2020 Victorian Community
History Awards Winners
At 4:30pm on Wednesday 28 October, during History Month, Catherine Andrews archivist, Justine Heazlewood, Keeper of Public Records and Alistair Thompson, President Oral History Australia announced the winners of the 2020 Victorian Community History Awards. The video of the awards announcement can be viewed here.
Minister for Government Services Danny Pearson
“Congratulations to all the local historians who have worked so hard to bring Victoria’s diverse and fascinating history to life – especially in such challenging times.”
Public Record Office Victoria Director and Keeper of Public Records, Justine Heazelwood
“Well done to everyone involved in each of these works that tell aspects of Victoria’s rich history. I’d particularly like to acknowledge those historians striving to continue to run history projects and programs remotely. Your innovation this year has been inspiring and much appreciated by history lovers across Victoria. We look forward to announcing the final Victorian Community History Award winners during History Month in October.”
President of the Royal Historical Society Victoria, Emeritus Professor Richard Broome
“It is astonishing that such a difficult time has produced the second largest number of entries to the Victorian Community History Awards in 22 years; 176 entries across all nine categories! Many entries have multiple people involved so well over 200 creators of content from across Victoria, including authors, curators, film makers, designers, editors and publishers, have participated this year, meaning that these awards have again energised the creative sector of Victoria.”
To read full Judges’ citations for each winner, click on the yellow category boxes below. The booklet celebrating the winners, those short-listed and all entrants can be downloaded here. All entrants will be sent a copy of the 2020 VCHA booklet and, if you’d like a copy mailed to you, please email office@historyvictoria.org.au with your details.
Those books highlighted in blue below are hyper-linked to the History Victoria bookshop if you wish to purchase a copy.
VICTORIAN PREMIER’S HISTORY AWARD
WINNER
Printed on Stone: The Lithographs of Charles Troedel
Amanda Scardamaglia
Melbourne Books, Melbourne, 2020
COLLABORATIVE COMMUNITY HISTORY AWARD
WINNER
In the Name of Theatre: The History, Culture and Voices of Amateur Theatre in Victoria
Cheryl Threadgold
The Author, Melbourne, 2020
COMMENDATIONS
Rock on Murchison
Murchison & District Historical Society
5 Word Documents detailing events and giving links.
Geelong’s Changing Landscape. Ecology, Development and Conservation
David S. Jones and Phillip B. Roös editors
CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne, 2019
Montague. A Community Lost and Found
City of Port Phillip
https://montaguecommunitylostandfound.com.au/
Cape Otway Lightstation. WW ll Memories
Cape Otway Lightstation and RAAF FA Radar Veterans Association
Word document, audio excerpts, JPG and TIF files
HISTORY PUBLICATION AWARD
COMMENDATIONS
Solicitors and the Law Institute in Victoria 1835‒2019. Pathway to a Respected Profession
Simon Smith
Law Institute of Victoria, Melbourne, 2019
The Invention of Melbourne. A Baroque Archbishop and a Gothic Architect
Jaynie Anderson, Max Vodola, Shane Carmody, editors
The Miegunyah Press, Melbourne, 2019
And Catalogue of the Exhibition on this subject, Old Treasury Building July 2019‒March 2020
Maurice Blackburn. Champion of the People
David Day
Scribe, Melbourne, 2019
Democratic Adventurer. Graham Berry and the Making of Australian Politics
Sean Scalmer
Monash University Publishing, Melbourne, 2020
The Accidental Town. Castlemaine, 1851‒1861
Marjorie Theobald
Australian Scholarly Publishing, Melbourne, 2020
The Totem Poles of Ouyen United. Travels in Country Footy
Paul Daffey
Daffey Publications, Melbourne, 2019
DIGITAL STORYTELLING AWARD
JOINT WINNER
La Mama: The Biggest Little Theatre in Australia
Rachel Fensham and Andrew Fuhrmann for the Digital Studio at University of Melbourne
and Digital Heritage Australia
COMMENDATIONS
Ask a Survivor
Jewish Holocaust Centre, Melbourne
https://www.jhc.org.au/education/virtual-learning/ask-a-survivor/
Designing a Legacy
Tim Ross
https://vimeo.com/showcase/6704030
Reimagining the Women’s Mural‒A Digital Tour
Her Place Women’s Museum Australia, the Women’s Mural Documentation Project in Collaboration with the artists of the original 1986 Women’s Mural: From Bomboniere to Barbed Wire. Megan Evans, Eve Glenn.
https://herplacemuseum.com/tour/ and http://www.the-womens-mural-doc-project.com.au/
ORAL HISTORY AWARD
WINNER
Out of the Madhouse: From Asylums to Caring Community?
