Carnegie Cultural Philanthropy and the 1933 Australian Museums Inquiry

Abstract

In the 1930s, the Carnegie Corporation of New York (CCNY) sponsored a series of inquiries into museum provision in countries of the British Empire. This article examines the 1933 inquiry into Australian museums and art galleries. It argues that existing analysis of the inquiry tends to dismiss its significance in terms of museum sector development in Australia. The article looks beyond this national focus to locate the Australian text within the context of the British Empire inquiries, and CCNY’s concern about the underdevelopment of social and educational infrastructure in British colonies. The article deploys settler-colonial theory to draw attention to the racial politics that surrounds the Australian inquiry, particularly evident in its concern with encouraging a ‘museum movement’ in Australia’s small towns and country districts.