The historian activist and the Gift to the Nation project
Preserving the records of the Australian Red Cross
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21458600 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Melanie Oppenheimer (0000-0002-4070-3515, Flinders University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 48 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 171-185 |
| Publication date | 2020-05-03 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Archives and Manuscripts (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0157-6895 • E-ISSN: 2164-6058 |
| Publisher | Australian Society of Archivists (PUBLISHER • AU) |
| DOI | 10.1080/01576895.2020.1753544 |
| OpenAlex | W3025995036 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
In 2014, as part of their centenary celebrations, the Australian Red Cross initiated a project in which it transferred archives to various national, state and territory institutions across Australia including the University of Melbourne Archives and the State Library of New South Wales. The transfer of this voluminous (but not complete) collection built on earlier transfers of archives to the State Library of South Australia and the Australian War Memorial. This paper charts the origins of the plan to donate the records to public repositories. It interrogates the societal provenance of those collections, recognising that the pluralising of records is an historical process, in which the agency of archivists, historians and administrators must be understood. An investigation of Red Cross records in Australia exposes that process in its contingency, inertia and, ultimately, enthusiasm. The paper also reveals the challenges faced by voluntary organisations in preserving their records, and how historians and archivists both can benefit from assisting such organisations. Finally, this paper argues that the ‘Gift to the Nation’ project, with its national and international significance, reflects a shift in our understanding of the First World War to a transnational paradigm that recognises the important role of voluntary organisations
Archaeology · Archivist · Enthusiasm · Library science · Media studies · National archives · Political science · Social science · Sociology · Digital and Traditional Archives Management · History · Law · Oral History, Memory, Narrative Analysis · World Wars: History, Literature, and Impact
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,33 |
| Citation span | 2023 - 2026 (4) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |