Oral History NSW Community History Award 2024

Applications are now open for the 2024 Oral History NSW Community History Award. The award is designed to acknowledge the work of individuals or community groups who are recording the histories of their communities. Eligible projects may include the development of new oral history collections, digital and multimedia projects (including websites or podcasts) and printed publications based on oral history interviews.

Eligibility:

  • Applicants must be members of Oral History NSW and undertaking projects based in the ACT and/or NSW.

  • Eligible projects must have been active and have produced outputs (such as a publication, website, or launch of a new collection) in the 12 months prior to the entry submission date.

Criteria:

The prize is open to community-based oral history practitioners. This includes members of volunteer organisations, professional historians and freelance workers.

Projects that have received funding in the form of research grants or institutional support are eligible.

Projects conducted towards an educational qualification or degree are not eligible for this award.

All applications will be assessed based on merit. Oral History NSW reserves the right to not announce a successful recipient if applications received do not satisfy all criteria or reflect the required standard.

Award details:

The winner will be chosen by a committee based on the project’s contribution to understandings of community history and the quality, originality and/or significance of project outputs.

The judging panel may award joint prizes and/or commendations for excellence to outstanding runners-up.

The winner will receive a prize of $500.

Award recipients will be required to write a post describing their project for the OHNSW website and will be invited to give a short presentation at the Oral History NSW annual general meeting.

To apply, applicants should:

  1. Provide a brief description of their project including details of the individual or group who designed and carried out the project, brief details of the community whose history was recorded, the number of interviews undertaken, and the major output(s) of the project (e.g. a new collection; a website; a book; a podcast) (half a page maximum)

  2. Describe how the applicant(s) worked with the community, how the project contributes to understandings of the community’s history and the quality, significance and/or originality of the project outputs (one page maximum).

  3. Provide details of any funding received for the project and/or project collaborations with local institutions (e.g. museums, libraries or archives).

  4. Provide links to all online outputs from the project.

  5. If a significant output from the project is a written publication, it must be made available in an electronic form for the judges. No physically printed publications can be accepted at this time.

Applications should be emailed to:
secretary@oralhistorynsw.org.au

Applications must be received by: 31 August 2024

Oral History NSW acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands on which we live and work.
We pay our respects to Elders past and present, and extend this respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.