Battling the bureaucrats: access to the National Archives

The impressive 95 page coloured catalogue details displays, lectures, tours, workshops and events staged by hundreds of volunteers and attracting tens of thousands of people throughout the State.1 So while there is a logical case for an umbrella organisation such as the HCSA, it took a number of these groups a long time to establish it. Membership is broad and comprehensive including Government agencies (National Archives, History Trust of South Australia, South Australian Museum, State Library of South Australia, State Records of South Australia), University History Departments, the National Trust, professional bodies (Professional Historians Association, History Teachers Association), many local history societies and groups, and church archives.