So far in this series, I have spoken of the growing interest in family, local and regional history. This comes partly from current locals, but far more from those outside the north who have lived there or have family connections to the area.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
There are two further groups we need to consider.
The first is visitors who come to a particular location, often for a day or less to visit a certain attraction or just to see a place.
This group drops into the local information centre, historical society or museum as part of their visit. They may have an interest in local history, but this is often peripheral to their visit.
The second group covers those who have a particular interest from architecture to mining to Aboriginal history to bushrangers to Italian POWs. The range is quite enormous.
The first group is actually quite well catered for. The second is not.
Localism is the curse of the north. It is driven by locals who see their town as the centre of the universe, by councils who see their role as promoting and serving the areas covered by their shifting boundaries often in competition with other areas.
The term zero sum game is used to describe the situation where the pie is fixed, where one participant can only gain if someone else loses an equivalent amount. Tourism promotion and history's role in tourism promotion is often treated as though it were a zero sum game.
This may sound extreme, but consider this case.
A week back, I had dinner with a friend to meet his parents. They love mining and told me many fascinating stories about Lightning Ridge.
As part of their love of mining and of ghost towns, they regularly attend the Nundle gold/Chinese festival. They visit Glen Innes to fossick. But they had no idea that the western slopes of the Tablelands had once been the greatest tin province in the world.
They had no idea that Tingha had been a major mining centre with a large Chinese population and its own China town. Driving through, they had noticed the Wing Hong Ling Museum, but it didn't mean anything to them.
This struck me as a failure in information and promotion.
History is about stories. This is where we local and regional historians, amateur and professional, come in.
If we don't get our mind above the local, if we don't look for broader linkages and patterns, if we don't tell a textured story, then those who depend upon us will be less effective.
Jim Belshaw's email is ndarala@optusnet.com .
His New England life blog is http://newenglandaustralia.blogspot.com/
His New England history blog http://newenglandhistory.blogspot.com.au/
