My report on “Place Name “Moreland”, prepared for the City of Moreland, in the inner north of Melbourne, has received the Victorian Community History Award, Small History Publication Project, 2022.
This six-week project is an exemplary response to an unusual local government brief. By attending explicitly to the evidence, both local and international, and by clearly addressing the requirements of the brief, James Lesh retrieves forgotten pasts and overlooked conceptions underpinning claims about ‘heritage’. This report is a model of ‘applied history’. Lesh reveals heritage in all its complexity. By recovering, without condescension, forgotten contexts for a past naming decision, Lesh has re-enabled a community to make its own decision.
Judge Citation
Since the Report’s publication in April 2022, the City of Moreland has adopted a new name, the City of Merri-bek.
Related Links:
- Read the Report: https://heritage.city/2022/04/13/release-of-report-on-the-place-name-moreland/.
- Award Announcement: https://www.historyvictoria.org.au/victorian-community-history-awards/victorian-community-history-awards-2022/2022-victorian-community-history-award-winners/.
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