Interview with Eileen Davern (1932-2010)

In 2006 the East Melbourne Historical Society collaborated with the Australian Catholic University to conduct oral histories with 15 East Melbourne residents. 

Dr John Brick was in charge of the History Methods course and the interviews were to be part of the students' assignments. The interviewees would be asked about their experiences of living in East Melbourne. EMHS found willing participants and students of ACU conducted the interviews.  

Not all of the interviews were handed over to EMHS at the end of the year and some were in formats unable to be accessed.  The accessible ones were transcribed by Sylvia Black, secretary of EMHS.

The interview with Eileen Davern, play-leader at the local kindergarten, was one of the more successful interviews.  Eileen elected to be interviewed while walking around the streets of East Melboune so that she could point out what she was talking about. 

Students conducting the interview were Brendan Hegarty and Boyd Heffernan.