Partnerships with an Oral Historian

Oral history research methodologies are growing in popularity as an instrument of capturing contemporary stories or voices, of the local, personal, public and the global experience. A corporate or global organisation can benefit from partnering with an oral historian to produce collections that are relevant and useful to both, but superior methodology is essential

A vision of the past : The Mill Albion

This paper examines The Mill Albion community history project, a diverse, multi-layered public history/art program that captures the social heritage of The Albion Flour Mill, as told through images produced as part of a research consultancy undertaken by QUT for FKP Property Group. The Albion Flour Mill was built in 1930 and continued operations for more than 72 years. After ceasing operation in 2005 the site was left to deteriorate. The FKP Property Group purchased the land to undertake a new urban redevelopment project. This paper reflects on the project and showcases some of the culturally creative ways this community’s history was told, using images

Sharing Stories with each other: Collecting oral histories of our community

This booklet aims to offer oral history as a tool to be used by communities to see their history from a social or humanist stance. Allowing the public to create a collective narrative about the people and places in their surrounds that form part of our contemporary Australian history

Response to the apology : Queenslanders reflect : a State Library of Queensland project

On the 13th February 2008 Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made an apology to Australia’s Indigenous Peoples on behalf of the Australian Parliament. The State Library of Queensland (SLQ) with assistance from Queensland University of Technology and Queensland’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, has captured responses to this historic event. ‘Responses to the 2008 Apology’ is a collection of digital stories created as part of this research initiative. Until recently, digital storytelling has not generally been treated as a necessary addition to the research collections of Australian libraries. However, libraries increasingly aim to promote new literacies and active audiences as they seek innovative ways to encourage life-long learning by their users, and digital storytelling is one methodology that can contribute to these goals. The State Library of Queensland is the only Australian State Library to have undertaken a major role in the collection of digital stories. They currently lead the way with their Queensland Stories digital storytelling program. This presentation will report findings and outcomes from this research project

Dying a Little

In Australia a person is reported missing to police every eighteen minutes. Of those reported missing, 99.5% are found, but even if the period of loss is only a few minutes, the families of those who are lost 'die a little death' until their loved ones are found

Facilitating local stories in post-disaster regional communities : evaluation in narrative-driven oral history projects

Cyclone Yasi struck the Cassowary Coast of Northern Queensland, Australia, in the early hours of February 3, 2011, destroying many homes and property, including the destruction of the Cardwell and district historical society’s premises. \ud \ud With their own homes flattened, many residents were forced to live in mobile accommodation, with extended family, or leave the area altogether. The historical society members seemed, however, particularly devastated by their flattened foreshore museum and loss of their precious collection of material. A call for assistance was made through the Oral History Association of Australia’s Queensland branch (OHAA Qld), which along with a Queensland University of Technology (QUT) research team sponsored a trip to best plan how they could start to pick up the pieces to rebuild the museum. \ud \ud This chapter highlights the need for communities to gather, preserve and present their own stories, in a way that is sustainable and meaningful to them – whether that be because of a disaster, or as they go about life in their contemporary communities – the key being that good advice, professional support and embedded evaluation practices at crucial moments along the way can be critically important

Incorporating community history into urban redevelopment

A community history project must be relevant to each person within it so that they see themselves as part of the socio-cultural fabric of the area and feel a sense of ownership of their environment. The Mill Albion community history project is a diverse, multi-layered public history/art program that captures the social heritage of The Mill Albion and allows the community to contribute to their ongoing history. The Albion Flour Mill was built in 1930 at a time when Australia was feeling the effects of its worst economic depression and continued operations for more than 72 years. After ceasing operation in 2005 the site was left to deteriorate. The FKP Property Group purchased the land to undertake a new urban redevelopment project, drawing on the design principles of a traditional ‘village’, while valuing the importance of remembering the community that once included the Flour Mill. This paper reflects on the this project and showcases some of the culturally creative ways this community’s history was told, using methods such as digital stories, contemporary and historical photography and oral history

Kindred Spirits

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The problems and possibilities of using digital storytelling in public history projects

Kelvin Grove is a small inner-city working-class suburb, which has always been a gathering point for various people. While never densely populated, the 16-hectares of land that is now the heart of the Kelvin Grove Urban Village (KGUV) – a Department of Housing redevelopment -- has been a meeting place for indigenous clans, and military and educational institutions that have shaped Brisbane and Queensland. Each of these groups has its own history, but collectively their stories offered an opportunity to compose a public history project about Kelvin Grove as a place with an evolving and complex identity.\ud \ud A multi-art form public history project has offered a range of possibilities for the telling of this history, while also increasing a sense of community, and for allowing individuals, through the use of oral history and digital storytelling (DST) in particular, to construct a personal sense of place, identity and history