By Matthew Sims
Victoria University’s Aboriginal History Archive [AHA] has received a $15,000 boost towards documenting documenting the history of Aboriginal activism over the past 100 years.
VU was among the recipients of the state government’s Local History grants program announced last month.
VU Professor Gary Foley has been building the collection of more than 400,000 objects, including news clippings, essays, journals and posters, for more than 15 years during his career as an activist, performer, historian and teacher.
He said he started the collection when he realised there were a few primary documents in mainstream collecting institutions detailing the self-determination struggles of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Professor Foley received an Australian Research Council grant to catalogue, index and digitise, and create an educational resource of his collection.
The AHA has planned to partner with Aboriginal community organisation Dardi Munwurro to record community stories relating to the AHA’s extensive collection of photos of Victoria’s Aboriginal community.
The Cinema and Theatre Historical Society of Australia, which meets at Yarraville’s Sun Theatre, also received a $1,900 grant towards the purchase of new high-speed scanning equipment to assist with the scanning of its collection relating to Melbourne and suburban theatres and cinemas.
Government Services Minister Danny Pearson said the grants supported local historical groups which continue to preserve Victoria’s history for future generations.
“These grants aid the protection of Victoria’s unique local history, supporting groups to showcase and share the voices, works and places of significance that have shaped our lives and the lives of those who came before us,” he said.
Other grant recipients included:
* The Australian Queer Archives for the digitisation of social health press clippings – $14,360;
* The Islamic Museum of Australia for Auslan translations for its ‘Missing voices’ program – $6963; and
* Scout Heritage Victoria for the digitisation of historic scouting films – $5,480.
Details: prov.vic.gov.au/community/grants-and-awards/local-history-grants-program
