Steve Bracks MP, Premier of Victoria, announced the 66 successful applicants under Round One of the program at the Eureka Stockade Centre in Ballarat on 6 January 2000.
All Saints Anglican Church, Bright
Microfilming of baptism and marriage records
Awarded: $550
This project will make available the marriage and baptism records for local history researchers and ensure they are preserved.
Ararat Genealogical Society Inc
Microfilming of ‘The Ararat Advertiser’
Awarded: $5,000
This microfilming project will enable the long-term preservation of, and public access to an important local history newspaper collection.
Barham and Koondrook Historical Society Inc
Complete publication recording the history of Koondrook and Barham
Awarded: $450
This small project will complete a successful and popular series of local history stories (No 23). The ongoing project of recording the area’s history has been carried out over a period of years with the full support of the local community.
Bendigo Chinese Association
A social history book on the Chinese of Bendigo
Awarded: $7,000
This project will produce a book detailing the history of the Chinese in Bendigo and will also serve as a useful guide to the Chinese cemetery in Bendigo, heightening its usefulness and relevance to Bendigo locals, the Chinese community of Victoria and researchers.
Bendigo Trust
Conservation of original dividend flag of the Central Deborah Gold Mining Company
Awarded: $2,850
The project aims to restore and display the only surviving dividend flag of the Central Deborah Gold Mine, a vital and fascinating part of Victorian history. This project will make an important historical object permanently available to all Victorians.
Birchip Historical Society Inc
Heritage Trail: Numbers and brochure
Awarded: $950
This project will formalise an existing ‘heritage trail’ in Birchip by placing permanent numbers and producing a brochure to be distributed free of charge.
Bright & District Historical Society Inc
Cataloguing and indexing of collection
Awarded: $1,793
This project will create a permanent, flexible and accessible index to a major historical collection and will benefit researchers and the communities of Bright & District alike.
Castlemaine & District Continuing Education
Training course on researching local history for local residents
Awarded: $4,860
This training program will expand the knowledge and skills of the local community, and is a carefully planned and detailed addition to the applicant’s existing programs.
Castlemaine Historical Society
Oral history of Castlemaine 1956 Olympic Games Torch Bearers & photographic record of year 2000 Torch Bearers
Awarded: $1,000
This topical and innovative project will both preserve history (relating to the 1956 Olympics) and collect history for the future (during the 2000 Olympic torch-bearers run).
Castlemaine State Festival
Cataloguing and archiving of the records of the Festival
Awarded: $3,500
Aimed at preserving, ordering and making accessible the records of this highly successful local event, this project would ensure that future generations have access to knowledge about regional Victorian activities in this period.
Chelsea and District Historical Society
Create CD of historic photograph collection
Awarded: $2,685
This project will make accessible a major photographic collection of local and statewide interest. By creating a CD of the images, the original photographs can be conserved whilst still enabling public access.
Coleraine and District Historical Society
The preservation of newspaper “The Albion”
Awarded: $1,800
This project will make available an important local history collection in perpetuity, and will ensure the survival of the fragile originals.
Darraweit Guim Memorial Hall Committee
A permanent photographic display showing the history of Darraweit Guim
Awarded: $1,604
A project to create a permanent photographic history of the area.
Dartmoor District Museum
Digitally preserve and research the photographic images of the ‘Vern McCallum Collection
Awarded: $7,500
This project will enable this unique and valuable local history collection to be preserved and digitised, enabling widespread and ongoing access.
East Gippsland Historical Society Inc
Conservation / cataloguing of large photographic collection
Awarded: $5,000
This project will conserve, catalogue and make publicly accessible a rich collection of photographic history from across a wide geographical area.
East Loddon & District Historical Society
Book: “Memories of School Days of Pompapiel, Calurl South, Hayanmi and Prairie West”
Awarded: $1,500
This project will preserve and make accessible history relating to a group of closed schools.
Footscray Historical Society Inc
Western Suburbs: Western Front Footscray and Williamstown Soldiers of the Great War 1914-18
Awarded: $5,573
This project will make accessible an important collection of historical papers – letters from soldiers to their families – which has until now been difficult to obtain.
Friends of Stony Creek Inc
A guided heritage walk along Stony Creek from the Yarra River to O’Brien Hill
Awarded: $1,826
This community-driven project will complete a series of voluntary research projects on the Stony Creek area by providing, free of charge, a useable, accurate brochure detailing a historical walking tour of the Creek.
