The theme this year is From the Ground Up.
The History Council has asked members for History Week 2021 to reflect on a period of tumult and then answer the questions below.
What kind of histories do we most need in our world today to heal the past and usher in fresh hope and possibility for the future?
We want you to tell History Week on line audiences how histories can “return to the roots” to strengthen the way we connect and care for one another and our communities.
What role might histories of place and environmental histories, social histories and “ histories from below “ play in this process?
Are they histories of place and environment such as local, public, architectural, or environmental history? Or perhaps your focus is people, and you are drawn to family histories, indigenous histories, fictional, cultural, social, medical or biographical history.
History Week is the annual ,state wide celebration of History ,which is organised by the History Council of NSW and is launched at the NSW Premier’s History Awards . Previous events have included talks and lectures, “behind the scenes tours” and heritage trails, exhibitions and radio features, film festivals, open historic houses and gardens , book sales and launches.
A further feature of History Week is the Annual History Lecture, which is to be held in the evening on September 7 2021. Last year’s talk was given by Professor Stan Grant, Education and Research (Indigenous History) at Charles Sturt University. His topic was “Coronavirus At The End of History.”
Lockdown is a great time in which to work on scanning family photos, research family history, and continue historical research etc. Trove has a wealth of material. I am working on an entry to the Ron Rathbone Local History Competition, and an entry to the Kogarah Historical Society Local History Award.
On your one hour daily walk in Bayside Council’s area, you might observe history around you in the form of a street name eg: Barton Street named after a former Alderman and Mayor of Rockdale ; a park name eg: Peter Depena Reserve, named in 1961, after a former Alderman, who was the son of an African father from the Cape Verde Islands and an Irish mother ; an old tree , an old house , an old corner shop or an old car.
You might also walk through the wetlands or along the beachfront walkway, or walk past the market gardens in West Botany Street or in the vicinity of Bare Island, La Perouse.
Anne Field September 5 2021
