When the RSL was formed as the Returned Soldiers Association (RSA) in Western Australia (in 1916) membership applications were open only to ex-service personnel. At that time members' details were recorded on a card system organised in alphabetical order by surname. The card system was used until the 1980s when the membership system changed (and computers were introduced).
We are fortunate in ANZAC House to have maintained our membership cards which detail our membership base in Western Australia membership cards was identified early on in the project, with the order of the cards being somewhat mixed up from its origins as alphabetical order - possibly due to misfiling along the way. It was decided to re-impose the original order of the cards and to remove the contaminants (staples and pins) from the cards to prevent them being damaged in the future.
With over 100 boxes of cards taking up shelf space of 18 metres if we were to lay them side by side you can imagine it was no easy feat. The cards were worked on by our team of volunteers, Joan, Kay and Barry and they took just over two years to complete the task.
