Our Archives
In July 2010 GFS employed Anne Wilson to take up the work of the Archives that Mrs Alison Elliott and Mrs Jean Seymour has set up in the past.
Documents have been rehoused in acid free boxes and stored on powder coated metal shelving. A n
1888 Charter for GFS Perth
umber of items of historical significance have had conservation and preservation treatment. Anne’s husband Ken has created a database for all the records which is still under development and this is still an ongoing project due to the amount of documents/photographs that need to be recorded. All documents are now on the database and memorabilia items are in the process of being entered.
In 2012 Anne applied on behalf of GFS and was awarded a $4,000 federal Community Heritage Grant (CHG) from the National Library to fund a Significance Assessment of the Archive which was announced in Canberra on 30 October, 2012.
Original painting of Mina Vincent
That year, grants worth $428,675 were distributed to 78 community groups and organisations from around Australia to assist in the identification and preservation of community owned but nationally significant heritage collections. In addition, Anne from GFSattended a three-day intensive preservation and collection management workshop held in Canberra in November 2012.
Director-General of the National Library of Australia, Ms Anne-Marie Schwirtlich, said the CHG program showed the commitment by the National Library, along with its partner institutions and the Federal Government, in encouraging communities to care for the nation’s heritage, be it in small country towns or capital cities.
It is funded by the Australian Government through the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Office for the Arts; the National Archives of Australia; the National Film and Sound Archive; the National Museum of Australia and the National Library.
Mrs Ethel Burt
With the funds provided Western Australian historian and author Jenny Carter has produced a comprehensive Significance Assessment Report which was submitted to the CHGS in April 2012. Both the CHGS assessor and Jenny were particularly impressed by the unique quality of the records which were produced by women for women in an age when significant records were mostly produced by men.
The archive holds a unique collection of documents and memorabilia including certificates, photographs, liturgical items and badges from 1888 to the present. Many of the early records were produced by the eminent women of Perth Society and of course later records describe the energy and activity of the suburban branches in promoting a Christian life style for young women and girls.
It is surprising how many people in Perth have a connection with GFS so we are proud to be the custodians of such a valuable community record. The grant is important in ensuring the future of the GFS Archive and to make its records available for research.
Following on from this grant Anne also applied for and received in November 2013 the Preservation Needs Assessment for which we received a Community heritage Grant of $4,000. This has been completed by Dr Brian Shepherd, a Museums Conservation professional and is closely involved with the Toodyay Historical Society. He has previously submitted a successful Preservation Needs Assessment for the Guildford Historical Society.
Brian has confirmed that the work we have done so far is a suitable preservation standard for the paper documents and objects and made a number of recommendations that will ensure the long term presentation of the collection. He also identified Margaret Sanders as the W.A. artist who created the Headquarters poster, which has now been conserved. The painting of Mina Vincent has been identified as significant as it is by a well know artist, Florence Fuller.
The third stage of this project is the submission of a proposal for a grant from the National Library for funding of the recommendations based on the significance and Preservation Needs Assessments.
At the GFS World Council held in Perth July 2017, Anne prepared and set up an archive display at the venue for world council participants to spend time looking at some of our treasures as well as showing a slide show of the GFS badges she and her husband photographed from their trip to England courtesy of the London School of Economic Library – Special Women’s Collection. You can view them in the slide show below.
