History Matters

The organisation that I have chosen to work with is the Australian Museum, located next to Hyde Park in Sydney. This organisation is the oldest museum in Australia, is a non-profit organisation, and is home to a large collection of artefacts from Indigenous Australia and the Pacific, biological specimens, and minerals and fossils. I am particularly interested in the Australian Museum because I am an Australian who grew up overseas. Until I moved to Australia I didn’t know anything about Australian history, let alone Indigenous history and culture. However, I did notice in Australian schools that what I did learn about Aboriginal history was how it intersected and became part of the national history, such as the Stolen Generation and the Mabo Case. Both of which were cases that had a powerful influence on Australian culture.
My Dad was a member of the Australian Museum growing up and it was a place he always took me to whenever we came to Sydney. Having this personal connection from my memories of visiting and also being in the process of completing a double degree Bachelor of Science and Arts, the museum was the perfect opportunity for me to combine my knowledge in my areas of study. With social meaning from my memory and attachment to this place, this especially made understanding the connection between local and national history more present in my eyes.
I have now volunteered within the Australian Archaeological collections department for four weeks. During this time I have helped to sort through, re-bag, and relabel excavation artefacts, input data into the museum system and catalogue, and reformat and name digitalised images. I am concerned whether there will be a specific project that I could do, as established organisations such as the Australian Museum already have well organised departments and staff members to complete these projects. However, there is a constant need for volunteers as their overwhelmingly large collection and constant visitors means that there are always things that need to be completed. I hope that in the coming weeks I will be able to focus on and find a specific project, or perhaps a group of small projects, that will be beneficial to the museum. I believe this project will also increase my understanding of the hard work that goes on behind the scenes of a museum in order to create public engagement with the wider community.

I first got into history when I was around twelve years old, after watching a film and then reading a book series about the British Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, so I basically owe my entire scope of interests to naval history. It remains my basic go-to topic if I don’t know what else to study, and makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. I’m not Australian, so the option of finding a local community or getting inspiration from my parents or surroundings wouldn’t work. Which is why I first looked for naval societies, and found the NHSA (Naval Historical Society of Australia), https://www.navyhistory.org.au.
As I’ve mentioned in the collaborative document, the NHSA deals with knowledge, research and learning about the history of Australian Navy. I visited them last Tuesday (August 28), and the entire visit was wonderful. I was met by John, head researcher, and David, the secretary who had been emailing me before we met, at the pass point of Garden Island Defence Precinct. We got to the building belonging to the NHSA, and I was told it used to be a boatshed. Almost everyone in the society is a retired naval officer, and, naturally, I was the youngest person in the room — which made me a little wistful, actually, about the general disinterest of young people in history. This is not the first time I think about this disinterest, and I suspect history education in schools usually is to blame. Granted, getting into history as a philosophical paradigm or wanting to understand humanity won’t be on any kid’s to-do list, but with enough tools, the subject could be so engaging and exciting even to children, let alone teens.
Anyway, I was a bit anxious before coming, but everyone was so welcoming and sweet and willing to talk to me. John gave me a tour around the society’s library (my eyes were flashing red the whole time, it’s a fantastic collection of books and I hope to get my hands on some of them if John lets me) and the heritage museum next door. As John explained, the NHSA only deals with archives, literature and knowledge, while the physical objects and artifacts go to the museum. John also showed me the oldest European graffiti (right upon the First Fleet arrival) on a rock behind the museum, and turned out to like the Napoleonic Wars just as much as I do; he told me a little about himself serving in the Navy as well. I wish I could ask everyone so many questions about their service.
I have two tasks now, one of which I’ve already completed over the week, actually. John asked me to compile a document with all the links, phone numbers, addresses, names, titles and so on useful for research. The NHSA gets a lot of queries from people about their relatives and ancestors serving in the RAN (Royal Australian Navy), or other types of questions relating to research, so they use a vast variety of resources, from museums and societies to websites, archives and the Department of Defence. John has two heavy folders with cut-outs, print-outs, documents and phone books, and he usually doesn’t need them (the man has a memory like an elephant), but he’d like to pass his job on one day, and his successor could use a list. So I’ve been typing all that information into one neat document, occasionally checking if the links still work or if the addresses are still relevant.
Also, the NHSA publishes “Occasional Papers” with stories from naval history or research, and they’re all compiled on their website in pdf format; president of the society, David, asked me to put them all on the website as posts, so that’s what I’m doing from home now. It’s good that I can work from home, because the NHSA only works on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I can only visit every other Tuesday. Even though I’d like to visit more and talk to them.
Not sure if I have any ideas for a project separate from my current volunteering: when I’m done with the task for David, I’ll ask if they want me to do anything else. If there turns out to be no new work to be done, I’ll come up with a project of my own, but for now I’m happy just to be useful and contribute in any way I can.

