About Us

Meetings

Report of Website Launch - 23rd June 2005

by Fiona-Jane Brown

We gathered at the University's Humanity Manse, home of the Research Institute for Irish & Scottish Studies (RIISS) on a warm, sunny afternoon to witness the launch of AROHA's new web site. Our star guest, Lizzie Finlayson, pushed the vital button! Our other guests were the web site design team, who did a fantastic job preparing the site for today, and Jim Wyness (former Provost) and his colleagues from the Town & County History Society. We hope to foster links between them and other groups with an involvement in reminiscence, local history and storytelling. As Hugo Manson said, AROHA represents the "foot solider" view of history; every child in school has learned about the nation's kings and queens, but Oral History looks at the "wee man" or woman, and seeks to tell their stories. Here are some photographs taken at the launch (All by report author)

"It's the big button in the middle of the computer!"

Lizzie does the big switch-on!

The AROHA web site appears "live" on the laptop screen

The web site's "foot soldiers"! Technical wizards Mike and Gordon are presented with a bottle of wine each for their efforts.

Lizzie points out that she and her friends are in the vintage photograph which features on the home page. Her worry was that she is holding a cigarette in the picture! One of the other weel-kent faces there is her friend Annie, who is the star of Lizzie's new book Annie fae Invercauld .

Lizzie's second book will be launched at Ottakars, Aberdeen on the evening of July 12, 2005. Her first book No Way To Live was a "runaway success", having four reprints from its first run.

I visited Lizzie at Denmore Court a few weeks ago to interview her as part of my research, and heard about how she used to write mystery stories for her friends at school. Little did she think that nearly 8 decades on she would become a published author!

The crowd hears from Hugo about the forthcoming AROHA events

Hugo interviews Lisa about her experiences over the last three years as the city council's Oral History Officer.

Lisa is leaving us to have her first baby. Though she and her husband will be away in Anglesey, the web site will allow her to keep in contact with AROHA.

She was presented with a lovely gift book which we all signed.

Good luck Mum-to-be! The happy event should be in September.

A new Oral History Officer will be joining the council soon and hopefully joining in AROHA business too.