Family History, Public History and Identity data

Full description

“Family History, Public History and Identity” is a bicentennial project of The Benevolent Society (Australia’s oldest surviving charity). This will collect the family histories of descendants of people who were clients of the Benevolent Society in the 19^th and early twentieth centuries.. The research focus is on the intergenerational experience of poverty, the socio and economic context of the poor in the 19th century and how they accessed charitable and state support.

Artifacts associated with family histories, provided by the family historian or the Benevolent Society include:

• Text and photos associated with family history.
• Physical objects like clothes and family heirlooms might have been photographed
• Written correspondence and emails.
• Newspaper clippings
• Criminal records
• Institutional records
• Family Trees
• Birth, Deaths and Marriage records.
• Interviews with family historians (sound recordings which may be transcribed). These are often family members who have taken on the role of family archivist.
• Analysis of motivations of family historians
• Material about the Benevolent Society, such as its Annual Reports and Committee records.
• Bibliography
• “HistoryPin” – Powerhouse Museum initiative, uses Google maps, The Benevolent Society is a partner. Uses crowdsourcing marking where and when events take place.