This course perplexed me. Going into it I didn’t really no what to expect. What was I to be doing? What was going on? 4000 words is a big essay. Just your usual student freakout things. However, from the first lecture this course had me excited. As Michael was describing what our project was to be or what it could be on I found myself running through the ideas in my head thinking of all the things I could possibly do. I though about going back to my home in WA and doing something with a community group there but the logistics made that almost impossible. Very quickly I began to run out of ideas and my being new to Sydney made finding a local organisation extremely difficult and stressful.
It was at this point in my research I stumbled across the Rule of Law Institute. This non-for-profit institute struck me due to its previous name, The Magna Carta Institute, which drew me in, wanting to know more. I emailed their education coordinator, Jackie, and she quickly got back to me saying she had something I could work on. I went to their office on Macquarie Street, excited to find out more about this organisation that I had never heard of. I met with Jackie who instantly began to describe the work Rule of Law has done, from lobbying the government to adhere to the rule of law to educating students in NSW and beyond about the importance of the rule of law and how we must all make sure that the rule of law is upheld.
I was immediately spellbound, sucked into this world of legal matters that I had never before delved into. Jackie then began to explain my project, stating that I would be doing research into the state of the rule of law around the world, focussing on Australia, Poland, Zimbabwe and the Philippines. I realised that this project was the one for me, linking my double majors with history and government and international relations through its use of both research and analysis from a historical and political framework.
I have been pointed in the direction to look, now I must find the research and delve into the historical issues surrounding the rule of law in these countries. Wish me luck!

Originally, I had chosen Susannah Place, a museum apart of Sydney Living Museums, as my chosen organisation. A terrace of four houses located within the Rocks, Susannah Place housed more than 100 families between 1844 and 1990 and is characterised by tiny backyards, basement kitchens and outhouses. Initially, I wanted to work with Susannah Place for one key reason. As a child, my mother took me to the museum and it is my earliest memory of being fascinated by history. In particular, I was enthralled with the way the museum captured eras, memories, family histories, architecture and aesthetics through the restoration of each house. Stepping into Susannah Place is like time travelling to a different era.
However, I’ve experienced some difficulty in setting up a project at the museum, so have come up with a new organisation and idea for a project. I am extremely interested in personal histories and after speaking with my mother and grandmother I came up with a solution. My grandmother lives in Blue Haven Retirement Village which is located in my hometown of Kiama on the south coast. She is a part of a social group of 8-10 ladies who meet for dinner weekly. After discussing the group with my grandmother, I had a couple ideas of what could be beneficial to both their group and my project. I am thinking that it might beneficial if I collated a recipe and short anecdote from each of the group’s members into a small cookbook. In my experience, certain foods, recipes and social experiences are tied into the collective memories of our lives. I believe the connection between food and memory/personal history is an avenue of history that hasn’t often been explored and is something that intrigues me greatly. It is incredible to me how by cooking a certain recipe or eating a certain food, we can be transported back to particular moments in our histories. As it is my last semester of university, I have found myself contemplating what history means to me- why I chose to study it, why I love it, how it has altered my life course and how I define it. These are questions that I am eager to have answered by people outside of the academic/professional historical professions. I am far more interested in understanding history’s implications in the everyday on everyday people. Essentially, I want to take all the knowledge I have acquired over my degree and apply it to life ‘beyond the classroom’. 
That being said, I am extremely eager to undertake work on my project in the semester break when I head home to visit my family. I believe this project will be extremely sentimental and meaningful not only for myself but the group as well. I am extremely excited to begin interviewing these ladies and to hear their amazing personal histories.

