Historical Highlight (1) – Launch of the Croatian History Room, Friday, 6 November 2021

Starting with a historical highlight from 2021, Her Excellency Betty Bernardica Pavelich, Croatian Ambassador to Australia, addressed young students from the Croatian Club Adelaide’s Friday night school program, alongside guests, on the importance of preserving community history. This occasion marked the beginning of the archive, now known as the Croatian History Room Archive, and laid the foundation for the digital archive website launch on 29 August 2025. The event highlighted how history connects generations within the Croatian community in South Australia.

Credits: Photo by Brendan Moran

Vice-President Dijana Adžić welcomed guests to the Croatian Club Adelaide

Dijana Adžić welcomed guests to The Croatian Club Adelaide for another launch in the Croatian History Festival. She noted the upgrade of the Croatian History Room with new compactus shelving, which has greatly increased the archive’s storage capacity. The Archive Website event is one of several Festival launches marking 75 years of the Croatian Club Adelaide, alongside the Festival Website, the Migration Museum’s Croatian Club exhibition, and the Biographies Project. Funding support from the Republic of Croatia’s Central State Office for Croats Abroad made both the shelving upgrade and the website possible.

Credits: Photo by Mimi Glavaš

Dr Vesna Drapač addresses guests at the Archive Website Launch

Framed by powerful symbols of community history, Dr Vesna Drapač, Associate Professor of History at the University of Adelaide, delivered her remarks with authority and passion. She spoke about the value of milestones, explaining that the 75th anniversary of the Croatian Club Adelaide is not only a commemoration of the past but also an opportunity to look toward the future. Highlighting the contributions of younger generations through the Croatian Ethnic School and 'Lenek' folkloric dancing, she noted how their involvement ensures that traditions remain vibrant. Her observations stressed that the Croatian Club Adelaide is not only steeped in its proud history but is continually renewed by the energy of its members.

Credits: Photo By Mimi Glavaš

Discovering Our Digital Heritage

Branimir Šprajcer, coordinator of the Croatian History Room Archive, navigated the new Archive Website live for the audience, projecting its features from a laptop to an overhead screen. The presentation showed how community biographies have been integrated with other sections of the site, linking personal stories with digitised material to enrich the visitor’s experience. Uploading content to the website is still in the early stages, while new biographies and other archival material are being sorted for upload. This process will accelerate once the year-long History Festival is completed. Community access to the searchable digital collection will expand as resources grow, safeguarding South Australia’s Croatian heritage both physically in the Archive and digitally through the website. The Archive and its website are managed by the Croatian History Group South Australia.

Credits: Photo by Mimi Glavaš

Historic Moment in the Library

Guests and members of the Croatian History Group listened attentively as speakers provided context for the Archive Website launch and set the scene of taking community history to new levels of best practice. Maintaining and caring for the growing archive will require ongoing commitment and fresh energy from the community. The year-long Croatian History Festival, centred on the 75th anniversary of the Croatian Club Adelaide, has strengthened support for history projects through active involvement by community members and by staging events that provide opportunities for participation. This has helped increase historical literacy not only within the Croatian community but also across the wider South Australian community.

Credits: Photo by Croatian History Group

Several Members of the History Festival Steering Committee

From left to right: Dijana Adžić, Sandra Jadrešić, Mimi Glavaš, Katarina Simpson (née Putrić), Dr Vesna Drapač, and Branimir Šprajcer. Other Steering Committee members not pictured include Mate Božanić, Kruno Batrac, Jadranka Fuček, Karmen Petrić, Jurica Turčnov, and Dr Ivan Hrstić. Its work, supported by other Croatian History Group members, covers a wide range of areas, including the collection of historical materials, fundraising and finance, strategic planning, event organisation, media, research and writing, as well as the development of websites and the Archive. The Committee is currently focused on consolidating the archive, organising the History Conference and preparing the commemorative book.

Credits: Photo by Croatian History Group

Credits: Photo by Brendan Moran

Credits: Photo by Mate Božanić

Credits: Photo by Eva Mileković

Historical Highlight (2)

Credits: Photo by Brendan Moran