History Week 2011: 3-11 September – Update

Event registration is now open!
To register an event, login to the History Council website and click “Create a History Week event”
If you have any difficulty logging into the website please contact the office on 9252 8715 or admin@historycouncilnsw.org.au .
The closing date for registrations has been extended to Monday 16 May.

See also previous post for more information.

Central Tablelands Chapter - Museums Australia

The Central Tablelands Chapter held a very successful and well attended Annual Meeting last year at the Millthorp Museum and held a Project Day in August, hosted by Kandos Bicentennial Museum.

 

This year the Mudgee Historical Society and Museum have prepared an interesting Social Day on Saturday, 14th May and it will end with our Annual Meeting.

The President, Trevor Pascoe, has written to all Museums and Historical Societies to encourage attendance at this year's meeting. Links to letter and attachments hereunder.

President's letter

Notice of Annual General Meeting 2011

Registration Form re attendance

Minutes and Reports for AGM 2010

Photographing Railways

Talk by Robert and Bruce Wheatley 

Robert and Bruce Wheatley were given the freedom by their parents at ages 16 and 13, to roam the NSW railway network for up to a week at a time. With packs on their back and pocket money for survival, they travelled on all manner of trains, slept in railway waiting rooms, rode with the guard on goods trains and when confidence grew, with the crew in the cab. Their challenge was to capture on film, the steam railway in all its beauty and grime, before the era ended. The result of their years of railway photography have been put into print. Railway Portraits was published in 2006 and due to public demand, Railway Portraits Volume 2 was released in 2010. Robert and Bruce will present a sample of their photographs and provide background to the taking of their evocative images.

This is a joint activity of ASHET and the Royal Australian Historical Society.

Venue: History House, 133 Macquarie Street, Sydney
Time : 5.30 for 6 pm
Cost : $8.00 Includes light refreshments on arrival
Bookings : phone RAHS on (02) 9247 8001 or email history@rahs.org.au

History Week 2011: 3-11 September – EAT History

History Week 2011 will bring to the table the Edible, Appetising and Tasty history of food. Who ate what and where in the past? How did we cook and where did our food come from? History Week 2011 will be a smorgasbord of delectable delights!

Host an Event - Benefits and Criteria 

Event Ideas - Need some inspiration for your History Week 2011 event?

Programme - More information 

Host an Event - Benefits and Criteria

CONSERVATION WORKSHOPS

Friday 3, 10 & 17 June, 2011

Margaret Scott, RAHS volunteer conservator, will conduct these practical workshops.

Day 1: Document Folder to hold a group of papers, a number of leaflets, magazines or slim books, no larger than A4 size and no thicker than 1.5cm. 

Phase Box to protect damaged books awaiting repair or re-binding. Bring something no larger than A4 size and no thicker than 1.5cm - a photo album would be suitable.

Day 2: Quick Slipcase using black buckram. Select a book measuring approx. 22cm X 15cm and at least 1cm thick.

Solid Slipcase using lined grey board and covered with a choice of black, maroon or blue buckram. Select a book measuring approx. 22cm X 15cm and at least 2cm thick.

Day 3: Repair and protection techniques - paper repair using Filmoplast tape; folding a Mylar jacket cover; folded cover for books with detached boards.

Equipment: Please bring with you snap-off craft knife [2cm blade] sharp pencil, eraser, steel ruler either 45cm or 60cm long, a bone folding tool [available at art suppliers], set square, dividers and cutting mat.

Time:      10am to 4pm

Cost:      $50 per day includes materials. Morning tea will be provided but bring lunch or buy nearby.
Venue:      History House Auditorium

Bookings are essential by 20 May for catering purposes.

SEMINAR - NEW WAYS WITH ORAL HISTORY

Museums & Galleries NSW in collaboration with the Oral History Association of Australia and the Institute for Professional Practice in Heritage and the Arts, Australian National University presents this 2-day seminar.

Day One: The Use and Abuse of Oral Histories

Inspiring presentations will focus on the use of oral history in creatively capturing and recording our past.

When: Friday 13 May, 9.30am – 4.45pm

Where: Royal Australian Historical Society, History House, 133 Macquarie St Sydney 2000

Day Two:Talking Objects: The Place of Objects in Our Remembered Experiences and

Captured Memories - Oral History in the Digital Age (practical workshop on Oral History Theory and Practice)

When: Saturday 14 May,

Where: Metcalfe Auditorium, State Library of NSW, Macquarie St Sydney

For further information, program, enquiries contact and registration form, please see Museums & Galleries NSW website.

RAHS New England and North West Regional Conference

Friday 20 - Sunday 22 May 2011

The Armidale and District Historical Society and the Armidale Family History Group will be joint hosts for this conference 'Picturing the Past'. 

For program information and contact details.

Collectabilia at Golden Memories Museum, Millthorpe

Saturday 16 April, 2011 starting at 10am – 3pm

Enjoy your afflication, meet other sufferers and get an expert opinion on up to two of your collectable objects. 