This week saw me venture on a six hour train journey to Tamworth, NSW. Not only was it great to see my family, but it was lovely to be surrounded by fellow history lovers from the local community. My chosen organisation is the Tamworth Historical Society. They have a core presence in the Tamworth community and are a part of many historical events throughout the town, for example the recent Tamworth Bicentenary of explorer John Oxley (the first European to reach the area).
My first meeting involved a cup of tea, and another, and another. I was surrounded by many older locals who had been a part of the society since the early years. This particular group was the Collections Committee, who are tasked with collecting donated items, assigning provenance and its historical significance to the area. That morning there was a couple who had dropped in a trophy from the local Business Awards in the ’80s, and were asking about a mysterious sewing device they had, many ladies had ideas of what it was and resulted into a google search, yet it still remains a mystery. After chatting away, one lady named Audrey had brought up a past memory of her and her friend throughout WWII. They both would go to the 102 General Hospital in town and help wounded soldiers write letters for home, and then frequent the Town Hall for weekend dances. There was a warmness to her memory, even through the harsher times. ‘It was just what everyone did’, seemingly simplifying the day to day harshness of war. This reminded me again of Anna Clark’s research into the play between memory and history, and the benefit that nostalgia can bring to people.
My second meeting with the society was with the Library and Archives Committee. I spoke with the ladies about my potential project and there was mention of me completing a brochure for this particular committee. They are assigned with the archiving all of the historical documents that come to the Society. Whether it is published research or a member’s sketch of a local historical site, they will archive it. From this meeting I had the opportunity to begin the process of sorting the archives of the local newspaper, the Northern Daily Leader. This paper had begun in the late 1870s and had changed names throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, until finding its current title. Our job across the day was to chronologically stack the bundles of broadsheet newspapers into their names. We sorted them up until 1910, then moved onto the smaller tabloid bundles from 1980s through to the early 2000s. A challenge was finding the bundles themselves as throughout the moving process the Council had neglected to stack them the way they were previously archived. Also some older bundles that were wrapped in paper had the wrong dates placed on them. We packed up for the day and were covered in dust and grime from the prints. Reflecting upon this experience, it was incredible to be reconnected to a lived community, one that still enjoys the comfort in having a cup of tea and chatting without distraction. You could sense that there was a real passion for the local history amongst the society and I am honoured to be welcomed back into that space.
Although it did not seem like that much work was done, I found it rewarding to be surrounded in so much local history. I aim to continue helping with the archives as well when I return home. Hopefully, I will be able to go through some of the papers too, flicking through their tarnished issues to find some ancestors nestled in their pages.

I have always been interested in History for as long as I can remember. From going through family photo albums with my grandparents and hearing the many stories of the various people in these images to acquiring my Dad’s obsession of documentaries and old maps. My interest in history began with my personal families history but has extended.
The organisation I am working with for my project is the Maltese Community Council of NSW, based in West Parramatta. The Maltese Community Council of NSW (MCC of NSW) is an umbrella organisation currently with 15 associated organisations across NSW but with many is Sydney. The MCC’s primary goal is to assist these organisations, which provide services to the local Maltese/Australian Community. A further focus of the organisation is continuing to foster Maltese language and culture in Australia and providing services for the elderly.
Engaging with this organisation and the Maltese community has allowed my to learn about the local history of another part of Sydney. My recent meetings with the Maltese Community Council and hearing stories about Maltese community in Australia has highlighted to me the importance of migration history. Despite not being connected to the Maltese community directly I am able to appreciate the importance of migration history and preservation of culture and language. Personally my grandfather immigrated to Australia post WWII similarly to many in the Maltese Community and further living in Wareemba in the Inner West, there is a strong Italian community which celebrates migration and cultural traditions.
I am currently assisitng the organisation in designing a document of key achievements. From this document of key achievements I am designing a brochure and the information will also be put on the website, which I will try to assist in updating. Beginning my research into the MCC it is clear that this organisation has had continual positive impact. From key achievements of the publication of the ‘Maltese Herald’ a bi-lingual newspaper, to being heavily involved in the landmark decision of Dual Citizenship for Maltese Australians and continuing to assist the Australian Maltese Community providing cultural, sporting, language and many more services. The MCC expressed by the organisation was a desire to connect to the younger generation of Maltese Australians, to generate greater interest in Maltese cultural and community organisations. Through my project I hope to highlight the achievements of this organisation and the great community work they continue to do.
Website: https://mccnsw.org.au/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1526025277656567/about/
Email: mcconsw@gmail.com

