23 November 1986    Migration Museum

The Migration and Settlement Museum on Kintore Avenue was opened by the Premier, John Bannon, on 23 November 1986. Situated in part of what was once the Destitute Asylum the museum traces the development of today’s multicultural society in South Australia. As well as the British colonists South Australia’s early immigrants also included Germans, Poles, Scandinavians, Lebanese, Afghans, Swedes and Danes who sometimes jumped ship, and even some South Americans who worked as muleteers in Burra and Port Wakefield. This social history museum, the first of its type in Australia, concentrates on showing the lives of ordinary people and how they influenced the development of South Australia by bringing with them knowledge and skills from their home countries and also their achievements in the new land. What were at one time the women’s and children’s wards, hospital and chapel of the old Asylum form the main display area of the museum approached through a pleasant courtyard.

‘Moving In, Settling Down’, The Advertiser Magazine, 22 November 1986.