Welcome to the Federation of Australian Historical Societies 
eBulletin

Message from FAHS

Copyright on unpublished material. 

As societies who have collections will be well aware, in Australia unpublished material is held in perpetual copyright and cannot be published except under exceptional circumstances. As well as inhibiting the use of manuscript material, this can produce strange circumstances.
 
In one example, Canberra and District Historical Society holds, in its collection, three hitherto unpublished journals describing and illustrating lengthy journeys around the ACT between the years 1926 and 1931. They are an invaluable record of the natural environment of Canberra as well as a record of the scattered development that had begun in the Capital. In 2015, CDHS received an ACT Heritage grant for their conservation and restoration and in the latest news, the volumes, known as the 'Jefferis, Whelen Historical Documentation of Canberra' have been granted provisional registration on the ACT Heritage Register.  All of this has led to considerable interest from institutions and private individuals who would all like copies of the journals. However, as both authors are now deceased and CDHS has not been able to trace their heirs, under the current legislation, it is not possible to publish all or part of these journals. They currently remain an almost hidden treasure.
 
The FAHS and the Galleries, Libraries, Archuves and Museum (GLAM) sector have been agitating for a change in the legislation and we are hopeful that a solution may be close. We understand that the relevant Department has prepared drafting instructions and has asked for priority listing for the introduction of legislation. We are hopeful of it being introduced in the next session of federal parliament.

Source: FAHS, President, Associate Professor Don Garden and Senior Vice President Esther Davies

August 19th - 21st - Three days of commemorations were held at Kalkarindji to mark 50 years since Wave Hill walk-off 

       Photo: Gurindji Strikers at Wattle Creek led by Vincent Lingiari in 1967

Descendants of the Gurindji men and women who walked off Wave Hill station 50 years ago to protest against unfair work and living conditions have retraced their steps to mark the anniversary. Everyone who joined the march headed down to the banks of the Victoria River, which is where the Gurindji first set up their camp after they walked off Vesty station back in 1966.

In 1966, 200 Gurindji stockmen and house servants walked off Wave Hill station in protest against poor treatment of Aboriginal Australians. The movement resulted in a portion of Gurindji land being handed back to traditional owners nine years later.

A symbolic handful of earth being poured into the hands of Vincent Lingiari by former Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam, would forever capture the first major victory of Indigenous land rights.

History Records of Nannup

The Nannup Historical Society was originally formed in 2000 and was incorporated in January 2001 with Charles Gilbert as the first president. Initially, the main body of archives was contributed by the Shire Of Nannup, who provided photographs of Nannup back from early settlement times and onwards. Other photographs and artefacts have been generously donated over the years by the public. Currently, the Nannup Historical Society has 20 members who are involved with manning the premises, archiving , promoting local history and other duties. The society has been going it on their own (without affiliation with the umbrella organisation, the Royal Western Australian Historical Society) and were delighted to be recognised through the Premier’s Australia Day Award for the Active Community Group of the Year in 2016.

Headquarters are in a heritage Old Roads Board Building owned by the Shire Of Nannup on a peppercorn lease.  The society is open to the public Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings displaying on a rotating basis some 2,500 photographs from the turn of the twentieth century to current times together with extensive archives covering Nannup district history such as the timber industry, electoral rolls from 1901, World War I and II enlistments, Police station staffing, old telephone and post office directories, burials at Nannup cemetery, family histories, plus memorabilia and artefacts.

The group of volunteers who have worked for many years collecting, cataloguing, preserving and displaying these photographs and memorabilia items are now facing the challenge of digitisation. As Neville Tanner, the current president outlines preserving material is the prime objective and to this end the society has obtained help from local people with computer and IT skills to begin the process of digital transfer.   

                 
Image: Neville Tanner, President of the Nannup Historical Society outside the Old Road Board Building.

For over five years Neville Tanner has been digging into the archives for materials for a monthly article published in the local paper the Nannup Telegraph. He also runs heritage tours for the locals, tourists, and any visitors to town.  Recently released is the Nannup Heritage Trail 56 page A5 self guide book, which is professionally designed to greatly assist people to explore Nannup’s past history as they stroll through town by describing some 51 sites of historical interest together with informative text and fully illustrated with many old photographs from the society’s archives. This new book is now on sale for $3.00 and can be purchased from the Nannup Historical Society and other selected outlets in Nannup. His work with the society was formally recognised in January this year being presented with a Certificate Of Appreciation being a volunteer merit award from the Shire of Nannup.

The Nannup Historical Society (Inc.) meets on the second Saturday of each month at 2.00 pm in its headquarters at the old Nannup Road Board building and potential members are always welcome. Donations of old photographs and relevant material are sought after for posterity.
 

Further Information: http://www.nannuphistory.org/  
email:nevilletanner@bigpond.com ph: 0409 376 372
Sources: Nannup Telegraph, website and interview with Neville Tanner
http://www.donnybrookmail.com.au/story/3677874/historical-society-opens-doors/

          
Discover the wonders of Victoria’s past during History Week: 16th-23rd October.
Travel back in time to explore the State’s fascinating past.

Victorian organisations are invited to get involved!

Is your organisation holding a history event during the week of the 16 – 23 October 2016? If you answered yes, then register your event and become a part of the official History Week celebrations.

Royal Historical Society of Victoria will include your event in the 2016 History Week calendar, provide you with a copy of the History Week logo and a bundle of postcards to promote History Week in your local community.

Register your event at http://historyweek.org.au/register/ to submit your event details to the History Week events team for review. You will receive an email letting you know when your event listing has been accepted and is live on the website.

And help spread the word! Speak to your local school, newspaper, radio station and community groups and invite them to become involved with and promote History Week 2016.

Further information: http://historyweek.org.au/events/
T: (03) 9326 9288
E: info@historyweek.org.au

Full details regarding the application process can be found in our Fellowship Guidelines and FAQs.
http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/fellowships/australian-religious-history-fellowship

                                 

The Australian Centre for Public History at the University of Technology, Sydney is offering a fantastic three-year scholarship opportunity in historical consciousness, to research the representation of and engagement with national pasts, including historiography and memory studies.

The scholarship is funded by UTS, as part of an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship held by Dr Anna Clark, Imagining the National Story: Australian History Reconsidered, which examines the changing and contested project of Australia’s national story. This project is based at the Australian Centre for Public History, in the School of Communication at UTS, and the successful applicant will have the opportunity to undertake research on a facet on historical consciousness. The project could include examinations of history making and consumption in film, historical fiction, history education, commemorations, or political speeches, for example. It could involve textual analysis, archival research, an oral history project, or interdisciplinary readings of the national past (be that Australian or another nation’s histories).

The successful applicant will be given research supervision, support and training, and will be expected to take part in the research life of the Australian Centre for Public History by attending seminars and workshops. There will also be opportunities for paid casual work and professional development, such as tutoring and research assistance in the School of Communication, as well as co-authored and/or co-edited research publications, and jointly organised workshops and seminars with Dr Clark.

Closing date: 31 October 2016.
http://cfsites1.uts.edu.au/uts/study/scholarships/pnx-detail.cfm?code=100006311&bar