Friends of the Burke Museum Inc
Beechworth Oral History Project
Awarded: $5,273
Aimed at both enriching the experience offered by a vital local museum and preservinf local history, this project will collect, record and preserve oral histories from the area and design them into the museum’s displays.
Genoa Town Committee Inc
An oral history in the remote Gippsland communities of Genoa and Wangarabbu
Awarded: $4,000
The grant will cover production and printing costs on a well-developed, community based oral history sourced book.
Healesville and District Historical Society Inc
Conservation, cataloguing, filing and preservation of the Society’s collection of photographs of Healesville and District
Awarded: $2,070
This conservation project will preserve and make available a significant local history collection, which can be accessed for research, exhibition and display, and education.
Hillside/Rosehill Reserve Association Inc
The history of education at Hillside and the district generally
Awarded: $3,400
A book history of education in the Hillside district (State Schools Nos. 1723 and 4637), incorporating two now defunct schools. This project will preserve and make accessible an important slice of Victorian social history.
Hobsons Bay City Council
Historical photographic exhibition of the Hobsons Bay area
Awarded: $2,000
The project is wide-ranging, interesting and has a well-developed plan for ensuring public access (by touring to libraries, town halls and council offices with the municipality). The project will have ongoing significance for the whole community of Hobsons Bay, as the photographs will be retained.
Horsham Historical Society Inc
Horsham and District people involved in the Boer War 1899-1902
Awarded: $2,750
This project is a well-designed proposal with a high degree of community involvement, and will provide a valuable historical record of a local experience with an international event.
Inverloch Historical Society Inc
“Inverloch & District Identities and Pioneers”
Awarded: $1,000
The project, while focusing on several local families, will draw in much valuable historical material from the South Gippsland area.
Jewish Museum of Australia
“Shmatte Business”: Jewish involvement in the textile and fashion industry in Flinders Lane
Awarded: $5,000
The project is a worthwhile and interesting exhibition on a valuable and often little known part of Melbourne’s history.
Katamatite Historical Society
Identification and writing of personal history of 65 framed photos of men, who enlisted from Katamatite in World War 1
Awarded: $2,300
This local history project will serve not only the Katamatite community but also all Victorians interested in the history of Australia’s involvement in the first World War. A visually stimulating, well-developed and ongoing project.
Kilnoorat Cemetery Committee of Management
CD information relating to cemetery and its graves
Awarded: $1,000
This project will be a valuable resource for family and local history researchers, collecting together all the background information required to fully appreciate the cemetery
Koroit & District Historical Society
Microfilming of local newspaper “The Koroit Sentinel and Tower Hill Advocate”
Awarded: $2,806
This microfilming project will complete an important local newspaper preservation and access program. The Society has obtained the fragile original newspapers covering the past fifty years of which create a complete news history of the wider district.
Kyneton Historical Society Inc
Purchase microfilms covering 20 years of the local newspaper The Kyneton Observer
Awarded: $980
This project will have ongoing benefit for both the Kyneton community and researchers in general by making an important newspaper collection available on microfilm for research and reference.
Leongatha Secondary College
Establish a research archive of the region, based at Leongatha Secondary College
Awarded: $1,900
This project, to build and create a community archives housed in a school, will benefit the whole region and future researchers by ensuring much of the written and pictorial history of the district is preserved.
Lindsey Arkley
History of Aboriginal-European relations in colonial Victoria: Charles Sievwright, the Assistant Aboriginal Protector in the Western District of Victoria
Awarded: $5,000
The material is a valuable, unique historical resource, of interest to local historians and historians of colonial relations alike.
Mallee Oral History Group
Continuation of ongoing oral history project in district
Awarded: $1,380
This well-established, locally supported project has been collecting oral histories across a wide area for some time. This application will allow the expansion of the program to include more valuable local stories.
Meeniyan Progress Association Inc
Mount additional photographs in permanent local history display
Awarded: $550
This project will continue to build on a successful permanent display which is accessible to local people and visitors, and will conserve more photographic history for posterity.
Melville Forest Community Centre Inc
A history book of the Melville Forest area for past 150 years
Awarded: $4,050
A community-driven, well-planned project to create a local history in an accessible, low-cost format.
Michael Gaffy (Itch Inc)
“The Rural Itch": Multimedia Presentation
Awarded: $3,830
‘The Rural Itch’ will produce a video and CD ROM of oral / community stories from Wellington Shire.
