Bringing Australia's diverse history to life

Amid the hustle and bustle of Melbourne, there are countless stories waiting to be told.

Not the stories of the ‘great and good’ who are commemorated across the city with statues and plaques, but those of ‘ordinary’ people who came from all corners of the globe and have made the city a unique cultural melting pot.

Jen Rose is an historian whose passion is uncovering the stories of those ‘ordinary’ Australians, in particular, the migrants who have shaped the city’s history.

As part of her PhD studies at ACU, Jen undertook a six-month internship with the Centre for Multicultural Youth (CMY), producing a history of the organisation.

Jen delved into the archives at CMY and conducted oral history interviews to bring the story of the origins and development of the organisation to life.

“It's given me a much keener awareness of the importance of not taking multiculturalism for granted, and really thinking about what it means and how it should look in our community,” she said.

“For me, it was wonderful coming to understand that this organisation, and their whole approach to working with young people in a way that recognised their cultural diversity as an asset, was driven by individual youth workers who were the children of migrants, saw the need for change and really pushed for it.

“It was fascinating to see how out of early 80s Melbourne, these second-generation migrants really made their mark and developed our understanding of how to work with our multicultural community.

“In Australia, we’ve had to wrestle with what it means to be a multicultural community and the voices coming from community organisations have played a really important role in shaping that.”

As her research unfolded, Jennifer found herself drawn to the stories of educators and youth workers who had paved the way for a more inclusive society. 

She collaborated with CMY on a new website to mark the organisation’s 35th anniversary, featuring an interactive timeline.

“It was so important to record their history, not just to mark the anniversary, but as a legacy piece that they can continue to build upon,” she said.

“I love the detective hunt in the archives. It’s deeply satisfying to piece the puzzle together and to add those human stories to that picture because they're so important in understanding what the archival materials mean.

“As well as unearthing stories that are useful for the history of the organisation, I came away with really useful information that I will be able to draw on for my PhD.”

Centre for Multicultural Youth CEO Carmel Guerra OAM said the organisation was delighted with the results of Jen’s research project.

“The Centre for Multicultural Youth is indebted to Jen for the countless hours she has spent documenting the history of our organisation over the past 35 years, through both written and oral accounts,” Ms Guerra said.

“As an organisation that values participation, it’s been so important for us to include in this project the voices of young people, past staff, current staff, and those who have had anything to do with building CMY.

“Jen’s respect, passion, curiosity, and tireless dedication to capturing critical moments in our organisation’s timeline, have left us with an invaluable legacy piece, which explores the rich history and diverse stories that have shaped CMY.”

Jen came to ACU as a mature student to complete a doctorate on migrant activism in Melbourne, supervised by Dr Mary Tomsic and Dr Rachel Stevens from the Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences and CMY CEO Carmel Guerra.

“I've really felt very lucky to move into that institute, which was quite new when I first came on board.  My supervisors have been terrifically supportive and very engaged and helpful.

“The chance to do an internship as part of my PhD has been very valuable to me – I wanted the opportunity to really sink my teeth into a history and produce something that I could feel really proud of.”

Learn more about PhD internships at ACU.