Sandy Jeffs and Margaret Leggatt
Arcadia, Melbourne, 2020
COMMENDATIONS
Memories of the Women’s Royal Australian Air Force 1951‒1977
Jessica Ferrari, Memento Media
PDF and https://mementomedia.com.au/project/womens-royal-australian-air-force-point-cook-airbase/
Cockatoo‒Voices from the Past
Dot Griffin, Jan Shaw, Ruth South, Arthur Wintle
Cockatoo History and Heritage Group, Cockatoo, 2019
HISTORY ARTICLE AWARD
WINNER
Woman’s Sphere Remodelled: A Spatial History of the Victorian Woman’s Christian Temperance Union 1887-1914 in the Victorian Historical Journal
Ruby Ekkel
COMMENDATIONS
Mogullumbidj. First People of Mount Buffalo
Jacqui Durrant
Victorian Historical Journal, vol. 91, no. 1, June 2020
Cremorne Gardens, Gold-rush Melbourne, and the Victorian-era Pleasure Garden, 1853‒63
James Lesh
Victorian Historical Journal, vol. 90, no.2, December 2019
“I am proud of them all & we all have suffered.” World War l, the Australian War Memorial and a Family in War and Peace
Alexandra McKinnon
Australian Journal of Biography and History, no. 3, 2020
JUDGES’ SPECIAL PRIZE
WINNER
Visions of Victoria: The Magic of Kodachrome Film 1950-1975
Nick Anchen
Sierra Publishing, Melbourne, 2019
LOCAL HISTORY PROJECT
WINNER
Blood, Toil, Tears & Sweat: Remembering the Pakenham District’s WW2 Service Personnel, 1939-1945
Patrick Ferry with Wally Nye
Berwick‒Pakenham Historical Society & Pakenham RSL, Pakenham, 2020
COMMENDATIONS
“Bonleigh”. Grand Dame, Beloved Home
Abigail Belfrage
The History Depart., Melbourne, 2020
The POWER of Water. The History of the Kiewa Hydro Electric Scheme
Kiewa Valley Historical Society
Powerpoint submission
Damien Finlayson, Clare Gervasoni, Simon Jacks, Dr Janice Newton, Dr Michael Taffe
Victorian Interpretive projects Inc, Ballarat, 2019
Clunes Cemetery, Victoria. Headstone Register 1861‒2020 (vol.1 on Presbyterian section)
Peter Spark
PDF copy of book and JPG of cover
LOCAL HISTORY – SMALL PUBLICATION AWARD
WINNER
Gariwerd: An Environmental History of the Grampians
Benjamin Wilkie
CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne, 2020
COMMENDATIONS
The Convent. A City Finds its Heart
Stuart Kells
The Miegunyah Press, Melbourne, 2020
Gita. Melbourne’s First Yoga School ‒ 65 Years of History
Fay Woodhouse
Hindsight, Lancefield, Vic., 2019
The Case of Eichengruen-Edwards and Continental Tyres
Andrew J. Kilsby
The Author, Melbourne, 2019
Helen Billman-Jacobe and Ann Westmore
Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Science, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, 2019
Fire on the Plateau. A History of Fire and its Management in Stanley
Jacqui Durrant
Stanley Athenaeum & Public Room, Stanley, Vic., 2019
COMMUNITY DIVERSITY AWARD
WINNER
The Boite: History Through Music, Song and Story
Jen Rose, Well Chosen Words in partnership with The Boite
COMMENDATIONS
Journeys into Chinese Australian Family History
Sophie Couchman, editor
Chinese Australian Family Historians of Victoria Inc, Melbourne, 2019
When the Past Awakens. A Mother’s Pain
Maria Avraam and Helena Kidd
Xlibris, Bloomington, Indiana, US, 2019
A Networked Community. Jewish Melbourne in the Nineteenth Century
Sue Silberberg
Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 2020
Darren Arnott
The Author, Melbourne, 2019
HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION AWARD
WINNER
Annie’s War: The Story of One Boroondara Family’s Wartime Experience
Lucy Bracey and Gregory Mackay
City of Boroondara, Melbourne, 2019
COMMENDATIONS
Jewish Holocaust Centre Virtual Tour
Lisa Phillips, Jennifer Levitt Maxwell, Robbi Simons, Gozer Studio
https://jewish-holocaust-centre.captur3d.io/view/jewish-holocaust-centre/virtualtour
Colour and Fantasy, Australia’s First Colonial Art Potters 1896‒1910
Gregory Hill, curator of exhibition
Bundoora Homestead Art Centre, Melbourne, 2019
David Willis, photography Dimitri Bonatakis
St Kilda Press, Melbourne, 2019
Munitions Industry Commemoration Heritage Panels
Melbourne’s Living Museum of the West
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gmkbvz7y0yssk4w/AAAY3HhQ8PtcAPeoTp94JG9Aa?dl=0
Heritage Walks for the Time of COVID-19 Social Distancing
Springthorpe Heritage Group
https://www.montparktospringthorpe.com/heritage-walks/
The Victorian Community History Awards are proudly presented by Public Record Office Victoria and the Royal Historical Society of Victoria.
The Awards recognise excellence and originality in historical storytelling. The range of award categories reflects the variety of formats that can be used to enrich the lives of Victorians through history.
Need more information?
Call us on 03 9326 9288 or 0400 387 877
Email us at vcha@historyvictoria.org.au historyvictoria.org.au | prov.vic.gov.au
Image: Buffalo models at Porepunkah, 1946.
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