HARRY JOHNS COLLECTION

The Harry Johns Collection being 85 objects including a truck related to the Harry Johns Boxing Troupe, held at Museums Victoria and the Australian Sports Museum.

The Harry Johns Collection is of historical significance to the State of Victoria. It satisfies the following criterion for inclusion in the Victorian Heritage Register:

Importance to the course, or pattern, of Victoria’s cultural history.

Possession of uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of Victoria’s cultural history.

The Harry Johns Collection is historically significant for its association with tent boxing in Victoria. Tent boxing was a popular entertainment at agricultural shows in the early to mid-twentieth century, and troupes travelled in trucks around Victoria and the eastern coast with their tents and equipment. Tent boxing was a working-class pursuit and around half the Harry Johns boxers were Aboriginal men. For Aboriginal fighters, boxing opened opportunities for employment, success and public acclaim at a time of profound discrimination. Aboriginal boxers became heroes in their communities, and many took up positions of political and cultural leadership later in life. The collection provides insight into the history and organization of tent boxing in Victoria and its place in working class, rural and Aboriginal life. [Criterion A]

The Harry Johns Collection is rare, being one of a small number of heritage places or collections remaining that demonstrates the history of tent boxing in Victoria. [Criterion B]