Author: Alice Beale

Each year the History Trust of South Australia supports the publication of history books through the South Australian History Fund. The books that are successful are those that increase our knowledge of South Australian history and make these fascinating stories accessible to all. The South Australian History fund strives to represent a diversity of voice and stories and the list of publications in 2024 continues this rich tradition. We are sharing just a few of them here. Happy reading!

Telling the story of South Australia’s favourite department store. This sumptuous publication by Paul Flavel features hundreds of rarely seen photographs and is the first book to chronicle the more than 130-year history of John Martin’s.

 

Drawn from Dorothy Campbell’s diaries Her Great Adventure: Dorothy ‘Puss’ Campbell WW2 Army Nursing Sister – is an account of Campbell’s war time experience as a nurse in the Australian Army Nursing Service. Enriched by Campbell’s own photography Scarfe details friendships made, sightseeing escapades and Campbell’s working life while serving in England, the Middle East and Papua New Guinea.

 

Harry Hodgetts is a figure who, until recently, had disappeared from the historical record. That is until former History, Australian Studies and Theory of Knowledge teacher John Davis came along. Davis has brought the story of Harry Hodgetts to life, his rise as a prominent Adelaide stockbroker, his commitment to sporting codes, education and the Royal Institute of the Blind, the role he played in bringing Don Bradman to South Australia and his eventual fall from grace that saw him incarcerated.

 

Stones of Fire is the autobiographical story of Minnie Berrington, thought to be the first female opal miner. Originally published in 1958 this work was republished in 2024 with a forward by Minnie’s grand-niece Rachel Berrington and introduction by Stuart Wattison. The re-release of Stones of Fire again allows the world to know the story of English immigrant Minnie Berrington who set off for Coober Pedy in search of Australian opal.

 

On the 19^th of July 1916 South Australian and Western Australian soldiers of the 32^nd Battalion took part in the unmitigated disaster that was the Battle of Fromelles. In A Veritable Hell Scrimgeour uses the words and reminisces of the Australian soldiers who took part in this offensive. From the home front Scrimgeour exposes the desperation of families searching and the anguish that comes from not knowing.

In September the Community Engagement team at the History Trust of South Australia was pleased to welcome the Burra History Group as its 100th Museums and Collections (MaC) member. Since 2019 the MaC program has been supporting communities to develop, care for and share the stories of their collections, which represent significant pieces of South Australia’s history. It is wonderful that after five years the network of MaC membership is growing and continuing to represent the diversity of community history organisations throughout our state.

Members of the Burra History Group at the Burra Railway Station

To mark this important milestone, representatives from the History Trust of South Australia journeyed to Burra to meet our new members. We were keen to learn about their collections, the South Australian stories they are custodians of, and the plans they have for the future of their organisation.

They took the team on a tour of the Burra Town Hall and Railway Station followed by the township itself. There was also a very special trip to the Burra Library to see the Ian Auhl collection. This significant collection is the record for the research produced by Auhl in his lifetime including The Story of The ‘Monster Mine’; The Burra Burra mine and its Townships 1845-1877.

It is an exciting time for Burra and its heritage, and it was a delight to see that the Burra History Group are just as passionate and committed to their history as the other MaC members in the network.

If you would like to know more about the MaC program and our members you can visit our website here: MaC Program | History Trust of South Australia

To learn more about the Burra History Group you visit their website: Burra History

History Trust of South Australia, Artlab Australia and South Australian Fire and Emergency Services win South Australian Resilient Australia Award

A South Australian Resilient Australia Government Award has recently been won by the History Trust of South Australia, Artlab Australia and South Australian Fire and Emergency Services Commission for the Strengthening Disaster Resilience Training for South Australian Community Museums project.

This project sought to improve disaster resilience within community museums in both metropolitan and regional areas. A training program developed by Artlab Australia and History Trust of South Australia and funded by SAFECOM was delivered to five Museums and Collections members. Hahndorf Academy, St Johns Ambulance Museum, Port Lincoln History Group, Axel Stenross Maritime Museum and Clare National Trust.

The disaster resilience training program equipped the participants and their museums with the essential skills needed to undertake disaster preparedness, risk assessments and emergency protocols. In addition, the project fostered collaboration between emergency management and emergency services stakeholders with cultural heritage organisations in South Australia.

The History Trust of South Australia would like to congratulate everyone involved in this important program and thank the community groups who got on board and made it a success.

The History Trust of South Australia is pleased to introduce Alice Beale our new Senior Curator – Community Engagement.

Alice has been associated with the South Australian GLAM sector for more than a decade in her role as Senior Collection Manager – Humanities and World Cultures at the South Australian Museum (SAM). In that time, she has managed major collection projects, developed, and participated in public programs and curated exhibitions. Prior to returning to South Australia Alice worked as a Curator in the Anthropology and Archaeology Department at the Western Australian Museum.

Some recent highlights from Alice’s work at SAM have been the 2020 Story Necklace exhibition, featuring a 50-metre necklace from Ikuntji Artists, and in 2022, she created a public program centred on conserving SAM’s tapa cloth collection in collaboration with Artlab Australia textile conservators, where the public could view the conservation work in the Pacific Cultures Gallery.

Alice has published widely on collection management practices and teaches collection management to post graduate students at the University of Adelaide. Additionally, Alice served on the Australian Museums and Galleries South Australian Branch committee for seven years.

Alice is passionate about collection care and making collections accessible in ways that benefit local communities and is excited to be supporting South Australian history organisations and community collections.

“I am thrilled to have Alice Beale join the curatorial team. She is a fantastically skilled and thorough curator and collection manager, who brings a fresh set of eyes and enthusiasm to our community programs, and I know she is excited to support history and museum projects across South Australia and also meet the communities that we serve through our grants and outreach programs.”

Dr Adam Paterson, Manager Curatorial.

Please join us in welcoming Alice to the South Australian History Network.