QMF_ANTENNA_JUNE_2017_INTERNALS_6_WEB

Under the
Microscope
Judith Hickson | Social History Curator | Queensland Museum
Anthropologist, discoverer of hidden
stories, intrepid traveller and trekker.
Judith has recently joined Queensland
Museum to manage donation proposals
and enquires, as well as tackling the
substantial task of researching, cataloguing
and documenting unregistered objects
for inclusion in the State Collection.
With a background in anthropology, she
previously worked in a curatorial role at
the National Museum in Canberra. Judith
was pleased to join Queensland Museum
team last year and is enjoying being closer
to her family here in Queensland. Judith
is particularly interested in Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander cultures and histories,
and hopes to undertake more research
on the less explored social history and
contemporary stories within these cultures.
Through her research, Judith often unveils
a fascinating web of stories that she
enjoys bringing to public attention. She
says she loves people and that “everyone
has a story and something to share”. This
extends even to those no longer living, with
Judith uncovering fascinating details about
a person from the past, often leaving her
wishing that she had the opportunity to
meet them. One such story is associated
with a tea set belonging to Clara Just, the
housekeeper of a wealthy bachelor in the
1930s. Clara would frequently accompany
her employer on overseas holidays, during
which he would collect various items. When
he passed away he left the sum of £10,000,
his home, and his collection to Clara who,
under the terms of her will, left the bulk of
this to Queensland Museum. Through an
enquiry about the tea set, Judith was able
to uncover this small piece of history and
learn about the lives of two people that
would otherwise have remained unknown.
Also fascinated by the natural world,
Judith is a passionate traveller and hiker.
She has explored some of the more remote
places on earth – trekking the Himalayas at
18,000 feet in Ladakh being amongst her
favourite adventures.
I was attracted to working at Queensland
Museum Network because: I love museums
– they are such exciting and stimulating
places to work and inevitably attract
people who are interested in the world,
passionate about their work, and happy
to share their knowledge with other staff
and their wider audience. Because of the
diversity of its research and exhibition
focus – from geoscience to biology, from
Queensland rail and transport history to
marine archaeology, from natural history
to social history – there is a constant
cross-campus sharing of ideas, knowledge
and experience, which makes Queensland
Museum Network an especially wonderful
place to work.
The best piece of advice I have ever
received is: My father’s favourite quote
throughout my life: ‘Be true to thyself’
from Hamlet (Polonius’ advice to his
son Laertes).
I think the world needs more: Kindness.
When I am not working I am: Volunteering
with a homeless outreach service, spending
time with family and friends, walking,
reading, writing, planning my next travel
adventure and trying to grow things in my
micro-patch of earth.
I am reading: A Beautiful Question: Finding
Nature’s Deep Design by Frank Wilczek, a
theoretical physicist, based on his question,
‘Does the world embody beautiful ideas?’
and is an attempt to describe how beauty,
symmetry, harmony and balance can be
found not just in the natural world but also
in the underlying principals, concepts and
formulae of physics and mathematics.
I am watching: As an alternative to
listening or watching current US politics,
I’m watching re-runs of The West Wing.
The show demonstrates the humanity and
courage that is possible for political leaders
to achieve and that is absent from the
policies of so many political agenda today.
I am listening to: Mark Colvin’s playlist
on Spotify.
If I could have a super-power, it would be:
Self‐mastery.
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