Sharing the Lode - the Broken Hill Migrant Story

Sharing the Lode: The Broken Hill Migrant Story is a publication which draws an entire community together and celebrates the cultural diversity and spirit of its people.

The Project

Migrants from many cultural backgrounds worked on the mines and serviced the Broken Hill community as builders, labourers and retailers. They shared the wealth of the city and its struggles, but have often been overlooked in Broken Hill's official histories.

In 2000 the Broken Hill Migrant Heritage Committee Inc. (BHMHC) was formed to investigate ways in which the city's cultural diversity and history could be preserved, with a focus on recording migration stories while they are still in living memory.

The Committee employed family and local historian Christine Adams to undertake an oral history project which revealed the memories and recollections of migrants and their children in their own words.

The initial research for Sharing the Lode won the NSW Tidy Towns Cultural Heritage Conservation award in 2003.

The Book

BHMHC drew upon this research to produce a temporary display at the local Geocentre museum from December 2003 to April 2004, and subsequently self-published the book.

Launched by the NSW Premier at Broken Hill in November 2004, Sharing the Lode includes 80 oral histories, illustrating the city's heritage from the first Afghan pioneers in the 1890s to Filipino migrants in the 1990s.

Financial support for the book was provided by the Migration Heritage Centre and the Community Relations Commission NSW.

Other contributors and supporters were the BHMHC, Broken Hill migrants and their descendants, Broken Hill Community Foundation, Broken Hill Italo-International Club Inc and the Napredak Club.

Sharing the Load can be purchased for $44.00.

Follow this link to order Sharing the Lode (opens in a new browser window)

For further information

Contact	:	Christine Adams, Broken Hill Migrant Heritage Committee Inc.
Address	:	370 Kaolin Street, Broken Hill NSW 2880 AUSTRALIA
Phone	:	(61-8) 8087 4609
Email	:	pc.adams@bigpond.com.au

WWW

:

http://www.migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au/e107/content.php?article.51