Our people their stories: Susan Aykut
Next date: Wednesday, 23 July 2025 | 10:30 AM
The monthly Our people, their stories: oral histories of Northern Tasmania talks presented by the QVMAG Friends reveal the personal stories of a diverse range of people who enrich the lives of our community.
Extraordinary Ordinary Lives with Susan Aykut
Ten years ago, Susan was presented with some transcripts of life stories made in 1999 with clients of the organisation she works for. As the 'resident' historian, Susan was asked to "do something" with them.
Now, a decade later—she has.
Susan will share what she has discovered as she has compiled those original transcripts along with other stories she has collected over the past decade into her forthcoming book, Extraordinary Ordinary Lives, and why they are important.
Many of the accounts in the book are reflections and memories from people who migrated to Australia after the Second World War. Their stories are both powerful and extraordinary records capturing their war-time experiences and what they felt, and how they adjusted to life in a new country.
Each has something to say about surviving war, on being a migrant, and on working in industries and businesses that contributed to the development of post-war Tasmania.
For the past decade, Susan has worked on a range of special projects and programs for Community Care TASMANIA (CCT), a locally-owned, not-for-profit home care service provider. Established 35 years ago under the auspice of the Migrant Resource Centre, CCT began life providing services to migrants—primarily those who arrived after the Second World War and had become senior citizens by the year 1990.
In a past life, Susan was an academic and professional historian. She has worked at three Melbourne universities, La Trobe, Melbourne and at Monash University, where she was the Deputy Director for the Institute for Public History. Extraordinary Ordinary Lives continues her passion to preserve and make history public.
Details
Admission: FREE for members of QVMAG Friends, $5 for the general public.
RSVP preferred by Monday 21 July 2025
To book your spot:
When
-
Wednesday, 23 July 2025 | 10:30 AM
Location
Meeting Room, Queen Victoria Museum at Inveresk, 2 Invermay Road, Launceston, 7250, View Map
-41.4283972,147.1404945
2 Invermay Road ,
Launceston 7250
Meeting Room, Queen Victoria Museum at Inveresk
2 Invermay Road ,
Launceston 7250
Our people their stories: Susan Aykut