Our visit to the Sydney Jewish Museum this week has reminded me of how significant history museums have been in the development of my own passion for history. Being responsible for the preservation and education of history, especially to those outside the field of academia, I found myself drawn to these organisations in the beginning stages of this project. I remember looking forward to school excursions to museums and looking back I am so appreciative for the opportunities we are given throughout our schooling to engage with iconic and innovative exhibitions. Technological advancements and developments in historical practice have seen the evolution of these exhibitions, and I was surprised to see how much the SJM has reinvented itself. Reflecting on my experience of other museums, I realised that not all organisations have the opportunity or resources to do this.
The Pioneer Park Museum in Griffith (570 km south-west of Sydney) is an open-air museum responsible for the preservation of the agricultural, social and cultural heritage of Griffith – a major city in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area of the Riverina region of New South Wales.

The site occupies 11 hectares of bushland, and houses a variety of original and recreated buildings from the surrounding area from the early to mid 1900s, as well as the Italian Museum and Wine Building, which appear as more traditional museum exhibitions. The park is also home to annual cultural events, such as Action Day (held over the Easter long weekend) and Festa Della Salsicce (The Festival of the Sausage), where the Italian heritage of Griffith is celebrated with the tasting and judging of a selection of homemade salami’s.



Above (From top to bottom): The St. James Church of England (built in 1907) which is the oldest church in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, A reconstruction of Griffith’s first general store and The Italian Museum.
I have been in contact with Bonnie Owens since early August, She is the curator at the museum and a history major from ANU. She is not only responsible for the management of the above events, but also the organisation of educational programs, historiographical projects and the overall maintenance of the site with only two staff being permanently employed alongside her.
Griffith and its history are particularly significant for me, with my great-grandmother migrating directly to the town from Italy in the late 1950s. Beyond my personal interest, the agricultural production in Griffith functions as a major contributor to the country’s economy. The town produces over 75% of NSW’s wine grapes and is Australia’s largest citrus producing region.

Above: Citrus Sculptures from the Griffith Spring Fest
Bonnie has been very interested in our collaboration since our initial contact. Her suggestions for project ideas have included:
1. Walking Tour App: Using the program “Izi Travel” or something similar, Bonnie would like to create an app that functions as a guided walking tour of the site, easily accessible by visitors using their iPhone. This app uses location services to trigger audio recordings and written descriptions in areas of the site which are of significance, such as buildings or exhibitions. This app is widely used internationally, and also functions as an audio guide to our own Macleay Museum at USYD!
2. Interviews: Bonnie noted that the museum houses various items which are lacking vital information that is required for their exhibition. This would involve contacting the donors of the items and enquiring about their nature, origin and historical significance.
3. Documentary: Bonnie said that she would also appreciate a documentary-style series of interviews capturing the life of cultural groups such as ‘the women of Griffith’ or ‘the farmers of Griffith.’
Despite the challenges involved with working with an organisation long-distance, I am thoroughly looking forward to working with a fellow history major at the service of a community with a really rich and valuable history. A trip which I have organised for the mid-semester break will help me to get going on this project, gain some insight into my own heritage and develop my own historical practice for what may be a future career.
website: www.griffithpioneerpark.com.au
instagram: @griffithpioneerparkmuseum
facebook: www.facebook.com/PioneerParkMuseum

