Local maritime project wins at Victorian Community History Awards

A project looking into the history of Victoria’s maritime history and the city’s waterways has been acknowledged at the 2024 Victorian Community History Awards held in Southbank on March 24.

River to Bay – Victoria’s Maritime History by Carole Wilkinson and Prue Pittock, who delved into the major events that established Port Phillip and the City of Melbourne after European arrival in Australia – took home the small history publication award.

Aimed at children aged 7 - 12, the carefully researched details and bright, modern illustrations combines to create an engrossing history of Melbourne’s waterways that young readers will love.

The project was one of several based in the CBD and Docklands to have been shortlisted, which comprised a total of 39 community groups, historians, writers, and creative talent.

Presented by Public Record Office Victoria (PROV) with the Royal Historical Society of Victoria, the Victorian Community History Awards celebrate historians and community groups committed to preserving and sharing stories of the past.

The initiative comprises 11 prizes ranging from $500 to $2000, with the grand prize – the $5000 Victorian Premier’s History Award – going to Letters to a Critic: Alan McCulloch’s World of Art by curator and writer Rodney James.

Mr James received the award for his detailed examination of McCulloch, one of Australia’s longest-practising art critics who championed emerging artists and promoted a new awakening in modern art in Melbourne in the 1960s.

“Congratulations to the winners of the 2024 Victorian Community History Awards. The dedication of local historians not only preserves Victoria’s history but tells us more about who we are and will inspire future generations,” Minister for Government Services Natalie Hutchins said.

“Victoria has a strong history, and these dedicated storytellers have worked tirelessly to help all Victorians better understand our past – I congratulate them on their nomination.”

Each one of the 39 projects nominated explored a different avenue of Victoria’s history, including maritime and war histories, women’s histories, local stories and Indigenous history.

Local projects to have been nominated included Resisting Conscription in World War 1 by Australian Living Peace Museum in conjunction with Soundtrails – a self-guided audio walk of six significant sites in Melbourne's CBD.

Docklander and sports historian Graham Pilkington was shortlisted for his article, The Unusual Australian Football Scoring System: Six Behinds to a Goal, which focused on the development of the AFL’s scoring system.

A book by Ross Jones, James Waghorne and Marcia Langton titled Dhoombak Goobgoowana: A History of Indigenous Australia and the University of Melbourne - Volume 1: Truth delved into the University of Melbourne's troubled history with Indigenous Australians, aiming to acknowledge past and present injustices.

Notably, the first ever book on Australian trans history, Transgender Australia: A History Since 1910 by Noah Riseman also made the shortlist, acknowledging a previously overlooked area of the state’s history.

PROV director and keeper of Public Records Justine Heazlewood paid tribute to this year’s “outstanding group of award-winning historians, community groups and museums”.

“We’re continually impressed by the calibre of entrants for these awards and this year was no exception,” Ms Heazlewood said.

The full list of shortlisted nominees is available here.