Help us Digitise our UNESCO recognised Oral History Collection

It is tax return time again and the Estonian Archives in Australia are asking for your help.

This year EAA was honoured and recognised when our Oral History collection was inscribed into the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Register as part of “Migration Voices: Estonian Oral Histories 1952-2020”.

The oral histories are currently on cassettes and VHS videos. The cassettes are being digitised in Estonia but we need to digitise the VHS tapes to prevent the loss of this important collection.

The Oral History Collection features many Australian Estonians, including Kaljo Palmoja, Ene-Mai Reinpuu, Raivo Kalamäe, Arvi Vainomäe, Ron Baum (who just turned 91 last month!) We currently have about 70 tapes covering Estonian stories such as:

• Leaving Estonia to make successful lives in Australia.
• Histories of cultural activities in Estonian communities all over Australia
• Personal stories of making a new life in a new land

We have received funding from our own donations, a grant from the Estonian Cultural Foundation in Australia and funding from the Ministry of Education and Science in Estonia. These funds cover 2/3 of the cost of digitising the collection but we need to raise another $2,500 to complete the project.

Can you help?

Donate $100 and become a Friend of the Archive for 2021, names of the Friends will be listed on the EAA website. All donations over $2 are tax deductible and we appreciate all contributions.

Donations can be made by bank transfer, cheque or in person at the Archive on Wednesdays. Please visit our donation page for information on how to Donate.

Please help us achieve our goal to completely digitise this valuable collection