eNewsletter

Newsletter 7 March 2023

News

The History Council of South Australia Historian Awards and Wakefield Press Essay Prize
Both awards will be open for submissions from the new year until 5 April 2024.

The HCSA Historian Awards seek to recognise the outstanding achievements of an individual or group who have made a major contribution in the field of history in South Australia.
Further information about the Historian Awards

The Wakefield Press Essay Prize is awarded for the best essay on a topic relating to the history of South Australia.
Further information about the Wakefield Press Essay Prize

HCSA 20th Anniversary Book
We are looking for someone to join the HCSA 20th Anniversary Book editorial committee to take on the role of editing the book's images (roughly 46 in total) to ensure they meet the publisher's specifications. Expressions of interest are needed as soon as possible. Please get in touch with [email protected] and [email protected]

2024 Fellowship announcement
The History Council is pleased to announce that the 2024 Fellow is Dr Alice Neikirk for her project, 'Police Matrons (and their Advocates) in South Australia'. The judging panel awarded Dr Neikirk’s project the 2024 HCSA Fellowship because it promises to combine individual and institutional histories in ways that engage with a specific area of history that is yet to be investigated. It will also yield new insights about the hidden work of women. The fact that South Australia holds the largest collection of police matron records in Australia indicates the project is likely to produce findings of national significance. Dr Neikirk’s comparative investigations into police matrons in the UK and North America also suggest this project will situate the South Australian story within fruitful international contexts.

The judges have reported that they were delighted with the high quality of applications received, and the depth and breadth of proposed projects.  This year, thanks to the generosity of the Marsden Szwarcbord Foundation, the judges have also awarded a Highly Recommended Prize of $1000. The recipient of the Prize is Dr Angela Gurr for her project on 'combining historical records and archaeological methods to identified individuals in unmarked graves and increase understanding of their lifestyle and challenges'.

Congratulations to our 2024 Fellowship and Prize recipients! Information about the winners and their projects is available on our website here.

The History Council would like to take this opportunity to thank the State Library of South Australia and the Marsden Szwarcbord Foundation for their continued support of the Fellowship.

Get your book published into the National Library of Australia collection
For anyone considering self-publishing, whether your book is printed or electronic, free or for sale, you need to deposit a copy with the National Library of Australia, and with your state or territory library.

If you deposit electronically, information about your book will be available in Trove and the National Library’s catalogue within a day of deposit. For print deposits, a record will be available within 3 months of your publication being received.

For information about legal deposit, visit the NLA’s website here.

You can also read the fact sheet (pdf)

The NLA has also recently published a blog on their website which provides more general information about independent and self-publishing. You can read it here.

History Trust of SA: South Australian Stories Survey Initiative (SASSi)
This initiative seeks to survey the diverse forms of research being undertaken across the state regarding South Australia's past, so we can 'join the dots' between organisations and individuals and further the depth and breadth of research and storytelling state-wide.
Further information through the HTSA website here.

Labour history news
The latest edition of the Labour History Society of South Australia's newsletter is now available.
Read it here (pdf)

The Friends of South Australia's Archives Inc Newsletter
The latest edition of the FSAA newsletter is now available.
Read it here (pdf).

Federation of Australian Historical Societies eBulletin
The latest edition of the FAHS eBulletin is now available.
Read it on their website

Making and monitoring a 'suspect community': Australian attacks on Greeks and the 'secret census' in 1916
Andrekos Varnava and former HCSA secretary Yianni Cartledge have recently published this open access article based on their talk last year, which you can watch on Youtube here.
Read it here

Encounter Celebration Organisation: sculpture fundraising drive
The Encounter Celebration Organisation Victor Harbor Inc. (ECOVHI) is a non-profit organisation, committed to fostering knowledge and understanding of the role that the navigators and explorers Matthew Flinders and Nicolas Baudin played in our maritime history. Captain Matthew Flinders, commander of the Investigator and Captain Nicolas Baudin, commander of Le Géographe, met near Victor Harbor on 8th and 9th April, 1802, in Ramindjeri Ngarrindjeri Waters subsequently named Encounter Bay, by Matthew Flinders.

It is our intention to erect an interpretive sculpture in Victor Harbor which will tell the story of Flinders and Baudin and their part in the mapping of Australia. It will also provide an opportunity for the Ngarrindjerri people to have a platform to tell their history.

In an effort to raise the funds needed to complete this project we have been accepted by the Australian Cultural Foundation for them to receive donations on our behalf. Each donation will receive a taxation receipt. We have in principle approval to build the interpretive sculpture from The City of Victor Harbor and letters of support from, among others, History S.A., the French and British S.A. Consulates, Monument Australia, the Ngarrindjerri Aboriginal Commission.

