THE FOLEY COLLECTION ANDS OPEN DATA PROJECT Adrian Gallagher, Karen Anderson, Julie Gardner & Edwina Howell, Victoria University

Activist, performer, educator and historian, Foley helped to establish many of the first was born in Grafton (1950) of Aboriginal self-help and survival organisations Gumbainggir descent and came to including: as an apprentice draughts person after being expelled from school aged 15. In Sydney • Redfern’s Aboriginal Legal Service Foley became rapidly politicized as a result • Aboriginal Health Service in of the regular police brutality encountered in • National Black Theatre Redfern by Aboriginal people in that period and has since then been a key figure in the Currently an Associate Professor at Victoria fight for the political, legal, health & social University, Foley recently been awarded the rights of Aboriginal people. Political activities most esteemed peer assessed honour for an include: Indigenous artist in recognition of a lifetime of achievement in the arts as pioneer for • Springbok tour demonstrations (1971) Aboriginal self-determination within the film • Aboriginal Embassy in (1972) and television industries. • Protests during the Commonwealth Games (1982) and bicentennial celebrations (1988).

OBJECTIVES OF THE COLLECTION • Complete collection of known published material Barrie Dexter (2014) Pandora’s Box: The and campaign related documents on the struggle Council for Aboriginal Affairs 1967-1976 Foley The Foley Archive is a unique collection of print, audio to re-open the Northland Secondary College (1992- G. & Howell E. (eds) Keeaira Press, QLD. visual and digital works collected over the past 45 years 1995) Gary Foley and Edwina Howell – ASIO surveillance of by Aboriginal activist/academic Gary Foley. It aims to the Black Power movement. Funded by VU CRGS. provide organized access to key primary resources Open access materials from the Gary Foley and Clare Land, Northlands Secondary enabling Indigenous and non- ANDS ODC project: College – Oral History Project. Funded by VU CRGS. to understand the activities and impact of Aboriginal activists and their struggles. The open access format • A selection of Gary Foley’s personal papers including also provides a crucial resource for scholars of recent CREATIVE WORKS AND essays, speeches and papers written by Gary Foley aboriginal history by addressing the significant EDUCATIONAL IMPACTS dearth of publically available material on the politics • Key correspondence covering Gary Foley’s Resources from the collection are important for a range of the Aboriginal self-determination movement. engagement with major issues in the history of the of educational and creative work projects including SIGNIFICANCE OF THE COLLECTION aboriginal self-determination movement outlines for potential documentary series on Aboriginal political activism and the history of Aboriginal • Papers and administrative documents of representation in Australian cinema as well as a new The complete Foley Archive – currently housed committees and organizations with significance film from recently found raw footage shot by the at the VU Moondani Balluk Academic Unit for the history of activism, health ground-breaking grassroots activist Bruce McGuinness. - includes a broad range of primary source services, art programs and education materials. Particular strengths include: The online works build upon Foley’s innovative http://www.vu.edu.au/library/researcher-support/special-collections-archives/foley-collection creation of the first Aboriginal owned and operated • Rare collection of early Koori radio programs from website - the Koori History website http://www. 1973 such as Sydney’s Radio Redfern, IMPACT AND RESEARCH PROJECTS kooriweb.org/ - which provides open access to and the Koori Survival Show with the Cosmic Avenger Aboriginal education resources. The online material (1991-95) The Foley Archive has made a major fills an important gap providing illustrative historical contribution to supporting Gary Foley’s resources to support the development of Black Studies • Major video and film collection charting Gary Foley’s research projects and publication history over curriculum, the teaching of Aboriginal and Australian contribution as a performer, producer and educator. the last 5 years. Recent works include history and politics from an informed Aboriginal perspective as well as teacher training programs. • Extensive collection of newspaper clippings of key Foley, G. Schaap, A. & Howell E. eds. (2014) The events related to aboriginal affairs from the 1930s : Sovereignty, Black Power, to the present day including extensive thematic files Land Rights and the State, Routledge: London UK. for media coverage of key events such as Dennis Walker’s Black Panther Party of 1971 and the 1972 Foley, Gary ‘ASIO and the Aboriginal Rights Aboriginal Embassy Movement 1951-1972’ in Meredith Burgmann ed (2014) Dirty Secrets: Our ASIO files, NewSouth Publishing: Sydney NSW.

Foley, Gary ‘A short history of the Australian Indigenous resistance 1950-1990’ in Allison Cadzow, John Maynard and Larissa Behrendt, (2012) Nelson Aboriginal Studies, Cengage Learning: South Melbourne.

Works from the archive are also playing a major role in a diverse range of research projects currently underway, including:

ANDS is supported by the Australian vu.edu.au This project is supported by the Government through the National Victoria University CRICOS Provider No: 00124K (Melbourne), 02475D (Sydney) This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Australian National Data Service (ANDS) Collaborative Research Infrastructure Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Strategy Program