eNewsletter
Newsletter 17 July 2025
President's message
The newsletter this month shows again just how much is going on in the history space. Amidst all of the events, make sure you mark in your diaries the upcoming 2025 HCSA Fellowship Lecture, to be held at the State Library on Wednesday 3 September. This year it will showcase the work of our 2025 Fellow David Reilly, who is tracing the history of the date palm in South Australia and beyond. Tickets can be obtained here via Humanitix.
A reminder too that it’s time to renew (or start) your membership with the History Council. For just $30, your membership assists us in providing fellowships, prizes and independent advocacy for all of those interested in history in South Australia.
You can renew or join here.
You can also offer a tax deductible donation here.
News
Friends of the Lutheran Archives (FoLA) News
The group has recently released their June newsletter, including many upcoming events listed further below.
Read it here (pdf download)
Australian Research Council Linkage grant
A generous grant has been awarded to a project led by a team of researchers from across Australia. The research project, A Tale of Two Cities, seeks to investigate the inter-generational outcomes of people who arrived to Australia free and not free. Researchers and partners involved in the project include many of our member organisations and researchers from South Australian Universities.
For further information, see the news post by the University of New England here.
Around the country
Save the Queen: The Priscilla Project
A project is underway to restore the Priscilla bus from the film 'The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'. She was discovered on a property in rural New South Wales, having survived fire, floods, and exposure to the elements. The History Trust of South Australia is seeking donations to restore the bus and display her at the National Motor Museum in Birdwood.
Further information through the HTSA
Our Story: Aboriginal-Chinese people in Australia
An exhibition at the National Museum of Australia which sheds light on the little-known history of Aboriginal and Chinese relations in colonial Australia.
Until 27 January 2026.
Further information through the museum website
Lectures, exhibitions, and events
Friends of the Lutheran Archives upcoming meetings
Life on the Far Side: Adventures Undergone while Investigating a Forgotten Past
Thursday 24 July at 7.30pm
Speaker: John Strehlow
139 Archer St, North Adelaide SA 5006
$5 donation
LIVESTREAM on FoLA YouTube channel here
Farmers, Entrepreneurs, Lutheran clergymen and a Doctor - Germans of the Mount Gambier District
Thursday 21 August at 7.30pm
Speaker: Betty Huf
139 Archer St, North Adelaide SA 5006
$5 donation
LIVESTREAM on FoLA YouTube channel here
Enlightened Aboriginal Futures and Sandhill Girl: The Story of Two Books and the Importance of Writing as Kin
Thursday 18 September at 7.30pm
Speakers: Barry Judd, Katherine Ellinghaus
139 Archer St, North Adelaide SA 5006
$5 donation
LIVESTREAM on FoLA YouTube channel here
Talking History: South Australia's Arts & Crafts
Meet some South Australian artists who practice 'hands-on history' by blowing glass, weaving, or sculpting.
12 August 2025, 5.30 - 8pm. Hetzel Lecture Theatre, State Library of South Australia.
Further information and registration through Trybooking
Genealogy SA events
Getting started with your family history (online)
Join Genealogy SA for this online beginners course on how to plan, research, record and share your genealogical discoveries. The course will include practical examples of family history research, information about how to access records and tips to avoid common pitfalls.
$50 Genealogy SA members / $99 non-members
27 July 2025, 10am - 3pm.
Further information and registration through Trybooking
Join Genealogy SA for this beginner’s workshop where we introduce the basics of DNA research for genealogy and give hands on instruction for getting started.
10 August 2025, 10am to 3pm
$69 Genealogy SA members / $129 non-members
Further information and registration through Trybooking
2024 Genealogy SA Family History Awards
Genealogy SA presents the results of the Article of the Year Award 2024 and the TT Reed Family History Book Award 2024, followed by afternoon tea.
24 August, 2pm to 4pm
$20pp, including afternoon tea and refreshments
Further information and registration through Trybooking
Sharpen your Research Skills
Join Genealogy SA for this intermediate course and develop your analytical research abilities. This course will teach you how best to approach your genealogical investigations, track your research, and cite your sources.