Mildura and District Historical Society Inc
A book of a pictorial album of photgraphs for Mildura and surrounds in the late 19th century
Awarded: $3,000
This project will permanently preserve and make publicly available a unique and extensive pictorial local history collection, of established interest and value.
Mirboo & District Historical Society Inc
Pictorial book detailing the local development of the area since 1878
Awarded: $1,850
This local history project focuses on an existing photographic collection of great interest to the local and wider community. The preliminary and research work is completed; this grant will enable publication of a text of widespread community interest and value.
Monbulk Historical Society Inc
Oral History publication relating to the people who settled the Patch in the 1890’s, following the Village Settlement Act
Awarded: $1,000
This clearly defined project focuses on an aspect of Victorian history which has wide significance as well as local resonance.
Mt Evelyn Environment Protection & Progress Assoc.
The production of a revised “Centenary” edition of Tracks to Trails: a history of Mt Evelyn (1997)
Awarded: $2,000
Although this history is a second edition, it will include substantively new material and will make available a comprehensive and useable history of the wider district to locals and researchers alike.
Murgheboluc Reserve Committee of Management
Display of history of Murgheboluc and the Murgheboluc Reserve
Awarded: $2,570
This project will present a permanent and dynamic display on the history of the region, drawing in photographic and documentary material in addition to considerable oral history.
Newstead and District Historical Society Inc
Publication of brochure guiding visitors to a newly researched historic walk
Awarded: $1,600
This project will expand on the success of an earlier (now defunct) trail and will serve as a permanent ‘historic experience’ to be enjoyed by locals and visitors alike.
Nick Cowling
Accurately record and transcribe the reality of the homeless experience as told by homeless people themselves
Awarded: $7,994
An oral history project focusing on the experience of homeless people in Victoria.
North Geelong Football Club Inc
Replacement of Club Photos destroyed in a fire in 1984
Awarded: $1,340
This project will replace from private collections the photographic records of the Football Club, an integral part of the local community, and make them permanently accessible to generations to come.
Nullawil Historical Society Inc
A Book of Remembrance recording details of all ex-service personnel, from the Boer War to the Vietnam conflict, who were involved in the Nullawil community
Awarded: $1,000
This innovative project will compile a resource which can be used and appreciated by the community for many years to come. Its breadth (covering all service people in the region), will make a dynamic and important resource for the community.
Orbost and District Historical Sociey
Conservation of Photographic history of Orbost District
Awarded: $2,500
Part of an ongoing restoration program for a valuable and unique photographic collection, this project will preserve, digitise and make readily available an important local history resource.
Orbost Urban Fire Brigade
Compile and preserve the existing photographic and historical information of the incidence of major Bush fires in the Far East gippsland area on CD
Awarded: $4,439
This innovative, well-developed proposal will produce a CD history of an important social history phenomenon (bushfire) in an interactive, searchable form which covers a wide area (East Gippsland).
Pyramid Hill Historical Society Inc
Research and print a 10 year segment of obituaries as taken from the Pyramid Hill Advertiser 1920-1929
Awarded: $1,300
Obituaries are a vital source of information for family and local history groups and researchers, yet are often difficult to obtain. This project will make vital records accessible not only to their own community but also to researchers in other parts of the state.
Royal Historical Society of Victoria
Collect and prepare a definitive collection of local management plans
Awarded: $3,628
Local management plans are a vital source of local and community history, yet there is currently no complete collection available anywhere for reference. The Royal Historical Society has the experience and capacity to create, maintain and make publicly accessible to all Victorians an invaluable resource in a complete set of these plans.
Seymour & District Historical Society Inc
History of schools of Seymour and district, 1846 to 1999
Awarded: $5,669
The broad scope and inclusiveness of this project, supported by a wide range of community groups, will make it a valuable resource for a large local district and family and education history researchers in general.
Simpson and District Community Centre Inc
Visual exhibition of the history of Simpson and the Heytesbury Settlement
Awarded: $1,427
This project builds upon the success of a completed oral history project, and will serve as a permanent record of the history of the area. The pictorial material will be preserved and enriched with local memories from the Oral History project. An interactive, community-focused display, this well-planned exhibition will have benefits for the local area and beyond, and may be of particular interest to schools.