We have received promises of in excess of $70,000 so far to complete our project, but need a roughly that amount again before we can start to build the sculpture.
To donate please visit the Australian Cultural Fund Website.

The History Council has written to the South Australian Government in response to the recent discovery of Aboriginal remains found at the Riverlea Park (Buckland Park) housing development north of Adelaide.
Read more on our advocacy page here

Around the Country

Rameses and the Gold of the Pharaohs
This exhibition, exclusive to the Australian Museum in Sydney, features 181 priceless artefacts and relics, many of which have never left Egypt before. This wonderfully preserved collection includes sarcophagi, animal mummies, jewellery, royal masks, and ornate tomb treasures which showcase the workmanship of Egyptian artisans. Open in Sydney until May 19 2024.
Further information and ticket purchase through the museum website

Lectures, exhibitions, and events

Flinders University History Research Seminars semester 1 2024
The schedule for the semester one seminars is now available.

The first seminar will feature Associate Professor Barbara Baird AM on 'The residual offence: when an outdated history of abortion won't go away' on 8 March.

Held in-person at Humanities North Theatre 2 (Bedford Park, SA) or through Microsoft Teams, Fridays, 11.15 am - 12.30pm.
See the flyer for the full schedule and Teams details here (pdf).

Historical True Crime Podcast “Secrets We Keep: Nest of Traitors”
A seven episode series that follows investigative journalist Joey Watson and his search to uncover the story of an ASIO spy who was recruited by the Soviet Union. Watson’s journey through Cold War history takes him to the town of Woomera where he learns why Australia was a KGB target.

The podcast is available on LiSTNR and other streaming services.

A woman's world
Join the National Archives in Adelaide for Women’s History Month to explore the evolution of a ‘woman’s role’ in society over the years through stories captured in records held in the national archival collection.
26 March 2024, 12pm - 1pm, Hetzel lecture theatre, State Library of South Australia.
Further information and registration through Eventbrite

One Day Conference: South Australian 2024 History Festival

Saturday 4th May

The recently formed South Australian Church History Network (SACHN) invites you to register for the one-day conference as part of this year’s History Festival. The theme of the day is "Paradise of Dissent Revisited." Papers of 20 minutes will be presented which open up and examine areas in which churches and Christians influenced social and public life.

Early responses indicate that the event will be full of variety and interest and draw on most SA church traditions. Papers will explore the notion of SA as a ‘Paradise of Dissent’ and encourage further research and publication.

The SACHN involves historians from several Christian denominations (currently Anglican, Baptist, Salvation Army, Uniting Church) who are concerned with the recognition of SA religious history within the broader history of SA and within the religious history of Australia as a whole. Its aims are to increase awareness of the Christian presence in and contribution to SA life and history from 1836.

Those registering for the day will receive a detailed program including timetable and topics of papers. To find out more and register contact the convenor of SACHN, Rev. Dr Dean Eland at [email protected]

Conference fee is $30 and last date for registration is Monday 29 April. The conference will be held at The Church of the Trinity, (UCA) 318 Goodwood Rd, Clarence Park 5034. Generous onsite parking is available on the northern side of the church site.
Further information and registration form (pdf).

Historical Society of South Australia 2024 program
The HSSA has announced its program for 2024 as follows:

5 April: Corinne Ball: Three-Ring Circus: The dramatic, mysterious and tragic life of Mabel Worley, a Destitute Asylum Girl.
3 May: Patricia Sumerling: A City Pub Crawl: an illustrated history. 
7 June: Skye Krichauff: The South Australian Frontier and Its Legacies: A Truth-Telling project. 
5 July: Benjamin Nicholls: "There are pianos everywhere": Oscar Comettant and other travel writers on South Australian music. 
2 August: Robert Foster: The role of environmental factors in shaping Aboriginal/settler relations in colonial South Australia. 
6 September: Elizabeth Bor: Responses to Bushfires in South Australia from the 1820s to Federation. 
4 October: Martin Hamilton-Smith: Western Democracy Under Challenge: The interesting case study of South Australia. 
1 November: Erin Reardon: RA&HS Archives – Walking into 185 Years of History (and Wondering What to do With It). 

South Australia's History Festival 2024: Power
The South Australia History Festival is set for May 2024.
Event registrations are now open on their website.

Australian Heritage Festival 2024: Connections
Australia's largest annual community-driven celebration of heritage will take place in South Australia from 18 April to 19 May 2024.
Event registrations are now open on their website.

