Preservation

The whole aim of the Australian Society of American Descendants is to honour, promote and to preserve American-Australian's past and present contribution to Australia. This is being achieved in preserving the past and recogonising the present contribnution of living American Australians

Books

Uncovering those books which show or trace a family link to an American ancestor or contemporary American at work or home in Australia. Sometimes obscure books are found in the strangest of places, and the wealth of historical importance immeasurable. Many a lesser known book can be placed into this category.

Often diaries play a role as 'book' and show a rich past which can paint a picture of hsitory and point to other Americans or how Americans have reacted with society and with one another.

Personal letters

Treasures are contained in letters. Small, seemingly insignificant morsels of history are lost in letters until they are revealed. Letters express emotions, social values of the times, a lost relative or a close friend lost to history, only to be uncovered in a letter to a friend or a relative. Letters also point out locations, times and dates, and often find a clue to one or more life's mysteries.

Letters show personal warmth, friendliness, perhaps longing and reacquaintanceship. Have you ever looked back on a letter by a friend or loved one after say, 10 or twenty years, remembering the sentiment conveyed at the time?

Letters can alter history, change its hue, and drive you to look further a field in your endeavour to find a truth. Letters reveal a hidden meaning, explain a nuance not thought of before, and can arrest an untruth.

Personal diaries and journals

Like letters, diaries search the soul of its writer. Set a time and place. Express the heart of a matter, at least from one person's perspective. Journals are out thoughts, our jottings, our window to the core of our hearts and minds, and avail a window of opportunity for further understanding and research.

Business records, e.g. minutes, correspondence, reports, ledgers

These chronicle and put into a framework, the daily or scheduled tasks by an individual or organisation. They show the reasons behind a particular decision or process. Correspondence show a two-way communication and often put rest to claims and counter claims made by future generations.

Ephemera , e.g. pamphlets, brochures, posters, scrapbooks, newspaper cuttings

Branding, information, aims and objectives are the stuff of advertising, and newspaper clippings show an interest and assist with a tracking.

Newspaper and serial publications

Reporters report what happened and columnists opine. Newspaper articles are the lifeblood of history for an accurate account of what happened at a given time. Obituaries also tell another story.

Photographs and negatives , e.g. cabinet cards and carte-de-visites, photographic postcards, old and new photographs, are a valuable and ready evidence of the past: preservation, copying, and identification are part of the documented evidence of American Australian history.

They often go missing, can be divided in families, lost forever – but they reveal dress codes and behaviour, often social class and position, and they provide a match for a uniform. Occasionally something in the background can reveal where a perosn was at the time of photography. Sometimes a whole line of reasoning can be deduced from the photographer, let alone the subject matter and props surrounding the person who has been photographed.

Slides , e.g. lantern slides, 35 mm

A more modern representation, the slide takes little space and yet carries a significant message to the past. The older the slide the less colour.

Paintings, drawings, sketches (where not held as part of a gallery collection)

Before and after the camera was invented, the illustration, painting or etching displayed for all to see, the pageant of history, colour, pomp and circumstance, the wearer and the worn, miliatry or situational garb tells a thousand words. Capturing too, an expression on a face, more than a camera could ever do.

Sound recordings , e.g. reel-to-reel, cassette

Sound recordings go back to the days of Edison when he invented the first recording of Mary had a Little Lamb. Oral traditions caught on tape, film and reel-reel, and digitally nowadays.

Film and video recordings , e.g. 8 mm/16 mm films, VHS or beta videos. Although the National Library of Australia holds copies and through its Soundscreen holdings, many films are found in an old tea chest, an attic, or in a draw, and not always in Australia but perhaps in the USA!

Maps

Maps are not so obvious a revealer of history, but they can show earlier tracts of land which tell another story. American Gus Pierce is little known for his charting of the Murray River to the sea near Adelaide.

Personal anecdotes, family histories and oral histories

Retelling of stories is a bygone pastime of families, but there are some who have preserved these precious moments and transcribed them for posterity's sake.

Remember the stories your mum or dad used to tell? Put them into words on paper.

Ever tried to interview a family member for the sake of the family history? This same history is of immense value to others and could be rpeserved through ASAD's service of recognition.

Please help us to preserve your heritage…

Contact: Australian Society of American Descendants

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Postal address:

ASAD

PO Box 2130

Bayswater, Melbourne,

Victoria , Australia 3153