Protecting heritage values is never just about looking after stones, bricks and mortar. It is also about making sure the stories and recorded history that give a place its cultural significance are actually correct.
Places like South Brisbane Cemetery are heritage-listed because they play a certain role within the history of Queensland. They can tell us about who we are, and they have a distinct significance to Queenslanders. Protecting that particular meaning into the future means keeping the recorded history free from the kind of incorrect or false information that could distort it.
In recent months we have become aware of a number of stories about the cemetery being spread around that are simply not true. False stories or badly-researched history can vandalise the heritage values of a place, especially in the digital age with more and more people getting their information off the Internet. This is why the Friends of South Brisbane Cemetery are now undertaking the South Brisbane Cemetery History Restoration Project. We aim to fix that cultural vandalism by weeding out false information and correcting it.
What is the 'South Brisbane Cemetery History Restoration Project'?
Over the coming months the FOSBC will be gathering a range of cemetery-related stories currently in circulation and assessing their validity. If we find any that we feel have the capacity to distort the history of the place, we will research and correct them.
The end result will be a free ebook, available to the public, in which we will set the record straight once and for all.
Can you help?
Sure can. If you have heard any stories that you are doubtful of, let us know and we'll check them out. Contact us here.
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