Professional Historians Association (PHA) is holding its biennial conference in Darwin-Larrakia Country on 25-26 October with the theme, 'Hot Histories'.
The opening presentation is from Stephen Gapps, author most recently of Uprising: War in the Colony of New South Wales, 1838-1844.
The promo for the conference says this about Stephen's contribution:
STEPHEN GAPPS: A topic too hot for the Australian War Memorial: The Australian Wars
PHA (NSW & ACT)
Later this year, a major publication based on the award-winning documentary series directed by Rachel Perkins The Australian Wars will hit bookstores. It will be an incoming missile squarely aimed at the Australian War Memorial, our national icon desperately trying to avoid acknowledging the Australian Frontier Wars as part of Australian military history.
But along with the publication of The Australian Wars, things might start to get even hotter for the Memorial. This paper will outline initial research into how Australia’s post-1901 military history has connections with the Australian Frontier Wars of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Beyond several emblematic elements such as emu plumes and the ‘Coo-ee’ call, there are other less symbolic threads. Numbers of men who enlisted from the bush, particularly in Queensland, had first-hand experience of frontier warfare. Many others had fathers and relatives who were involved in frontier conflict. This paper suggests there is fertile ground for researching the relationship between the Australian Wars and the First AIF. It will reflect on why the Australian Wars are still too hot to handle for the national place of the commemoration of Australians at war.
Other presentations will come from Francesca Beddie on the Cowra Japanese garden and peace; Jeff Hopkins-Weise on British military detachments in Queensland in the 19th century; Hannah Viney on the ethics of digging into ASIO files; Jane Mills Harding on manifestations of affection in the archives; Pauline Hastings on Barbie Dolls and youth fashion; Sinead Burt on clothing collections in Australian institutions; Deb Lee-Talbot, Roland Leikauf and Sarah Craze on AI and historical practice; Richard Gillespie on photogrammetry and rock art; Kimberley Meagher on outback jackaroos; Sonia Jennings and Miranda Francis on bushfire at Truganina, Melbourne; Claire Sandell on working with archives; Allison Sullivan on side-tracks in historical research; Libby Blamey on 19th century Melbourne ‘larrikin pushes’; Christeen Schoepf on biographies of ships; Shauna Hicks on homeless women in colonial Queensland; Margaret Cook on the history of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority; Alicia Cerreto, Mary Sheehan and Dot Wickham on client dilemmas in the practice of professional history.
PHA represents over 500 professionally accredited historians across all Australian states and territories.
Stephen Gapps is one of Defending Country's distinguished Supporters. More on the forthcoming book, The Australian Wars.
Picture credit: detail of cover of Stephen Gapps' book, Uprising.
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