers view’ and the ‘Black
Armband view’ of Australian history. In a long and distinguished career, he has been an
influential advocate of dominant conservatism and was awarded the Centenary Medal in
2001.
Professor Blainey has continued as a prolific historian and he makes his living from the sales
of his many books, which include the study of settlement The Tyranny of Distance, The
Causes of War, A Short History of the Twentieth Century and Triumph of the Nomads.
He was made a Companion of the Order of Australia in the year 2000. In 2005, a Chair in
History was named in his honour at Melbourne University and in 2007 he was made a
Doctor of Laws. He is also listed as one of the Australian Living Treasures.
Be sure to attend this free public lecture to hear one of the nation’s great thinkers present
the ‘Blue and Gold armband’ view of history.
What:
Annual Foundation Day Address
Where:
Riverside Theatre
When:
Sunday 1 November, 2009 at 6pm
Cost:
Free - Bookings 8839 3399
For further media information:
Parramatta City Council Communications and Marketing Unit
Tel: 9806 5070 Mob: 0414 190 221 Email: media@parracity.nsw.gov.au
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