Book releases

An Indigenous south: German writers on colonial South Australia by Peter Monteath and Matthew P. Fitzpatrick
From its earliest years, South Australia was the most German of the Australian colonies

As they contributed to the founding and consolidation of a British colony, Germans observed the processes of  dispossession and subjugation that changed the lives of First Nations peoples around them forever. More than that, they participated in those profound and tragic changes. Importantly, German settlers and visitors left behind records of the events they witnessed.

This volume collects those precious records and makes them  available – most for the first time in English – to a modern Australian readership. It charts the course of German Australian encounters from first contacts, through the ruptures and violence of a relentlessly expanding European presence and into the twentieth century. As it documents the astounding cultural wealth and complexity of Indigenous peoples under siege, it also lays bare the grim logic of the forces driving their world towards destruction. Release: April 2024, Wakefield Press.

Irish women in the Antipodes : foregrounded by Susan Arthure, Stephanie James, Dymphna Lonergan, and Fidelma McCorry
Stories in history habitually relate the deeds of men but less frequently speak of the equally important contribution of women. When Irish immigrants began arriving in the new colonies of Australia and New Zealand they energetically contributed to the development of a new culture. This was especially true in the area of social progress.

Irish Women in the Antipodes: Foregrounded is a collection of Irish women’s contributions to life in the Antipodes, stories that have been neglected or insufficiently acknowledged.

Secrets of Rose Park, Toorak Gardens, Dulwich… and Districts Beyond, by Polly Dundon
The second book of neighbourhood social history in the “Secrets” Collection by local author, Polly Dundon – Secrets of Rose Park, Toorak Gardens, Dulwich… and Districts Beyond – is now available. Through 14 chapters and more than 185 images, the latest ‘coffee table’ book tells stories, many as yet unpublished, of the area’s original inhabitants and early settlers. The cost of the book is $50, postage extra.
Orders can be placed by emailing [email protected] or texting 0432 633 994. 

Calls for papers

Oral History Australia 2024 biennial conference: the power of oral history - risks, rewards, & responsibilities
Submissions are now open for proposals to present at the conference. Submissions close 1 April.
Further information and submission through their website

The 125th anniversary of the Immigration Restriction Act 1901
The Australian Migration History Network seeks contributions to an edited volume to mark the anniversary. Expressions of interest due 1 April 2024.
Further information on their blog

Call for contributions: Fighting Cancer and preventing smoking in the UK, its Colonies and Commonwealth, 1920s-1970s
Abstracts due 11 March 2024.
Further information through H-Net

2024 OHA Biennial conference call for presentations: The Power of Oral History - Risks, Rewards, & Possibilities
Deadline 1 April 2024
Further information through Oral History Australia

Opportunities

Oral History Australia National Conference bursary
Oral History SA/NT is offering a conference bursary for a member of theirs to cover the cost of the conference. Applicants must be current financial members of Oral History SA/NT and be full financial members at the time of the conference.
Further information through their website

NSW Premier's History Awards: call for nominations
The State Library of NSW has announced the opening of nominations for this year's awards which cross six categories. All works must be published or otherwise made publicly available between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024. Entries close 3 April 2024.
Further information and nomination through the SLNSW website

Ann Curthoys Prize 2024
Applications are now OPEN for the Ann Curthoys Prize 2024. This prize is awarded for the best unpublished article-length work by an Early Career Researcher in any one or combination of the following fields in which Ann has published: Australian history; feminist history; Indigenous history; transnational/comparative/colonial history; and history and theory. The Prize is generously funded by Ann and the Australian Catholic University, the institution of the current History Australia editors. The winner will receive a cash prize, a citation in History Australia, and will be considered for publication in the journal. For any queries concerning this prize, get in touch with History Australia Editorial Assistant Karen Downing ([email protected]).
Further information on the AHA website

Friends of South Australia's Archives Jack Cross fellowship
Applications are now open for two fellowships to be awarded to small history projects or to support students of South Australian history. Student applicants should be pursuing a dedicated program of historical research in archives and history, with a focus on the use of South Australian archival resources. Applications close 31 March 2024.
Further information here (pdf)

Historical Society of South Australia Keain Medal
The Keain Medal is an annual award to a non-fiction publication on South Australian history. Applications are now open and close 31 March, 2024.
Further information on the HSSA website

Historical Society of South Australia grants 2024
The HSSA is now accepting applications for grants of up to $1000. Applications close 31 March, 2024.
Further information on the HSSA website

HCSA eNewsletter Submissions

Dear HCSA members,
We are always looking for new items for our newsletter. To guarantee your submissions make the eNewsletter on time, please forward them at least one week before the next edition. The eNewsletter comes out bimonthly, often in the first and third weeks of the month.
Email the editor directly: [email protected]
Editor: Jessica Fairey