Skipton and District Historical Society
“Soldiers of Skipton”: a history of the Stoneleigh, Langi Willi and Mooramong Soldier Settlement Schemes 1953-1955 in the Skipton District
Awarded: $4,279
This project is well-developed and already in progress, with voluntary research and collection work ongoing. The proposal indicates that the applicant has already received material and information from 20 soldier-settler familes, making this a broad study of considerable historical value, not only to the local community but to historians of Victoria in the post-war period. The project should produce a book of widespread community interest.
Sovereign Hill Museums Association
Stage 2 of an exhibition about Koori culture in the Ballarat region
Awarded: $5,000
This co-operative project will draw on the resources of Sovereign Hill and local Koori communities to create a lasting, publicly displayed exhibition of both local and Victoria-wide historic interest.
St Arnaud Tourist Association Inc
“Gooroc History Project”: exhibition and publication
Awarded: $900
This multi-faceted project celebrates the history of the Gooroc district, with its predominantly Irish heritage, in both display and published form. The research for this project is complete, and outcomes have been defined.
Tallangatta & District Heritage Group
Develop the collection of the planned Tallangatta Museum
Awarded: $4,134
This project, to develop the collection of the planned Tallangatta Museum, is an ambitious and fascinating undertaking, which will help ensure the history of Tallangatta is permanently preserved and publicly available.
The Italian Historical Society
Catalogue and preserve a recent donation of more than three thousand historical items, identified as the ‘Candela Collection’
Awarded: $9,000
This is a worthwhile cataloguing/conservation project on a significant multicultural collection. Successful completion will enable widespread community access to a collection of statewide interest and value.
Lions Club of Murtoa Inc
Preservation of the James Hill Taxidermy Collection
Awarded: $5,756
The Sir James Hill taxidermy bird collection is one of the most important collections of its type in the world. This project will ensure the long-term survival of the main collection through provision of a purpose-built display case, keeping the collection available for viewing in perpetuity.
Uniting Church Historical Society (Vic)
A book entitled “Captives of freedom,” recording the life of the United Methodist Free Churches which were active in Victoria from 1837 until 1902
Awarded: $680
A low-cost, wide-ranging project which covers the Victorian-wide United Methodist Free Churches which were important in 19th century Victorian history.
The Women’s Jail Project
History of the Sunbury Women’s Refractory
Awarded: $12,711
This innovative and original project, of interest to many local historians, is based on the research performed to create an acclaimed performance at the Refractory earlier this year.
Victoria Police Historical Society Inc
Digitise Victoria Police Historical Society’s collection of photographs
Awarded: $2,000
This project will enable the Society to digitise and make publicly available its extensive and unique collection of photographs relating to police bravery in Victoria.
Victorian Ladies’ Bowling Association Inc
The complete history of the oldest ladies bowling Association in the world
Awarded: $12,000
This project is well-developed and already in progress, with voluntary research and collection work ongoing. The widespread interest in this area of community life, and the broad scope of the project, add to the considerable social history value of this project.
Vietnam Veterans Motorcycle Club
History of the Vietnam Veterans Motorcycle Club
Awarded: $13,848
This project will focus on an important and rarely documented Victorian social movement. With the support of related groups and the donated services of a respected historian, the text will reflect a vital aspect of life in the twentieth century and the impact of external events on the lives of Victorians.
Wangaratta Centre for Continuing Education
“Our Migrants Stories” book
Awarded: $10,000
This project will allow the publication of a considerable collection of oral histories, already in production, on an important subject for the Wangaratta region and beyond. This collection will be of interest to Wangaratta locals and others, and will make a contribution to a vital area of Victorian history – migrants experiences.
Werribee & District Historical Society
Cataloguing, conserving and digitising of photographic collection
Awarded: $5,060
The photographic collection which is the subject of this application is a significant and sizeable record of the history of Werribee / Wyndham. It is intended that CD will be both achievable and highly useful for local people and researchers.
Whitehorse Manningham Regional Library Corporation
“Suburban Voices”: A community – based oral history and visual project focusing on the diversity and changing nature of the Manningham Community
Awarded: $8,835
A community-based, wide-reaching project, this oral history program will collect and make available a valuable slice of suburban history.
Williamstown Historical Society Inc
Conserve, preserve and store important photgraphic collection, covering local buildings, personalities and events
Awarded: $7,000
This is a planned, detailed, carefully costed project to conserve and make permanently publicly available a vital local history collection.