A new year of HSTY 3902: History Beyond the Classroom is under way in semester 2. With one of the highest enrolments yet, the unit is doing well along with its capstone counterparts HSTY 3901 and HSTY 3903.
History Beyond the Classroom aims, in part, to answer the perennial question, “what can you do with a history degree?” Plenty, it seems. In this unit, students frame, research and produce an original project based on an engagement with communities and organisations outside the University. Students explore history in action in a variety of contexts and think about different ways of creating and disseminating history that will interest and inform a public audience. Lectures and field trips also help frame relevant community-based questions, adopt appropriate methodologies, and explore new ways of presenting your arguments or narratives.
In addition to making history, students will be introduced to a variety of public history professionals, and different kinds of projects that you can pursue part-time or full-time well beyond your University career.
In the first few weeks of the unit, we have spent time exploring what turned out to be difficult questions about just what is history, and why do we do it? We’ve also begun to look at questions about audience, and about how different people think historically.
Last week, in week 3 of the semester, we also had a visit from one of our favourite public historians, Mark Dunn.

PHA-NSW & ACT Chair, Dr. Mark Dunn on Public History
Currently the Chair of the Professional Historians Association of NSW (PHA-NSW; http://www.phansw.org.au/), Mark’s career as a professional historian embodies the challenges and opportunities of public history.
After studying history at UNSW, Mark did some volunteer work on an archaeological site in Sydney, which led to a paid job as a historian for a heritage and archaeology firm in Sydney, where he worked until 2010. During that time he was involved in major conservation, archaeology (including digging), oral history, significance and interpretation projects Australia wide. Some of these include doing Oral History for the Cockatoo Island Navy Dockyard, the moving of Prince of Wales Destitute Childrens Asylum Cemetery, The Big Dig in The Rocks and numerous smaller histories. Mark has been a member of the Professional Historians Association since c1997 and is currently the Chair. He has also been a committee member and President of the History Council NSW and is currently Deputy Chair of the NSW Heritage Council. Mark now works as a consultant historian in heritage and research, as well as leading city tours for an American tour company Context Travel. He is also the current CH Currey Fellow at State Library of NSW, and recently completed his PhD at UNSW.

Some of the many clocks in the collection of Sydney Trains at Central Station
Mark talked to students about the crucial role played by the PHA-NSW, and also the challenges of doing public history, which included negotiating any conflicts of interest, managing expectations, juggling tight budgets and deadlines, and the disappointments resulting from not having control over the final product, sometimes with the result that your work gets buried (sometimes literally).


An unexpected find at the Mick Simmons site at George Street 2013. After excavating and archiving this early colonial pub, the site was completely removed. Recording and archiving such sites before they are completely obliterated is just one of the many kinds of projects Mark Dunn has worked on.
Drawing from his extensive experience, Mark also reflected on why he enjoys being a professional historian, which included the opportunity to work on many and varied history projects, bringing history to a wide range of audiences who often have a real connection with the past that is being presented, and seeing your work on public display, whether it be on television, radio, the side of a building, the wall of a pub, or the web.
Mark also noted his most recent public history project for Sydney Trains Heritage NSW (http://www.sydneytrains.info/about/heritage/), the beautifully produced pamphlet called “Running on Time: Clocks and Time-Keeping in the NSW Railways” (you can download a copy at: www.sydneytrains.info/about/heritage/201602-Running-on-time-Report.pdf). There is also an accompanying short film featuring interviews with railway workers and heritage experts involved in the project (http://www.sydneytrains.info/about/heritage/oral_history). Mark revealed that he completed his report in about four weeks of full-time work, giving students something to aspire to….
Mark was an engaging speaker, and the students (and I) were clearly amazed at the breadth and depth of his work.
Mark’s talk and the readings this week about public history helped students reflect on the practice of history in the University and classroom, which often (though not always) precludes these kinds of negotiations about different kinds of understandings about the past, and present uses (though students were also quick to point out that there is a growing group of academic historians willing to engage with different public audiences, and indeed, there always has been). Our reading this week about the Enola Gay controversy in the United States in the early 1990s reinforced the dangers of not doing so, but also how difficult it might be to do so. Once again, and with the help of Anna Clark’s great interviews, in Private Lives, Public History, our discussions – and students’ reflective diary entries – invariably shifted to the History Wars in Australia and both the indifference of many to the history wars, but also the more subtle ways in which many non-professional historians understand “contest” in history. Reflections also ranged across questions about whether there is a historical middle ground between commemoration and historical analysis? Could the Enola Gay Exhibition controversy have been avoided?