General News
28 January, 2026
Eminent historian visits Jeparit
Last week, Jeparit was privileged to have a very special visitor spend four days providing her historical and educational expertise to the Wimmera Mallee Pioneer Museum.
Dr Rosalie Triolo OAM, Fellow of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria, President of the Federation of Australian Historical Societies and Board Member and Victorian representative on the Australian National Museum of Education in Canberra, is an eminent historian of Australian education - especially during the years of World War 1 and had volunteered to spend four days conducting a survey of the Pioneer Museum’s Detpa School, now one of only four registered National School Museums in Victoria.
During her initial visit to Jeparit some time back, Rosalie realised what a ‘treasure’ the 100-year-old Detpa School is in terms of how it represents a small rural school during the 1920s-1950s.
The School officially closed in 1967 and was relocated to the Pioneer Museum by 1970.
“The Detpa School, unlike some other surviving bush schools, is a time capsule of education and society at the time”, Rosalie said.
“There are so many treasures in the Detpa School, such as teaching and learning aids, teacher references and valuable books.
“These merit special protection and should become part of a unique display of Detpa and other schools of the Wimmera Mallee region.”
While registration of the School as a National School Museum was finalised some months ago, Rosalie offered to undertake a survey of the School’s book, maps and ephemera collection.
This involved determining which are the most significant books and other materials and which are less important to reflecting teaching and learning at the Detpa School.
Ultimately, a full inventory of the School’s collection will be produced.
To carry out this exhaustive survey every book, document, learning aid, map and school newspaper was identified and assessed in terms of its relevance and, in some cases, rarity.
Every item was inspected and matched with similar items so that the collection is now, for the first time, well organised.
“Having spent four days with Rosalie carrying out this survey, I was impressed by her forensic approach to her work,” said by Craige Proctor, a member of the WMPM committee of management.
“Every item was inspected, compared with similar items and detailed notes provided to which we can go back.
“I and our President Wendy Werner benefited greatly from witnessing Rosalie’s approach to her work.”
“Preserving and protecting the collection will bring the Detpa School fully and spectacularly up to its new status as an Australian National Museum of Education registered School Museum,” Rosalie said.
While in Jeparit local historian John Pumpa kindly offered to show Rosalie the original sites of four of the district’s early primary schools: Detpa; Allanby; Glenlee; and Tullyvea.
Rosalie was extremely grateful for this opportunity to see where children from Detpa and the surrounding areas had lived and gone to school.
Rosalie plans to return to Jeparit in June to give a presentation at the proposed event commemorating the centenary of the Detpa School’s opening in 1925.
“The exhibits in the Detpa School will be an absolute showcase of the School’s history at its centenary commemoration,” according to Rosalie.
Rosalie also met with members of the Jeparit and District Historical Society including President Wendy Zanker, Gaye Golder and AnnMarie Werner.
The Society’s collection has undergone an enormous transformation since Rosalie first visited the Society in 2024.
Not only has Rosalie devoted many years to supporting the work of historical societies across Australia, but she is also a member and supporter of the Jeparit Society and has been following its progress most keenly.
“I am won over by the kindness of people I have met in Jeparit and their commitment to preserving its stories,” Rosalie said.
The Wimmera Mallee Pioneer Museum and the Jeparit and District Historical Society are grateful to Rosalie not only for sharing her expertise with both bodies but for donating her time and all travel and accommodation expenses solely for the benefit of the Museum.
Rosalie’s generosity has saved the Museum a great deal of money it otherwise would not be able to devote to such an undertaking, but also provided several Museum personnel with much-needed insight into early Victorian education.
