Historical information

These letters from 1978, record the first known attempts by Melbourne Legacy to preserve and store their history and what "The Wardens" of the archives believed was the most appropriate way to proceed with the project.
Legatees Brian Armstrong and Frank Doolan were appointed by the Board of Management to scope the work to establish and archive as 'The Wardens'. They mention in their report to the BOM that many original files were lost in a fire 'many years ago' and they had collected material from many sources. They felt that a proper storage facility and indexing was required and were not able to complete those tasks. It would appear most of their work remained in their envelopes and storage system until the Victorian Collections archive was created.
Came from an envelope labelled 'P2 Archives Origin' in red pen as per the archive system used by the original archive.

Significance

Significant in that the Board of Melbourne Legacy understood and valued the importance of preserving and documenting the history of Melbourne Legacy. A record that Frank Doolan and Brian Armstrong had done considerable work at creating the initial archive for Legacy in 1978.

Physical description

Two letters about the original attempt to create an archive.
00456.1 Copy of a letter typed on Legacy A4 letterhead, dated 7 February 1978, to the Legacy secretary from Legatees Frank Doolan and Brian Armstrong.
00456.2 Letter typed on quarto Legacy letterhead, dated 10 March 1978, from the secretary advising their letter had been tabled at the Board Meeting.

Inscriptions & markings

00456.1. Handwritten, "L/tee Brian Armstrong" in blue ball point pen. Stamped COPY ONLY, in purple ink. Signed Frank Doolan and HB Armstrong.
00456.2 Signed Legatee L. F. Johns. Hon Sec Melbourne Legacy.