The 15^th State History Conference was held in Adelaide from 26-28 May 2006. Held in Union House at the University of Adelaide the conference, titled In History We Trust, celebrated the 25^th anniversary of the History Trust of South Australia. A record number in excess of 180 delegates attended to hear papers reflecting on histories written and presented in recent years about South Australia.

A lively reception on the Friday evening, with entertainment by folk historian and musician Warren Fahey, introduced many delegates to the history of folklore and song in Australia.

Over the following weekend delegates took part in workshops featuring architectural drawings, GIS technologies, and audio playback devices for use in museums and research projects. Discussion groups offered advice on how to establish and maintain archival records, and listened to suggestions for strengthening South Australia’s history presence.

A highlight for the 2006 conference was a presentation by Keith Conlon and Ron Kandelaars from Channel 9 in Adelaide. They illustrated and talked about how they present history using their popular television program Postcards.

Copies of papers presented at the conference are available and can be downloaded from the list below. They are in original form -

• Allison Russell – Preparing the plot: involving our communities in interpretation
   

• Angela Huezenroeder – The Barossa Repast: the tourists’ present and future delight
   

• Bob Peterson – Into darkest Adelaide
   

• Glenda Couch-Keen – the Gold Escorts Re-enactments: reinforcing memory of trusted history
   

• Marian Quartly – Local, national, global: Clio’s complex embrace
   

• Susan Magarey – What is happening to women’s history in Australia at the beginning of the third millennium?
   

• Susan Piddock – The Willunga slate quarries: past, present and future
   

• Viv Szekeres – South Australia’s cultural diversity: myth or reality?
   

• Hannah Phillip – Small museums preserving local and specialist history
   

• Sue Scheiffers – The role of the small museum in preserving South Australia’s local and specialist history
   

• Dieuwke Jessop – Proclamation Day at the Bay
   

• Dieuwke Jessop – The old gum tree
   

• Deb Morgan – Tunnel vision
   

• Greg Drew – Interpreting South Australia’s mining heritage
   

• Pam Smith and Robert Keane – What Lord Kitchener and the crew of the Coromandel saw: reconstructing historic landscapes using GIS
   

• Brian Samuels - The History Trust of South Australia: An Idea Before It's Time?
   

• Bernard Whimpress - Creeping Anzacism

Papers are also available by email or in hard copy. Contact Jan Mudge, email jmudge@history.sa.gov.au or phone 8203 9877.

To view the 2006 program click here.

History Conference 2005

The 14^th State History Conference, Blast from the Past, held at the Westland Hotel/Motel in Whyalla on the weekend of 28 and 29^th May 2005, attracted over 170 delegates from all over South Australia. Many regular conference delegates said it was the best conference ever!

Whyalla was a perfect location, a place ‘where the Outback meets the sea’ (Whyalla’s slogan). Presenters at Blast from the Past traversed the interconnected stories of pastoralists, unionists and companies, shipbuilders, immigrants and asylum seekers, explorers and sailors, women, Indigenous communities, miners and more. This history connected contemporary voices and ideas to South Australia’s ancient landscape and times past.

A highlight for the 2005 Conference was cartoonist-in-residence, Stephen Stanley. His perceptive comments on the ideas and papers presented added a critical but enjoyable dimension to the weekend.
Copies of Stephen Stanley's cartoons from the 2005 State History Conference are available on CD from the History Trust of SA, phone 8203 9888.

The State History Conference is never just a talk-fest. Delegates were treated to a welcome reception hosted by Whyalla City Council at the Whyalla Maritime Museum and enjoyed tours to Iron Knob and the OneSteel steelworks, through the old township of Whyalla and along the Freycinet Trail. A BBQ lunch, in the late autumn sunshine at the lovely Mt Laura Homestead on the final day was a great way to end this annual get-together for history buffs.

To view the 2005 conference program click here.

Copies of the papers presented at the 2005 Conference are available by email or in hard copy. Contact Jan Mudge at jmudge@history.sa.gov.au or 8203 9877.