A handmade CWA banner, an old photograph and the memories of people who were there can all help tell the story of a town.
Across the Moree Plains, those pieces of the past are being collected, preserved and shared in different ways, through museums and archives, community collections, historic places and the people who continue to carry the stories themselves.
Many of them will be opened to the public next week as the district marks NSW History Week, which runs from September 5 to 13 under the theme Keeping Stories.
A series of free events is planned across Moree and Mungindi, ranging from historical research workshops and museum tours to an Elders Group open day, military history, heritage collections, a walking tour and art.
A CWA story that did not end when the branch closed
One of the clearest local examples can be found inside the Moree & District Historical Society museum.
The Moree branch of the Country Women’s Association closed in June after 104 years, bringing the organisation’s work in the town to an end but not its history.
Before the branch closed, former members had begun working with the Moree & District Historical Society to preserve photographs, records, books and other material documenting the CWA’s century of work in Moree.
Moree Online News reported in July that a display was being prepared for the museum’s James Pritchard Memorial Room.
That collection will be a feature when the museum opens for History Week on Tuesday, September 8, from 9.30am to 2.30pm. Entry is free, with guided tours and morning tea available.
Among the material are photographs documenting the CWA’s early work in Moree.
One supplied photograph shows the Moree Scout Hall when it was used by the CWA as its first Baby Health Clinic. Another is identified by the Moree & District Historical Society as the opening of the CWA Hostel on April 18, 1929. Separate historical records say the building was used to accommodate women waiting in Moree before childbirth when travel from outlying properties could be difficult.
Official CWA history records that the first Baby Health Centre opened in Moree in 1925.
Previous Moree Online News reporting also records that the early clinic operated from the Scout Hall and that a purpose-built clinic was later constructed at Kirkby Park around 1927–28.
The CWA’s accommodation role changed over time. Historical records distinguish the 1929 building used by women waiting for childbirth from a later CWA hostel established for high-school girls from isolated areas.
Together, the records show how CWA facilities responded to some of the practical problems created by long distances and limited access to services.
The museum display also includes the branch’s centenary banner, made by Sylvia Macey.
John Officer, from the Moree Men’s Shed, has built a case so the banner can be displayed as part of the collection.
The Historical Society also hopes to hold a short opening for the display on Tuesday, depending on how many CWA members are able to attend.
The Society says the museum’s displays are continually changing, giving visitors different material to see on return visits.
History lives with people, too
Not every story is kept behind glass.
On Thursday, September 10, the Dhiiyaan Centre Elders Group will hold an open day from 11am to 1pm as part of the History Week program. No booking is required.
The open day provides another way for people to engage with local history and cultural knowledge through the Dhiiyaan Centre.
The centre is also an important repository of local Aboriginal history.
Its archive room recognises the work of Aunty Noeline Briggs-Smith OAM, whose research and collections helped preserve Gamilaroi history, documents, photographs and family stories for future generations.
Moree Plains Shire Council says the archive room was established as a repository for historical documents, photographs and artefacts collected through her work and as a resource for researchers, students and the wider community.
That work continues through the centre’s collections and local research services.
Earlier this year, Council’s local studies and digitisation officer Adam Mitchell said about 90 per cent of the enquiries he handled came from everyday families looking for relatives or family photographs.
Council also reported that about half of the people accessing Moree’s online history lived outside the region.
For Mr Mitchell, preserving a collection was only part of the job.
“It’s not enough to have an interesting collection; you also have to make it easy to find,” he said in a Council profile published earlier this year.
“It’s about what’s relevant today.”
Learning how to find the past
History Week will also give people the chance to learn how local research is done.
An Introduction to Historical Research Workshop will be held at Moree Community Library from 10.30am to 11.30am on Monday, September 7.
A second workshop will be held at the Mungindi Rural Transaction Centre from 11am to noon on Wednesday, September 9.
Both are free and no booking is required.
The workshops extend the Keeping Stories theme beyond preserving material that has already been collected. They also give people tools to explore their own family, property or community history.
History in the streets
On Thursday, September 10, a Moree Tourism Walking Tour will leave the Visitor Information Centre at 9am and return at 11am.
It is the only event on the Council program marked as requiring a booking.
The walking tour takes local history out of archives and museums and into the streets, buildings and places people pass in everyday life.
Later that day, the Dhiiyaan Centre Elders Group will hold its open day from 11am to 1pm, followed by the Bank Art Museum Moree Regional Art Fair from 5.30pm to 7pm.
RSVPs are encouraged for the art fair.
Military stories open on Friday
On Friday, September 11, the Moree RSL Sub-Branch Military Museum will open from 10am to 4pm, with guided tours available.
The museum holds military books, artefacts and other material connected with military history.
The open day and tours are free and no booking is required.
Mungindi’s turn on Saturday
On Saturday, September 12, Mungindi Heritage Park will open from 10am to noon for tours.
The event is free and no booking is required.
It follows Wednesday’s historical research workshop in Mungindi and gives the border community another opportunity to explore history preserved locally.
Keeping stories
The History Council of NSW has run History Week since 1997.
Its 2026 theme asks how stories keep history alive and what those stories tell people about themselves.
History Council president Dr Naomi Parry Duncan posed the question when announcing this year’s program.
“So how do we keep the stories that matter to our communities?” she asked.
Across Moree Plains, there is no single answer.
It can be an Elder sharing knowledge, a family searching an archive for a photograph of a grandparent, a military artefact, a historic building or a museum volunteer who knows the story behind an object.
It can also be an old photograph showing a Scout Hall being used as a baby health clinic, or a handmade CWA banner which is now being preserved after the branch that carried it for more than a century closed its doors.
The organisation may be gone, but its story is still being kept.
History Week across Moree Plains
All events are free.
Monday, September 7: Introduction to Historical Research Workshop, Moree Community Library, 10.30–11.30am. No booking required.
Tuesday, September 8: Moree Plains Museum open day and guided tours, 9.30am–2.30pm. Morning tea and special Moree CWA history display. No booking required.
Wednesday, September 9: Introduction to Historical Research Workshop, Mungindi Rural Transaction Centre, 11am–noon. No booking required.
Thursday, September 10: Moree Tourism Walking Tour, 9–11am, departing the Visitor Information Centre. Booking required. Dhiiyaan Centre Elders Group Open Day, 11am–1pm, no booking required. Bank Art Museum Moree Regional Art Fair, 5.30–7pm, RSVP encouraged.
Friday, September 11: Moree RSL Sub-Branch Military Museum open day and guided tours, 10am–4pm. No booking required.
Saturday, September 12: Mungindi Heritage Park open day and tours, 10am–noon. No booking required.
For more information, visit Moree Community Library, 36 Balo Street, Moree, or call 02 6757 3374.