$5.00 admission for adults – $3.00 for children

Tykes On The Hill - Successful book launch

A large crowd gathered at the Kandos Museum on Thursday (appropriately St Patrick's Day) for the book launch of Tykes on the Hill by local author Pam O'Connor, writing under the pseudonym of Kay Andos. The book is an excellent pictorial reference of the Sisters of Mercy - the Good Samaritan Sister, the local priests and congregation of the Catholic Church and Convent that played such an important role in the lives of the people of Kandos. In launching the the book, Esme Martens explained that up until 1922 there was no church and no school in Kandos. St Dominic's Church and school were then built and this was followed by the convent in 1930. The author explains in the book how the title came about.

"I first saw "Tykes on the Hill" scrawled in a wet recently laid cement path at St Dominic's School in the 1950's when a boy who attended the school received a sixer for writing the words in the path"

The book is available at the Kandos Museum for $40 and is expected to be much sought after by locals and visitors - Catholic and non-Catholic alike. 

Ref: Community Capers, April issue, 2011

Mentorships and Fellowships for regional museum and gallery staff

With devolved funding from Arts NSW, M&G NSW are providing a range of Mentorships and Fellowships for regional museum and gallery staff to expand their experience within the sector. M&G NSW can match successful applicants with an institution or applicants can arrange their own placement. The grants cover costs assocated with travel, accommodation and incidentals.

Applicants can choose to undertake a placement within Australia (Mentorships) or the Asia Pacific (Fellowships).

Last year’s Mentorship recipients spent time at institutions including the National Gallery of Australia, Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Powerhouse Museum and have returned with stories of valuable experiences, providing fresh perspectives and new industry contacts. Fellowship recipients last year were placed in the National Museum of Singapore, the Asian Civilizations Museum and the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

Amount available: Up to $2,500 for each mentorship
                                   Up to $5,000 for each Fellowship
Contact: Intending applicants should contact Suzanne Bravery General Manager Programs & Services, M&G NSW on 02 9358 1760 or 1800 114 311 (regional areas freecall only) or email suzanneb@mgnsw.org.au for more information and to  obtain an application form.
Applications for both Mentorships and Fellowships close: 2 May 2011
Further information: http://mgnsw.org.au/grants/mentorships_and_fellowships/

Ref:  Museums & Galleries NSW’s Alert!  for Wednesday, 31 March 2011.

Volunteer-Initiated Museum (VIM) Grant Program 2011

Reminder! Museums & Galleries NSW is pleased to announce that the Volunteer-Initiated Museum (VIM) Grant Program is now open for 2011. Applications are now invited for Leg Ups – Skill Development Grants (matched funding up to $500), VIM Small Grants (funding up to $1,500) and VIM Skills Initiatives Grants (funding up to $5,000).  The Leg Ups and Skills Initiative Grants can be applied for year round until all funds are expended.

The first round of Small Grants close: Friday 15 April 2011.

The Guidelines for all VIM Grants can be downloaded from the M&G NSW website.

Contact Phoebe Arthur, Sector Development Coordinator on 02 9339 9913, free call 1800 114 311 or phoebea@mgnsw.org.au to organise an application form today.

Ref:  Museums & Galleries NSW’s Alert!  for Wednesday, 31 March 2011.

Country tour by ASHET and RAHS members

The tour, organised by ASHET (Australian Society for the History of Engineering Technology) in conjunction with RAHS (Royal Australian Historical Society) and the local societies in the Rylstone - Kandos area, took place on the weekend Saturday and Sunday 2-3 April 2011 under the leadership of Dr. Ian Jack, President of ASHET and RAHS.

The group of 40+ members had a short break at Pearson's Lookout arriving at Glen Davis for lunch. Then followed an extensive guided tour of the ruins of the shale oil mining and refining operations at Glen Davis. Leonie Knapman, who has made an extensive study of the shale oil industry in NSW, was on the tour.

The oil shale industry operated at Glen Davis from 1938 to 1952.

The day concluded with dinner at the Bridge View Inn, a historic sandstone building in Rylstone, owned by the Rylstone and District Historical Society.

Sunday started with a visit the Kandos Bicentennial Industrial Museum. Kandos dates from 1913 when a cement works was established there. The town is named after the directors of the cement company. The museum provides an insight into the region’s industrial and social history.

Then before lunch, there was visit to Dabee homestead, about 6 km east of Kandos and Rylstone. The homestead dates from the late 1840s and was built by the wealthy emancipist Richard Fitzgerald, a pioneer in the area.

The woolshed and shesring shed complex were also inspected.

After lunch in Rylstone, there was an inspection of the Cottage Museum, a showing the 20 minute documentary film No such a place, about Glen Davis and then a guided walking tour of the town which has a group of recently restored sandstone buildings - guides being members of the Rylstone and District Historical Society.