Posts Tagged ‘James Baldacchino’

  • NEVER FORGOTTEN

    From left - Max Farrugia and James Baldacchino - Photo by Fiona Vella (2)Recently, Max Farrugia has donated a collection of 10,500 memorial cards to the National Archives of Malta. I was curious to learn why someone would wish to have such a collection and what was its value to the national archives.

    “Initially, I started this collection in order to pray for the souls of the dead,” revealed Max. “I would separate the memorial cards into sets according to the village or town they came from. Then, each week, my family and I would choose a set, spread the memorial cards on a table and pray for their souls.”

    “We were aware that among those individuals, there were elders who had no one to pray for them and so we did. We also believe that prayers can be passed on to other souls if the person we are praying for is already in heaven. Flowers wither, tears dry out but a prayer is always beneficial.”

    Max succeeded to gather such a huge collection, mostly by word of mouth, and also a touch of luck, here and there.

    004b“I am 73 now and I have been collecting memorial cards for many years. When people learn that you have such an interest, they would generally help you out. I still receive packs of memorial cards in my letter box. Facebook is another great tool for such things. Whenever I post a request for memorial cards, someone will always respond,” he said as he smiled.

    Then there are moments of serendipity.

    “One day, I was attending mass at the chapel of Fort St Angelo and I noticed a memorial card in the sacristan’s hand. I approached him and asked him whether I could have it since I was a collector. He gave it to me eagerly and told me to return within an hour so that he could bring me more. There were 400 memorial cards waiting for me when I returned!”

    Some of the memorial cards in this collection go back more than 100 years. One of the oldest ones was discovered accidentally.

    003a“I was at the DOI office to get some documents and while I waited, I started to talk with one of the officials. Soon I learnt that he lived in Birżebbuġa and when he continued to elaborate, I realised that he had purchased my great grandfather’s house. When I told him that, he informed me that he had found two old memorial cards in a piece of old furniture in that house. We met later on and he gave them to me. The memorial cards were of my great grandfather dating to 1897 and his brother.”

    As he opened some of the boxes brimming with memorial cards, Max selected a number of them to explain their research value to me.

    “These memorial cards are rich with information for researchers. For example, they can be very significant to genealogists when they are tracing people to build a family tree. From the date of the demise of a person, one can research for further information at the Public Registry, where one would then obtain the date of birth. From the birth certificate, one can then identify the parents, and can continue to trace back the grandparents and so on.”

    009bThe images of the saints on memorial cards, which are generally patron saints, will reveal the location which the deceased came from.

    “From this information, a researcher can then look for more details in the particular parish archives. Look at this memorial card,” he said as he chose one of them. “On the left side, there is an image of Christ the King which is the patron saint of Paola and on the right, there is the image of the Immaculate Conception which is Cospicua’s patron. This means that this person was born in Paola and then he moved to Cospicua.”

    The National Archives hold a vast collection of passports and from them, researchers manage to find photos of people and other details. Yet, this collection does not cover those persons who were never abroad. This lacuna can be filled through the collection of memorial cards. Interestingly, from this collection, one can also trace Maltese people who emigrated and died in Australia and in other countries, since their Maltese relatives tend to organise a mass in Malta to pray for their souls and give out memorial cards to those who attend.

    002“As you can see, memorial cards can serve to tell a social and a cultural narrative. They also have a historical and an anthropological value. For example, when one compares memorial cards of different periods, one can notice the development of printing. One can also observe the use of different languages in various villages and towns, with some using the English language while others prefering Italian. As time passes, one can then follow the introduction of Maltese and the evolution of the language’s spelling as years go by.”

    “Originally, memorial cards were meant to be placed in a Missal in order to pray for the souls during mass. However, modern memorial cards tend to be bigger in size, making this practice difficult.”

    Max Farrugia is one of the founders of the NGO ‘Friends of the National Archives’. The main objective of this NGO is to raise public awareness of the work of the National Archives, and the importance of preserving documents of historical value. It also offers assistance and support to the National Archives by various means, including fundraising and the promotion of a volunteers’ scheme.

    “This collection of memorial cards will now form part of the project MEMORJA,” explained James Baldacchino, the administrator of the MEMORJA Project at the National Archives of Malta.

    001 - Copyright - National Archives of MaltaMEMORJA is an oral, sound and visual archive. Its main objective is to employ cutting edge research, methodologies, theoretical and archival approaches and techniques to collect, record, transcribe, preserve and make available and retrievable all the deposited material detailing the islands’ history.

    “Initially, we started out with four themes, namely the Second World War, the British expatriates in Malta, public administration, and the Lampedusa-Malta connection. Then, we added two others – the Malta buses and transport and the bell-ringers. However, our country is blessed with so much history that you continue to expand as people approach you with different valuable memories. In this case, Max Farrugia has introduced the death theme with all its significant meanings.”

    MEMORJA - Copyright -National Archives of Malta“Through this project, we found a huge amount of data which existed only in the minds of people and in their photos. Many individuals were enthusiastic to make their voice heard in order to help out with the shaping of the public’s narrative which up to now was not formally recorded for posterity. They were also very generous in donating or allowing us to copy hundreds of personal family photos from which we can identify various themes such as social life, fashion, local landscape, celebrations, food and much more.”

    Gathering records for MEMORJA is all about reciprocal patience and trust. James spends several hours over a period of time, visiting people who are interested to be interviewed until they are ready to give out the formal experience on record. He showed me several photos which were handed to him. All this information will soon be available on a website which the National Archives is currently working on.

