Archive’s history treasures

THE mother of a terminally ill former student, the victim of a house fire and the grandson of a foundation teacher are among those who have found precious information about themselves and their relatives in the rich archives at Dandenong High School.
The history unit of the Dandenong High School Ex-Student Association has been diligently sorting through a backlog of archival material acrued by Dandenong High School, the former Cleeland Secondary College and Doveton Secondary College prior to the three school’s amalgamation in 2007.
DHSESH president Greta Jungwirth said the history unit was established in the mid-1990s to safeguard historical records and memorabilia for the future.
She and other volunteers knew what a treasure trove of material was in their care but they were surprised by the requests from ex-students, teachers and their families that quickly started to trickle in once work on the archives began.
The first was from the daughter of a former teacher.
Her father had died when she was young and she was searching for information about him.
A torn half page in a magazine revealed her father had been engaged to a female member of staff.
The second request came from the mother of a former student who was dying from an incurable disease.
Copies of all references and records and photos featuring her son were hastily gathered and sent to Queensland.
The mother subsequently made a generous donation to the association, remarking in her letter that the time her son had spend at DHS had been memorable and important to him.
Other ex-students lost everything to fire and flood.
The history unit was able to give both students replacement copies of their school records.
Mrs Jungwirth said many people approached the unit with requests for information and photographs of parents and grand parents.
Recently, the history unit volunteers unearthed archival material for the grandson of foundation teacher Dorothy McKinnon.
Miss McKinnon, the art teacher from 1919 to 1930, designed the school emblem.
“A search of the 1920s collection in the archives enabled her grandson to scan many photos and magazine entries for his family history.
“As a result the family has decided to establish a perpetual art prize in honour of Miss McKinnon and her service to the school.”
Over the years the collection has grown with donations from teachers, former students and families of former students.
“We began with one drawer of items that had been kept in the library.
“We now have a dedicated room with two storerooms in the 1920s building and two areas at the Ann Street campus for the Doveton and Cleeland archives.”
Mrs Jungwirth said the history unit receives weekly requests for material, some of them from interstate and overseas.
Present teachers and students also use archival material for projects.
“Whole classes of students have come to learn about the past and the social forces that have driven change.”
For further details go to www.dhs-exstudents.synthasite.com.
Anyone interested in joining the DHSESH can contact secretary Gary Matthews at gazzcazz@hotmail.com.