Migrantweb.com Hostels Forum

[richardhallford]

For those of you who are interested, the Migration Museum of South Australia, via the University of Adelaide is asking people who were on a Migrant camp between 1940 and 1960 to submit information, photos etc, with a view to opening a Migrant Camp exhibition in late 2012. Im going to be keeping my eye on this one and try to make it over to the exhibition when it happens. (I live in Victoria) As I am a hopeless shutterbug, I will of course take photos for those who cant make it. I have attached the web site link. Enjoy.

http://migration.historysa.com.au/research/callouts/hostel-stories
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East Hills Hostel Aug 1966 to 1968. Nissen Huts 81 and 83d

[CatherineManning]

Thanks for giving us a plug Richard!

I've been absent from the forum for a while (locked myself out and couldn't find the password) but we're now gearing up to really start moving with our project. We've done a lot of research. The team from the University of Adelaide have really been working hard and have unearthed a wealth of information from the National Archives and State Records, but there's still a lot we don't know.

For example, we've learnt that Pennington (which was called Finsbury until 1966) officially closed in 1985, but that migrant flats operated on that site well into the 1990s. We've also learnt that there were a lot more 'hostels' than we first realised, and we keep finding more migrant camps and accommodation centres. We're keen to hear from anyone with information: http://migration.historysa.com.au/research/callouts/hostel-stories

The exhibition is scheduled for December 2013 and we're planning to have a series of 'reunions' in 2014.

Glad to hear you're following the project, and hope we get to hear more from you soon.

Catherine
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Catherine Manning
Senior Curator
Migration Museum, Adelaide

[richardhallford]

Wow. That post does go back a while, but better late than never. Thank you so much for your post. I was just today out at the old Marybinong/Philip Hostel site in Victoria, where I live. There is a poor lonely abandoned Nissan Hut there, which Im attempting to rescue from the scrap man. Its just standing on its own, open, covered in graffiti, but still, it will not go quietly into the night. I am trying to find someone with funds who may be able to preserve it as an example.
Hopefully, I will be able to make it over to you December event.
I have been delving into the Archives myself, but with an emphasis on East Hills Hostel, some cabrammatta, the above mentioned and Nunawading. We have an excellent Migrant Heritage display here in Victoria, whom Im sure you talk to regularly. I will focus again on your site and see what I can contribute, although there is a wealth of information on this site and many very helpful people, who Im sure will put there hand up.
I have a collection of around 100 photos of Hostel sites, mostly East Hills, donated to me by ex residents and have obtained permission to post where appropriate. I also have my own collection of photos, some of which are on this site. But they are from an earlier scan and not of the best quality.
I also have some, which I am not able to post due to expressions of privacy concerns. Perhaps you might want to PM me for an email address and we can go further. Kindest Regards Richard.
PS. I have had opened and procurred a copy of the very early days of the East Hills Hostel documents from the National Archives. At 270 odd pages, it has taken me a while to digest, but Im putting together (slowly) a picture of what happened from concept to build and operate. Some time in the future, I might find the time to finish it. Damm. I got too many projects. lol
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East Hills Hostel Aug 1966 to 1968. Nissen Huts 81 and 83d

[CatherineManning]

Thanks again Richard,

Sounds like you've done an incredible amount of work. We'd love to hear more. At the moment our research focusses very much on South Australia, but the University of Adelaide team are very aware of the need for comparison to interstate experiences, and also the movement of people between different hostels and states.

Dr Karen Agutter has been trawling the archives like you, and has come up with an incredible amount of information, but there's still a lot to learn.

Best of luck with your attempts to save the Nissen hut. There are still a few in South Australia, including one where the Glenelg hostel was. We have some furniture and bedding from the Pennington hostel (which was called Finsbury until 1966) in the Migration Museum collection. We're planning to put that on display in December in a Nissen hut 'recreation', but unfortunately our gallery is not big enough to have a full sized hut on display!

You can get in touch with the Hostel Stories project team via [email protected] - I'll PM you with my address as well.

Catherine
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Catherine Manning
Senior Curator
Migration Museum, Adelaide

[dannyboi]

Hi, Could you please share some photos of Migration Museum collection?
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