Oral History NSW warmly congratulates our brilliant colleague, committee member and past president Dr Shirleene Robinson on being appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) earlier this month.
Shirleene received the Queen’s Birthday honour for significant service to the LGBTIQ community, to marriage equality, and to history.
You can find out more about Shirleene’s work, research and advocacy here
Oral History NSW would love to hear your thoughts on what we’re doing well, what could be improved, and what you would like to see in future.
Please take a few moments to fill out our survey on our website, and thank you for your support!
Oral History NSW is committed to supporting oral history practitioners in sharing and promoting their work with the larger oral history community.
For opportunities below - please refer to our Grants & Awards page for further information and we look forward to hearing more about your projects.
The Oral History NSW Conference Grant is available to presenters attending the Biennial Oral History Australia Conference. Two grants of $600 each will be offered. Applications for the OHA Conference in Launceston are open now and close on 1 August 2022.
The Oral History NSW Community History Award acknowledges the work of individuals or community groups who are recording the histories of their communities. The winner of the award receives $500. Applications are now open and close 1 August 2022.
The Oral History NSW Regional Engagement Grant provides $1500 biennually to support the use and practice of oral history in regional areas. Applications are now open and close 30 September 2022.
Oral History Australia backs recent statements by peak oral history organisations in the United Kingdom and the United States condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
We affirm our own opposition to the invasion. Our thoughts are with the people of Ukraine and in particular our oral history colleagues in Ukraine – https://oralhistory.com.ua/.
Read:
the statement from the Oral History Society (United Kingdom) https://www.ohs.org.uk/general-interest/oral-history-society-statement-about-the-russian-invasion-of-ukraine/
the statement of the Oral History Associations (United States) https://www.oralhistory.org/2022/03/22/ohas-statement-on-ukraine/.
In February OHA President Professor Alistair Thomson issued a statement condemning the closure of Russia’s Memorial organisation, one of Europe’s most important oral history projects.
Read that statement at: https://oralhistoryaustralia.org.au/russia-memorial/.
Hearty congratulations to our Oral History NSW committee members for their recent achievements in the field of oral history:
Dr Shirleene Robinson co-authored In the Eye of the Storm: Volunteers and Australia’s response to the HIV/AIDS crisis - alongside Robert Reynolds and Paul Sendziuk (NewSouth Publishing, 2021). In the Eye of the Storm is the joint winner of the 2021 OHA Book Award.
Dr Alexandra Dellios is the 2022 CH Currey Fellow at the State Library of NSW .
Her work will look at Greek-Australian Women and Building Alternative Multiculturalisms: Grassroots histories of migrant welfare in New South Wales, 1960s–1980s.
Dr Gwyn McClelland is a recipient of a 2022 National Library of Australia Fellowship, supported by the Harold S. Williams Trust for Japan Studies. His work will look at Trauma and World Heritage on the Gotō Islands: 1856-1899.
Thank you to everyone who attended our AGM recently in October.
It was great to see everyone online after another year spent largely apart, to review our organisation’s work in the past year and look ahead to our future plans.
At the AGM we also heard from two of our members about their current oral history work:
Dr Mahsheed Ansari spoke about the Muslim Pioneers Post WWII project at CSU,
and Sean O’Brien discussed the National Film and Sound Archive oral history program.
The following were elected at the AGM on 9 October 2021:
President — Maria Savvidis
Vice-President — Scott McKinnon
Treasurer — Andrew Host
Secretary — Laura Anderson
Public Officer — Kylie Andrews
Committee Member — Gwyn McClelland
Committee Member — Alexandra Dellios
Committee Member — Shirleene Robinson
You can read the President’s Report here.
Oral History Australia has adopted a statement outlining the value of oral history.
The Statement of Value is intended as an introduction to the many benefits of oral history, particularly for those considering developing their own oral history projects.
It is available on the ‘What is oral history?’ page of the OHA website and as a downloadable PDF.
Oral History NSW is committed to supporting oral history practitioners in sharing and promoting their work with the larger oral history community.
Two opportunities below - please refer to our Grants & Awards page for further information and we look forward to hearing more about your projects.
The Oral History NSW Conference Grant is available to presenters attending the Biennial Oral History Australia Conference. Two grants of $600 each will be offered. Applications for the OHA Conference in Launceston are open now and close on 31 August 2021.
The Oral History NSW Community History Award acknowledges the work of individuals or community groups who are recording the histories of their communities. The winner of the award receives $500. Applications are now open and close 31 August 2021.
The Oral History NSW Regional Engagement Grant aims to raise the profile of oral history in regional areas and extend its expertise and use throughout New South Wales. Awarded biennially, the grant is aimed at librarians, archivists, museum curators, artists, film-makers, independent oral historians or community groups based in regional areas in NSW who wish to develop an oral history project that illuminates some aspect of their regional area which is of significance or interest to others.
We are very pleased to announce The Bundanoon History Group (BHG) as the winner of the 2020 Oral History NSW Regional Engagement Grant.
The Bundanoon History Group (BHG) is a group of volunteers interested in preserving and promoting the history of Bundanoon in the NSW Southern Highlands.
Since its inception in the early 1980s, the BHG has acquired a volume of historical material in the form of print, photography, audio recordings and ephemera relating to Bundanoon.
The BHG has been recording oral histories of locals since 2010. Following the recent 2020 bushfires, it convened a special project to capture evidence and stories about the 2019/20 bushfires in Bundanoon to:
• document a significant event in Bundanoon’s history
• create an archive for future analysis
• capture lessons learned
• contribute to a more complete understanding of this unprecedented fire season.
Their project will focus on conducting oral history interviews with the many individuals impacted by the bushfires and to make the information available for academic research, formal presentation and general public interest.
Oral History NSW looks forward to hearing more about the project as it progresses and wish the Bundanoon History Group the best of luck on the forthcoming interviews.
Each year the Oral History NSW Community History Award acknowledges the work of individuals or community groups who are recording the histories of their communities.
This year we received a record number of submissions for the award, and were delighted to announce the Cowra Voices project as the winner.
At our AGM on 31 October, Masako Fukui accepted the award for Cowra Voices and delivered a presentation about the project.
Special Commendation went to Ann Howard for her submission “Eisteddfod to Stage: Ryde Eisteddfod 30 AMAZING YEARS 1988 to 2018” .
You can watch the recording of these two presentations by clicking on the OHNSW logo below:
Ann Howard: 01:42 - 12:53 / Masako Fukui - Cowra Voices 14:36 - 35:16
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.