logo - SA Community HistoryAre you a president, committee member, or even just a member of a small genealogy group, historical society, museum, archive, or similar organisation? If so, this is for you.

There is no doubt that State level archives and societies are important, but so are the smaller, regional ones. The ones that can tell you the entire history of a town, or the pioneers who founded it. The ones who have preserved vehicles from a bygone era, or those that have an entire house set up as it would have been back in the 1800s (like a living museum), or anything similar in between. All of these places have a goal to preserve the history. Of the people. Of the place. Or of an era past. Without these small organisations and the many volunteers that help out, so much history would be lost forever. So we have a lot to the be thankful for. However money to help with facilities, resources or projects doesn’t usually come easily to these groups. So that’s why applying for grants is so important.

The following announcement comes from History SA …

History SA’s annual South Australian History Fund (SAHF) grant round is OPEN for 2014.

Applications are invited from community groups for small project grants up to $2,000, and individuals and organisations for publication and research grants up to $3,000 and $5,000 respectively.

Guidelines for the SAHF are available on the South Australian Community History website. You can apply online, or contact History SA for Word versions of the guidelines and application form.

You are also welcome to contact us to discuss potential applications and check your eligibility to apply. Call us on (08) 8203 9878 or email us.

Applications close Friday 8 August 2014.

The grants fall into three categories: projects, publications and research. The projects category covers things like creating an historical display, digitising a significant photographic or oral history collection,  acquisition of historical items of significance, purchase of archive storage materials and so on. The publications category allows recipients to use the money towards “well-researched, well-edited publications that relate to South Australia’s history”. While the research category is for “original research that makes a significant contribution to the body of knowledge about or understanding of South Australian history”. So there is quite a wide range of possibilities here, and probably something that most history or genealogy community groups could apply for.

So mark the date, Friday 8 August 2014, and make sure you get your application in by then.