State Heritage Convention

Dr Alison Gregg PhD, BEd, Grad Dip Adv Lib Stud
Local History Librarian, Fremantle City Library

Dr Alison Gregg holds the position of Librarian: Local History, in charge of the Local History Collection at Fremantle City Library. A former journalist, teacher and teacher-librarian, she relishes the opportunity to work with researchers ranging from primary school children to senior academics as they explore aspects of Fremantle history. History has always been high on her list of special interests, nurtured originally by her grandmother's tales of Goldfields life as a newlywed in 1902. Family letters and diaries, family photograph albums, and her mother's research into family history all fostered a growing interest which culminated in her PhD research on the community campaigns that led to the establishment of library services for children in Western Australia.

Alison is currently Vice-President of the Fremantle History Society and the Oral History Association of Australia (WA Branch). She is a former National President of the ALIA Local Studies Group (the professional association of local studies librarians), former Secretary of the Australian and New Zealand History of Education Society (ANZHES), and former Secretary of both the Carnarvon and the Eastern Goldfields Historical Societies. Children's literature and indigenous issues are her other research interests. She has contributed to conferences and published papers in each of these areas. While she gains immense satisfaction from working with others engaged in historical research, Alison is also looking forward to the time when she can once again take up a major research project of her own.