28 September 2025, 10am to 4pm
Early Bird Pricing (until 31st July) $79 Genealogy SA members / $129 non-members
Standard Pricing (from 1 August) $99 Genealogy SA members / $149 non-members
Further information and registration through Trybooking
French Huguenot Group – Trial Meeting
Do you have French Huguenot ancestry? You are invited to a trial meeting of a prospective new Genealogy SA special interest group: the French Huguenot Group. Please note, Special Interest Groups are free for Genealogy SA Members. Non-members are welcome to attend one meeting for free before becoming members of Genealogy SA.
26 August 2025, 7pm
Further information and registration through the Genealogy SA events calendar
A fairer future: the educational legacy of Bob Hawke
An exhibition that celebrates the importance of education through the achievements of the Hawke Government and Hawke's own participation and promotion of education outside of his political career.
2 April - 25 July, Kerry Packer Civic Gallery, Hawke Building level 3, UniSA City West Campus.
Further information through UniSA
People in the Landscape
A talk on Bangarla country with Maritime Museum curator Paul Mazourek about the amazing story of people and landscape development in the Northern Spencer Gulf.
Every Thursday in July, from 2pm - 3pm at Point Lowly Lighthouse.
Further information through the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse website
Professional Historians Association (SA) History at the Historian program 2025
An opportunity to engage with experts in the field, ask questions, and enjoy a stimulating discussion in a relaxed pub setting.
All are held at 5.45pm, at the Historian Hotel, 18 Coromandel Place, Adelaide.
Details of each event will be shared on the PHA's Facebook page
Monday 18 August: Stories from the Buffalo: Oral History Australia
Presenter: Christine Schoepf
Monday 20 October: Unearthing Research Gems at State Records of SA
Presenter: State Records of South Australia
Historical Society of South Australia Speaker Program 2025
First Friday of the month, 7.30 pm, Burnside City Uniting Church, Fisher Street, Tusmore.
1 August - Rob George: “Von Loves Her Modernist”: a film about Max Harris
5 September - Jade Hastings: Single women and the law: crime and legislative change in colonial South Australia, 1836 1880
3 October - Margot Way: The History of the Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre
7 November - Paul Flavel: John Martin’s. the story of South Australia’s beloved department store
Further details on each month’s History Talk are provided in the History SA newsletter and on the Society’s website.
Check out their website here
Treasures of the Viking Age: The Galloway Hoard
The Galloway Hoard is the richest find of rare and unique Viking-age objects ever made in the UK. Buried around AD 900 and only discovered in 2014 in southwest Scotland, the Hoard contains a stunning variety of rare and beautiful objects and illustrates the rich history of Viking trade that stretched from Scandinavia and the Atlantic across into the Middle East and Asia.
At the South Australian Museum until 27 July 2025.
Further information and tickets through the SA Museum website
Book releases
Frontier Medicine: stories of illness and survival in South Australia 1836-1856, by Maggi Boult
Based on the diaries of settlers, this book explores how people managed illness, injury, and childirth in a time before hospitals, formal public health systems, or fully regulated medical practice.
Book launch, 7 August. 12pm-1pm.
Hetzel Lecture Theatre, State Library of South Australia.
Further information and registration through Humanitix
Calls for papers
Amphorae XIX conference call for papers
The Classics and Ancient History postgraduate cohort at the University of Adelaide, Australia invites submissions to the 19th Annual Meeting of Postgraduates in Hellenic or Roman Antiquity and Egyptology (AMPHORAE) Conference for 2025.
25-29 August 2025, The University of Adelaide.
Further information and registration through their website
Opportunities
History Teacher's Association of South Australia Competitions
During the remainder of this year HTASA is actively supporting the National History Challenge, the Simpson Prize, the Premier’s Anzac Spirit Prize and the Governor’s Civics Awards.
National History Challenge. In 2025 the theme for the National History Challenge is: Conflict and Resolution. Further information and registration here.
Entries are submitted online and close on Friday, 22nd August.
The Simpson Prize. This year’s question involves using primary sources for evidence of contrasting perspectives on World War One or Two.
Further details and relevant sources are available from the website here.
The closing date for entries is Wednesday, November 5th.
The Premier’s ANZAC Spirit Prize and the Governor’s Civics Awards.
Details for 2025 for both competitions are accessible here.
The closing date for the Premier’s ANZAC Sprit Prize entries is Friday, September 5th, and for the Governor’s Civics Awards, Friday, September 12th.
