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Registered by Australia Post PRINT POST 306-181-0004-ISSN 0155-8722 RecorderOfficial organ of the Melbourne Branch of the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History Issue No 267—October 2010 IN THIS EDITION: • History Week 2010, p. 3 • Uni of Melbourne Archives – 50th BIRTHDAY, Peter Love, p. 1 • RHSV Events & Seminars, p. 3 • Cummins Memorial Dinner 2010, Peter Love, p. 2 • Vale Jim Kennan, Brian Smiddy, p. 4 • BIG RED QUIZ NIGHT 2010, p. 3 • Noces, p. 4 • Melbourne branch ASSLH contacts, p. 4 UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE ARCHIVES – 50th BIRTHDAY By Peter Love To the many members of the Melbourne Branch at University House on Friday 23 July the funcCon seemed like a family birthday party. The relaonship between the ASSLH and the UMA has been long, construcCve and harmonious. The University of Melbourne Archives was established in July 1960 to collect University and Victorian business records for historical research. In the 1970s it added trade union, poliCcal and social movement records as well as the personal papers of significant individuals. It Quickly became one of the main repositories for labour history research, in tandem with the cognate collecCons at the Noel Butlin Archives Centre in the Australian have alerted staff to records that were lying neglected in Naonal University. In deciding to collect business and some back room or about to be orphaned as the parent labour records both insCtuCons supported the growing organisaon ceased to exist. The University has had the maturity of Australian historical scholarship, which good sense to include representaves of supporCng recognised that capital and labour were not enCCes unto communiCes on its Board. Several members of the themselves but were leading players in the dynamics of a ASSLH have willingly served a term on the Board wider system of economic and social relaons. At the represenCng labour donors and users. Branch Treasurer same Cme the Australian Society for the Study of Labour Phillip Deery is our current representave. It was History embraced a more expansive vision to explore grafying to see so many of these dedicated folk at the labour and social history. The UMA and the ASSLH were family birthday party. on parallel paths to encourage a richer, more nuanced stream of historical wriCng. It is hard to think of a Maggie Shapley, the ANU Archivist, was another pracCsing labour historian who has not, at some stage of significant member of the extended family at the their research, used the collecCons in the UMA. funcCon. Her presence was a reminder of the very collegial relaonship with the Butlin Archives. They have In the best tradiCons of the labour movement, there was been partners in a number of major projects, including mutuality in the relaonship. As a succession of labour the invaluable Australian Trade Union Archives database archivists, including Andrew Reeves, Jenny Lee, Sue and the current proposal to list 19th century Australian Fairbanks, Sarah Brown and others, collected and trade union records on the UNESCO Memory of the organised records, trade unions, poliCcal parCes and World register. social movement acCvists came to see the UMA as a secure, professionally managed repository for their Birthday parCes beget speeches. On this occasion all material. An outstanding example of the laer is the were concise and to the point. We heard from the remarkable collecCon of photographs that John Ellis has urbane Chair of the Board, the AcCng Vice-Chancellor, donated and, as a volunteer, helped to catalogue. This Jock Murphy, Michael PiggoV (ex-University Archivist) commitment to the Archives has extended to users who Recorder No. 262 RECORDER Government was elected on April 2nd, 1982 and Jim was a member of that Government. He had a number of ministerial porolios including Aorney-General, Planning, Major Projects, Transport and Arts. When he rered from parliament in 1993, he subseQuently returned to the pracCce of law as a Senior Counsel. He appeared in a number of high profile cases including that of Abdul Nacer Benbrika and Jack Thomas’s terrorism trials and more recently represenCng ChrisCne Nixon at the Bush Fires Royal Commission. J i m w a s m o s t and eminent poet Chris Wallace-Crabb who spoke with concerned about the characterisCc generosity and wit. As they talked about need to protect civil the Archives’ impressive achievements over the years, liberCes and he had we remembered the unassuming but invaluable work of great doubts about long-serving staff like Cecily Close and Mark Richmond many recent changes whose dedicaon and deep knowledge of the collecCons to the law which made our visits both pleasant and producCve. It would friered away some be impossible, however, to think of the UMA’s first 50 of these rights. He