It’s always great to see other Armidale locals online, and I was really pleased the other day to discover http://thelatestoldnews.wordpress.com, which features news from times gone by in our fair city.

 

Published by Gordon Smith, he highlights parts of the area’s local history through the use of the ‘digitisation of newspapers’ project within the National Library of Australia. In addition to correcting the digitised text of old articles about Armidale, he shares his favourite selections which can range from death notices to the latest article – a fascinating account from 1934 of our new Teachers’ College which you probably know better as the University of New England!

 

Some of the news seems like it could, with a few small changes, be the news of today. It’s truly sobering to read back through news about government funding cuts and refugee housing and realise that not that much has changed in the nearly 100 years since a lot of the articles were published.

 

I think that it’s a really interesting project that contributes greatly to the cultural and social history of our area, so well done Gordon! Not only is he helping Armidale residents better understand their history; he’s helping anyone using the digitisation of newspapers project better understand the news of old.

 

If you are an Armidale local who’s blogging about life in our town or local events, please contact us via the comments section and we’ll see if we can feature you next time on the blog!