    Max Farrugia can be contacted on maxfarrugia46@gmail.com

    If you are interested to contribute to the MEMORJA Project, you are invited to contact James Baldacchino on james.baldacchino@gov.mt  or call 21459863.

    The National Archives is located at ‘Santo Spirito’, Hospital Street, Rabat, Malta.

    (Note – This article was published in SENIOR TIMES – November 2019 issued with The Times of Malta on Friday 15th November 2019)

    2019.11.15 / no responses / Category: Times of Malta

  • FROM STORIES TO HISTORY

    For hundreds of years, the recording of the past focused on public records, statistical data and the lives of prominent people. Yet in recent decades, the spotlight turned onto the general public and its memories in order to provide a more accurate picture of the historic narrative.

    0007 (Eng.)“People who have lived through particular events can contribute different viewpoints and perspectives that fill in the gaps of documented history, at times correcting or even contradicting the written record. The project MEMORJA aims to give a voice to those who have been unheard,” explained James Baldacchino, the administrator of the MEMORJA Project.

    MEMORJA is an oral, sound and visual archive. Its main objective is to employ cutting edge research, methodologies, theoretical and archival approaches and techniques to collect, record, transcribe, preserve and make available and retrievable all the deposited material detailing the islands’ history.

    “Work on this project has begun in January 2017. This is a new platform which is giving an additional dimension to the National Archives since this time, it is not only collecting records but reaching out to create them.”

    At the early stages of the project, four themes were selected, namely the Second World War, British expatriates in Malta, public administration and the Lampedusa-Malta connection.

    0005 (Eng.)“The theme related to experiences during the Second World War aims to document and record a past which is slowly disappearing from public memory especially with the passing away of the older generation. Oral testimonies and photographs serve to recollect the terrible years of war and what the people have lived through in those times. Stories of the outbreak of hostilities and the first bombings on June 11, 1940, the mass evacuations and refugee experiences, fear and uncertainty, hunger and the Victory Kitchens, shelters and sanitation, soldiers and sirens, and tragedies of bombings are part of the significant remembrance which needs to be collected and preserved for future generations before it is lost for good.”

    The history of the relationship between the UK and Malta is another central theme which has not been documented through the eyes of the British and Maltese individuals.

    0006 (Eng.)“This section includes interviews with British and British-Maltese people who were either in the British forces during the 1960’s (or their spouses) and remained in Malta, or civilians who married a Maltese person and relocated to Malta. Such recordings open a window on everyday life in Malta during the 1950s – 1970s. Much of the narratives relate to military bases, post-war experiences, political issues, relationships and cultural differences. This theme was further expanded when the experience of service families’ children was included as well. These children had attended the Naval Childrens’ School and HM Dockyard Children’s School which had occupied sites at Ta’ Xbiex, Cottonera, Senglea and the Dockyard before moving to Tal-Ħandaq.”

    0003 (Eng.)Civil servants are often regarded as those who are implementing the Goverment’s policies. However, through their memories we can get a glimpse of what happenned ‘behind the scenes’ during the most important political, social and economic decisions undertaken by Maltese political leaders.

    “These include background revelations of what was taking place during the granting of Independence in 1964, the dismantling of the British military base in 1979 and how the Maltese prepared for such an event, membership in the EU and how it affected the civil service, the migration of the hospital from St Lukes to Mater Dei and many other memorable challenges.”

    Lampedusa and Malta are two islands with different political histories. Yet to some extent they share similar economic, trade and socio-cultural interest.

    0008 (Eng.)“We have an interest in Lampedusa since in the early 1800s, there were a number of Maltese settlers on this island. Until now, no one had attempted to record these people’s history in order to understand the link between the two islands. The MEMORJA Project is focusing on two time frames to investigate the islands’ shared history. The first one relates to the period from 1800 – 1843 when Lampedusa was colonised by Maltese settlers working in agriculture and animal husbandry. The second covers the period between the 1950s and the 1980s when Lampedusani fishermen visited Malta regularly for the maintenance of ships, the sale of blue fish and the provision of supplies.”

    As the team of the MEMORJA Project reached out to people, they were soon welcomed by the different communities who were eager to share their recollections.

    0002 (Eng.)“We found a huge amount of data which existed only in the minds of people and in their photos. Many individuals were enthusiastic to make their voice heard in order to help out with the shaping of the public’s narrative which up to now was not formally recorded for posterity. Even though we have four selected themes, it does not exclude us from recording other memories as well which we deem to be of importance to form part of the community memory.”

    The search for the stories which make the history is still going on. The final goal of the MEMORJA Project which will be officially launched later on this year will be to make this information accessible online for educational and research purposes.

    0001 (Eng.)“Oral history allows people to express the personal consequences of change, from the simplest things in life to the more complex. It enables people to share their experiences in their own words, with their own voices, through their own understanding of what happened and why. Eventually, such documentation will offer depth to the understanding of the past to present and future generations.”

    If you are interested to contribute to the MEMORJA Project, you are invited to contact James Baldacchino on james.baldacchino@gov.mt or call 21459863.

    The National Archives is located at ‘Santo Spirito’, Hospital Street, Rabat, Malta.

    (This article was published in SENIOR TIMES – MAY 2018 issued with The Times of Malta dated 24 May 2018)

     

    2018.05.24 / no responses / Category: Times of Malta