years without its late, legendary leader Frank Strahan was also concerned who was University Archivist from its foundaon in 1960 as to what was to his reCrement in1995. Frank’s passion for collecCng wrong with society; and preserving our heritage extended well beyond the he saw law as the University environs to business records as far afield as vehicle to make society fairer and to protect the needy. Broken Hill and beyond, and outside his Archivist duCes to serve organisaons such as the Naonal Trust. In With the passing of Jim we have lost another champion many ways, the UMA is a monument to Frank and his whose interests in life were more than just making colleagues. There were some at the birthday party who money. To his family we offer deepest condolences at his also recalled the danger to their research schedules of unCmely passing. accepCng an invitaon to join Frank for lunch! CUMMINS MEMORIAL DINNER 2010 Recorder congratulates the University of Melbourne For the Melbourne Community Foundaon Archives on 50 years of conspicuous service to the By Peter Love scholarly community and offers Principal Archivist Helen McLaughlan and her colleagues our conCnuing support. The annual John Cummins Memorial Dinner was held at the Moonee Valley Racecourse funcCon centre on Friday The late JIM KENNAN MP 27 August. It followed the usual format with guests milling about and catching up with comrades not seen 25 February 1946 – 4 August 2010 for a while, each course of the dinner interspersed with By Brian Smiddy speeches and musical interludes, and dancing at the end of formal proceedings. It was a liVle more difficult to I first met Jim Kennan at the Cme of the elecCon of the move about this year, with more than 700 aending. Whitlam Labor Government in 1972. From then on, both as a fullCme official and an acCve branch member in a In addiCon to the driving set of songs from Mark newly established suburb, I found Jim was always Seymour and his band, there were two parCcularly good prepared to offer advice on a range of subjects when speeches as highlights this year. Gabi Hollows, Founding reQuested to do so. As a trained lawyer he had a razor Director of the Fred Hollows Foundaon addressed the sharp mind and his interests were many. theme of ‘Dare to Struggle, Dare to Win’. It was both an inspiring and illuminang address on how her late At the monthly ALP branch meeCngs in the 1970’s and husband had both dared and struggled to bring sight to 80’s Jim regularly aended such meengs and people whose miserable social condiCons had consigned encouraged rank and file members to conCnue with their them to both poverty and darkness. Her account of the acCviCes, in order that one day we will elect a State Foundaon’s conCnuing work was both reassuring about Labor Government. The John Cain State Labor 2 Recorder No. 267 RECORDER the steely resoluCon that sCll drives its work and inspiring as to what is sCll possible. [] She went on to list the very impressive achievements of the college in winning support to improve its infrastructure and programs. At all stages of its remarkable revival, the building unions gave consistent support. For a link to the speech go to: hp:// www.cummo.com.au/ [] The Cummins memorial fund conCnues its work in The Cummins Foundaon and its annual fund-raising supporCng the AusCn Hospital. Since its incepCon the dinner is yet another example of the construcCve role Fund has donated $105,000, which the Hospital has that unions play in supporng their communies, agreed to match from other beQuests to ensure the parCcularly when they are under aack from hosCle ongoing employment of a Brain Tumour Support Officer. governments and other powerful adversaries. The Fund’s other main acCvity is to support working class students and their schools. Scholarships of up to $1,000 BIG RED QUIZ NIGHT 2010 per student, capped at $5,000 per school are available. Saturday 23 October This work was the subject of the second speech. In an occasionally rousing address, the Principal of Northland The New Internaonal Bookshop is calling all news Secondary College, Raffaela Gala-Brown paid tribute to junkies, bibliophiles, trivia buffs – and run-of-the-mill the John Cummins Memorial Fund for its support of Leqie geniuses! The Big Red Quiz Night is just around the students at the College and gave examples of the real corner, and that means that another year has almost difference it had made to many young lives. Addressing passed us by. Have you been paying aenCon? As always the same theme as Gabi Hollows, she reminded us of the there are huge prizes for the top three tables, a booby way the union movement had supported the College’s prize for the last table – and spot prizes, games and a disCncCve role in enhancing opportuniCes for young raffle throughout the event for individual glory and working class people.