Illawarra Stories is an oral history project of Wollongong City Libraries capturing people’s recollections of life in the Illawarra. The interviews can be streamed or downloaded as MP3 files from illawarrastories.com.au
This project preserves in the public domain, the memories and way people speak through voices and vocabularies, creating a valuable record that can be accessed by educators, researchers, community groups and interested individuals. These are real people, with real stories.
The stories are arranged in geographical areas and themes. There are stories from the north to the south of the LGA and themes include: Aboriginal Community Members Stories, Shacks of the Royal National Park, Illawarra Folk Festival, Men’s Sheds, Ocean Pools, Surf Clubs, Wollongong Town Hall.
In February, an obituary of local Thirroul identity Dorothy Sefton was published in 2515. If you would like to hear an interview with Dorothy about her life go to: https://illawarrastories.com.au/bulli-thirroul-corrimal-stories/dorothy-sefton/
Photo: Wollongong City Libraries
Illawarra Stories is a growing collection of local history. If you are interested in taking part in the project by sharing your memories of life in the Illawarra, or can suggest someone who would be, please email localhistory@wollongong.nsw.gov.au
Computer-generated transcriptions of the interviews are created and users can listen to these recordings online and help correct any errors they find in the transcripts. Anyone can be a digital volunteer and help correct the transcriptions on Amplify.
When corrected, the interviews are added to Illawarra Stories as searchable PDFs.
SHARE YOUR PHOTOS
Illawarra Images is a fascinating collection of more than 31,000 photographs of the Wollongong area since the 1800s. Images include people, places, buildings and events. The images are accessible in the library catalogue at low resolution and orders for high-resolution copies can be made through the image reproduction service (www.wollongong.nsw.gov.au/library/explore-our-past/illawarra-images)
The library is always looking for new photographs for the collection which can be sent in digital form to the library or loaned for copying. If you have photos you would be willing to share, contact the Local Studies team at localhistory@wollongong.nsw.gov.au or ring 4227 7414.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jo Oliver is the author of Jessie Traill: A biography and a Local Studies Librarian at Wollongong City Libraries.
