CANBERRA REGION BRANCH
Bert Cremean and the birth of the Movement
A talk by Stephen Holt
You are invited to hear an interesting contribution to ongoing research
into the origins of the Great Labor Split and the rise of BA Santamaria's
right wing organisation 'The Movement'.
In a paper he delivered to the tenth national labour history conference
in Melbourne last year, Stephen Holt argues that from the outset, Santamaria
received encouragement from senior levels of the Victorian ALP to launch
his crusade against the communism which eventually led to the devastating
split in 1955.
Bert Cremean was Deputy Leader of the Victorian Parliamentary Labor Party
from 1939 and later served as Deputy Premier and Chief Secretary before
his untimely death in 1945.
Thursday 29 May 2008
5:30 pm
Seminar Room A
Coombs Building
Fellows Road, ANU
Followed as usual by drinks and nibbles. All welcome, admission free.
Enquiries: Peter Ellett on 6278 5307
Proposed national museum of labour history
An update by Ms Kim Sattler, Secretary - Unions ACT
You are invited to hear Unions ACT secretary Kim Sattler speak on the
proposed establishment of a national museum of labour and industry in
Canberra.
Time permitting, she will also give us an update on how the unions are
faring under the new Labor Government.
Unions ACT
1st floor, 17 Woolley St
Dickson ACT
Wednesday 23 April 2008
5:30 pm
Enquiries: Peter Ellett 6278 5307
The Eric Fry Labour History Scholarship
The Canberra Region Branch of the Australian Society for the Study of
Labour History (ASSLH) and the National Institute for Social Sciences
and Law (NISSL) at the Australian National University (ANU) invite students
doing honours or equivalent to apply for a $1,000 scholarship to do research
at the Noel Butlin Archives Centre (NBAC), based at ANU in Canberra.
The aim of the scholarship is to assist a promising student, with an
interest in labour history and/or the labour movement more generally,
to overcome the financial obstacles to doing research in Canberra.
The scholarship honours the contribution of the late Dr Eric Fry to labour
history as Senior Lecturer in History from 1959 and as Reader 1967-1986
at the ANU. With Prof Robin Gollan he founded the Australian Society for
the Study of Labour History in 1961 and was the first Secretary and then
President 1984-1986.
One scholarship will be granted each year, for a lump sum of $1000, to
assist with fares to Canberra, accommodation, and other research expenses.
The NBAC is the largest non-government archives in Australia, and holds
an unrivalled collection of trade union and business records, along with
the personal papers of left wing and labour movement activists.
To be eligible a student must:
1. Be accepted into an honours program (or equivalent) at an Australian
university, or university in New Zealand, PNG, Timor L'Este or Fiji, in
which one requirement is the production of a research thesis of at least
10,000 words. (By equivalent we mean that the study program must make
a student eligible for enrolment in a postgraduate research degree).
2. Be intending to write their thesis in the broad areas of labour and
social history or labour movement studies. Students need not be working
within the discipline of history. Students of politics, international
relations, sociology, Australian studies, economics, economic history,
industrial relations, management, Pacific studies, cultural studies, museum
studies, and other disciplines may be eligible. It is the nature of the
thesis project only that is relevant.
3. Intend using the resources of the NBAC as part of their research. Students
are welcome to use other archival and research facilities in Canberra,
and should outline any such intentions in their application.
4. Supply written references from their intended academic supervisor,
and one other academic with personal knowledge of the student. These references
must, inter alia, attest to the nature of the proposed research program,
the need to use the resources of the NBAC, the ability of the student
to complete the proposed thesis to a high standard and on time, and the
potential for the student to advance to postgraduate research.
The criteria for the award will be:
1. The relevance of the project for the discipline of labour history.
2. The degree to which the resources of the NBAC are essential to the
proposed thesis.
3. The academic capabilities of the student, as reflected in university
results, academic references, and other evidence supplied; including their
potential to succeed at postgraduate research.
4. The degree to which the scholarship may assist the student to do their
research in Canberra.
The successful student will be required to:
1. Supply a copy of their finished thesis to the NBAC and ASSLH in both
electronic and printed form, along with permission to publish all or part
of the thesis on the ASSLH website.
2. Make themselves available to attend a meeting of the ASSLH in Canberra
to report on the progress or outcome of their research at a mutually convenient
time.
Applications
Applications should be in the form of a letter addressing the criteria
above, along with photocopies of all relevant documentary evidence and
a statement agreeing to the scholarship conditions.
Applications for the 2008 scholarship will close on 31 January 2008 and
the scholarship awarded in February 2008. The decision will be made by
a panel of three, consisting of a representative of the NBAC, a representative
of the NISSL and a representative of the ASSLH. We reserve the right not
to award a scholarship in any year. No correspondence will be entered
into.
Applications should be addressed to:
Eric Fry Labour History Scholarship
Australian Society for the Study of Labour History
LPO Box 8043
Australian National University ACT 0200
Inquiries can be directed to:
Paul Pickering, ANU, tel 02 6125 3451, email paul.pickering@anu.edu.au
Maggie Shapley, NBAC, tel 02 6125 9602, email maggie.shapley@anu.edu.au
Peter Ellett, ASSLH, tel 02 6278 5307, email petere@vtown.com.au
PREVIOUS EVENTS 2007
Dr Evatt & The Petrov Affair - A Reassessment
A talk by Frank Cain, Senior Lecturer
in Politics, ADFA
Dr HV Evatt still remains a controversial figure in labour history circles.
