News Rich history in the spotlight

Rich history in the spotlight

More than 100 years of Dried Fruits Australia’s organisational history is being archived to ensure it’s preserved for years to come.

While the archiving project offers insights into the industry’s long history, historian Nikki Henningham says the records also paint a picture of social, environmental and technological advances.

The Melbourne historian, who also has years of archiving experience, was engaged to tackle the mammoth task of preserving DFA’s historical records after the organisation successfully applied for a local history grant in 2019. Covid-19 travel restrictions, Nikki has made the most of her several visits to the DFA headquarters this year.

“We were planning to come up in March 2020, and quite literally the week that everything closed down was the week we were going to be here,” she said.

“This is something that really can’t be done remotely – you’ve got to get in and amongst it.”

And she’s done just that, sifting through boxes of thousands of albums, folders, photographs, clippings and records of the organisation.

Just as the industry’s dried product thrives in the dry Mildura climate, it’s those exact conditions which have meant the records have been somewhat preserved over time.

“We’re lucky because if it’d been in the tropics, most of this would be gone by now. The dry air is actually a friend of the archive,” Nikki explained.

“We’re also very lucky, from what I understand, that when the offices moved from Deakin Avenue, whoever was involved in that move saw all this stuff and saved it.

“We’re lucky that this is still OK, but it needs to be cared for. The DFA are to be congratulated for taking on the initiative of applying for the funds to get the work done.”

While much was saved, very little was preserved from before 1920.

“And the organisation stretches back a good 20 years before that, so there’s

a lot of that stuff that just isn’t there, which is a shame,” Nikki said.

She said the long-term aim would be to create an online finding guide for all the records.

“At the moment it’s about sorting, labelling and preserving things in a way that’s meaningful.”

In an ideal world, with additional funding and resources, the catalogue would be digitised in an archive for anyone to access.

“What we will end up doing is having some of these photographed so that people will be able to get an indication of what’s here,” she said.

Within the documents are records from 1988 of a push to establish a child-minding scheme during harvest, while other documents showed the industry organisation’s advocacy to address river health and salinity issues.

Several years earlier, there was correspondence with the then Sunraysia Ethnic Advisory Council regarding concerns for work and being able to secure labour at critical times.

“It seems the more things change, the more things stay the same,” Nikki said. “What stands out is that even though the records here are clearly organisational records and are useful for telling the story of the organisation, they also speak to a bigger, broader social history.

“For instance the recipes, you can look at them and see they’ve got more recipes for working women, so things were building in recognition of who they’re trying to sell to.”

Nikki said technological advancements – inside and outside the industry – could be followed through the records.

“There’s a period where there’s lots of pressure cooker recipes, and then there’s microwave recipes and so forth,” she said.

“I think there’s a recognition that those sorts of social stories are as important and as interesting as organisational sort of stuff – as important as your gadget days.

“Don’t assume that just because it’s about everyday stuff that it’s not interesting, because it’s the everyday that is the real source of history.” v

This page & left: Historian Nikki Henningham has spent weeks sorting, labelling and preserving DFA’s historical archive after the organisation successfully applied for a local history grant.

Grape growers, don’t gamble with frosts.

Extreme temperature ranges are here to stay. That means managing frost risk to avoid devastating losses.

Calculate the R.O.I. by installing a quiet, reliable and efficient FROSTBOSS C49.

bossthefrost.com.au

Ian Mason M +61 448 111 384 E info@aussiefrostfans.com.au

FRF 1042