Public Talk: Refugee Ship – “Anna Salen”

Hear the stories of those who travelled on board the Anna Salen and the project preserving their legacy.

Close to 10,000 people arrived in Australia on the Anna Salen, a ship that carried post-war refugees and displaced persons from Europe during the 1950s. Many of these passengers settled in Kalgoorlie, Boulder, and surrounding towns.

Guest speaker and Heritage Researcher Amanda Lovitt will share insights from her Anna Salen passenger list project, and how she is working to document and bring together the stories of those who made the journey - including her own father, who travelled on the ship's fifth voyage.

About your presenter 

Amanda Lovitt is a Heritage Researcher and has lived in Kalgoorlie, or specifically Boulder for most of her life. She owned the beautiful home Bethel in King Street and raised her 3 sons there. While in the Goldfields, Amanda was the deputy chair of the Museum of the Goldfields, and worked with Eastern Goldfields Family History Society, Friends of Eastern Goldfields Cemeteries and a lot of other organisations. 

In 2020 she began the work of researching the passengers on the ship Anna Salen as it was leading up to the 70th anniversary of her father's arrival on that ship. Then she discovered the ship made multiple trips and she kept going and has now completed 9500 stories with another few thousand to go. 

As a Funeral Celebrant, Amanda tells passenger stories in a different way, and her social media page is where she shares these stories in an easily accessible format.

Presentations on the project have been held in Albany, Northam, Collie, Perth, Bunbury, Manjimup and Eaton. This is the second time she has spoken on the project in Kalgoorlie as many of the passengers from the 1951 landing moved to the Goldfields. Amanda will share some of their stories as well as the research she does.