His skills in diplomacy and in legal matters are recognized as substantial,
particularly his contribution to the establishment of the United Nations
at the San Francisco Conference. And he is justifiably regarded as having
established an independent Australian foreign policy while he was Minister
for External Affairs.
But when it comes to other issues while he was leader of the opposition,
labour historians falter in their support for his skills and his contribution
to Australian history. His involvement in the Royal Commission on Espionage
(RCE) which was the culmination of the Petrov Affair is still judged by
historians as demonstrating the commencement of his intellectual decline.
The drawing of that conclusion has been made that much easier by historians
refusing to examine the contents of the Venona Papers released in 1996
by the American National Security Agency and not looking more closely
at his activities during his time as Attorney-General when he oversaw
the planning for ASIO that was established on 16 March 1949.
Frank's talk will show that Dr Evatt knew the background leading to the
RCE which explains why he barged into its conduct and was quickly thrown
out of it after a few days of hearing. He was well aware of what lay behind
the conduct of the RCE but could not reveal that knowledge. This talk
will discuss what that knowledge was and why unfortunately he could not
divulge it.
Thursday 15 November 2007
5:30 pm
Seminar Room A
Coombs Building
Fellows Road
ANU
All welcome, admission free.
Enquiries: Peter Ellett - (02) 6278 5307
petere@vtown.com.au
Australian Society for the Study of
Labour History
Canberra Region Branch
presents
Clarrie O'Shea
A brief biographical sketch
A talk by John Merritt
Former ANU history lecturer John Merritt looks at the life of legendary
union leader Clarrie O'Shea. As leader of the Tramways Union in the 1960's,
O'Shea was jailed by then judge John Kerr for his part in the struggle
against the penal powers. Find out more...
Thursday 28 June 2007
5:30 - 7:30 pm
Seminar Room A
Coombs Building
Fellows Road
ANU
Followed as usual by light refreshments.
All welcome, admission free.
Enquiries: Peter Ellett - (02) 6278 5307
Australian Society for the Study of Labour History Canberra Region Branch
presents
The making of White Australia
Ruling class agendas: 1876-1888
A talk by Phil Griffiths
In this talk based on his recent PhD thesis, labour activist Phil Griffiths
argues that the colonial ruling class developed its first White Australia
policy in 1888, creating most of the precedents for the federal legislation
of 1901. White Australia was central to the making of the Australian working
class, to the shaping of Australian nationalism, and the development of
federal political institutions.
Friday 30 March 2007
5:50 - 7:30 pm
Seminar Room A
Coombs Building
Fellows Road
ANU
All welcome, admission free.
Enquiries: Peter Ellett (02) 6278 5307
Friends of the Noel Butlin Archives Centre,
Canberra Branch of the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History
and
The ANU Archives Program
present
FIGHTING FILMS:
INTERPRETING THE 1950s
Film screening of The
Hungry Miles (1955) and Hewers of Coal (1957),
introduced by Dr Lisa Milner
Wednesday, 11 April 2007, 6 pm, Lecture Theatre 5,
Manning Clark Centre, Union Court, ANU, admission free
You are invited to return to the 1950s for an evening: a time when reds
were under the beds, the pubs closed at 6, the first television broadcast
went to air and nuclear war seemed unavoidable, a decade dominated by
Bob Menzies ('Pig Iron Bob') and the Liberal Party. The union movement
was engaged in an ongoing campaign to improve wages and working conditions
during a period of rising prosperity. In 1953 the Waterside Workers Federation
Film Unit was formed. By 1958 a group of three - Norma Disher, Keith Gow
and Jock Levy made 14 films.
"Operating in Sydney during a period of intense conservatism and
anti-communist feeling, the Film Unit provided an alternative to the mainstream
media of the day and aimed to counter what the union saw as misinformation
and anti-worker propaganda" (Paddy Crumlin, Foreword to Fighting
Films: A History of the Waterside Workers Federation Film Unit by Lisa
Milner, Pluto Press Australia, 2003).
Some claim that the formation of the WWF Film Unit hailed a revolution
in Australian cinematic history. Rather than actors in costumes, the characters
were maritime workers, miners, metal workers and builders on the job.
The films were shown at workplaces, boxing stadiums, stopwork meetings
or outside a pub from the back of a Kombi van. They represented an alternative
form of documentary production and distribution both in Australia and
across the world.
The films will be preceded by a talk by Dr Lisa Milner, the author of
Fighting Films, a writer and academic specialising in Australian film
history and cultural studies. She has over twenty years of extensive experience
in film and video production and is now a lecturer at Southern Cross University.
Dr Milner will set the films in their historical and social context and
describe the archival research behind her book. Noel Butlin Archives Centre
is the primary repository for the Waterside Workers Federation archives
which Dr Milner used extensively. She also used material at the National
Film and Sound Archive and ASIO records at the National Archives of Australia.
If you are interested in the history of Australian film, the labour movement
or the 1950s, you will enjoy this evening.
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