Will the personal papers ofcurrent and future genera-tions still contain the

gems that researchers expect? Personal letters and journals pro-

vide a rare view on the past; they giveinsight into the life and times of anindividual. Working papers, includ-ing unpublished public addresses,lectures, correspondence and note-books, can offer perspectives thatchallenge and extend those revealedby published or official sources.Biographers love personal papers fortheir intimacy and idiosyncratic take

on people’s lives. Historians lovethem for what they reveal about soci-ety at a given moment. And good col-lections of personal papers are whatcreate reputations for archives andsimilar collecting institutions.

Even the decline of the aero-gramme — which could takeupwards of 600 words per sheet —will probably have an enormousimpact on the type of personal corre-spondence offered to archives in thefuture. What will replace aero-grammes and the long letter, the typeof correspondence with space for

Newsletter of the UNSW ArchivesNo. 8 January 2003

I N T H I S I S S U EOral history as modern 1personal papers

Andrew Wells, University 4Librarian

Guilaine Buckley, University 5Archivist

‘Traditions Day 1961’ 6

Exquisite lunacy: UNSW Press 8

Engineering OH project 10morning tea

Recent accessions 11

Contact the Archives 12

Origins

Michael and Jenny Birt striding past the cameras, at UNSW, 1981 [CN1127, Box 9]

(continued on page 2)

JULIA HORNE was responsible for the OralHistory Program in the UNSW Archivesfrom 1994 to 2002, when she left to be-come University Historian at the Universityof Sydney.

In her time at UNSW Archives Julia Horneorganised and conducted an extensive rangeof interviews with people who have associa-

tions with this university, including pastmembers of staff and students. Many of theseinterviews have been transcribed and madeaccessible for research. In recent years shehas also conducted a series of interviewsrecording the experiences of many 1950sand 1960s Hong Kong, Malaysian, Singa-porean and Thai alumni.

Full details, and access conditions, for allinterviews conducted under the OralHistory Program are available in theUniversity Archives and on its website,which Julia Horne established. Copies ofher book Not an Ivory Tower, based on herinterviews with Michael and Jenny Birt, are available from UNSW Archives.

Origins No. 8 1

Oral histor y as modern personal papers— in defence of the long interview

reflective observations and comments,perhaps on personal circumstances orbroader social and political issues?Cheap international telephone callshave probably replaced many aero-grammes, but they are not easilyassembled as a personal collection.There are options for preserving emails,either electronically or on paper. Butwho can honestly say they regularlytake steps to preserve the personalemail messages that one day might behistorically interesting? Anyway, withthe world becoming metaphoricallysmaller, many emails are simply themeans for making arrangements tomeet in person, to have a productivetalk face-to-face. Where’s the need, any-more, for the long, perceptive, informa-tion-packed letter?

So, what of the future? I’d like tothink that archivists and other relevantcollection managers will follow theexamples set by some of their col-leagues (such as those at the NationalLibrary of Australia, the University ofNew South Wales Archives, the StateLibrary of New South Wales and,recently, the University of Sydney) andstrategically use oral history inresponding to the difficulties of col-lecting personal papers. With the rightquestions, a skilful interviewer, a co-operative interviewee and a lot oftime, oral history can provide the sortof material that increasingly eludesmodern collections of personal papers.

By ‘skilful interviewer’, I meansomeone who knows when to follow anew line of enquiry even if it’s not setdown in their prepared questions, andwho has a good grasp of the issuessurrounding a person’s life. To worksuccessfully as a form of personalpapers, an oral history interview needsto contain more than a detailed biog-raphical outline of someone’s life.

Which brings me back to theimportance of asking the ‘right ques-tions’. Once an interviewer has askedan interviewee to outline somethingthat happened to them, the next stepwould be usually to explore this withfurther questioning, not so much in achallenging way to trip up the personas news reporters try with politicians.Rather — subtly. Have them analysetheir contribution to the event in thelight of other relevant sources, evencontemporary scholarship.

It might go something like this. Aninterviewer asks a biochemist for anoutline of their career, the circum-stances leading to their becoming a bio-chemist, and their major achievementsand disappointments, then zooms inon the detail. First, have them outlinetheir research topic: ‘At the Universityof Sheffield you started researching atopic that you became expert in —what was that?’. Then, explore the per-sonal history of this interest: ‘Was yourinterest in the metamorphic changes ofa maggot into a blowfly something thathad started with your childhood inter-est in entomology?’. An interjection toestablish rapport: ‘I was going to askyou if you were the cause of any majorblow-fly infestation in Sheffield!’. Next,a reference to the structure of scientifictraining and research: ‘Was this the firsttime that you actually got to constructyour own experiment and think ofyour own topic rather than followsomeone else’s experiment?’. And final-ly, question the biochemist about theirwork in a way that you and I mightunderstand: ‘What can a blow-fly tellus about changes in metabolism andthe sorts of things you were trying todemonstrate?’.

Letters, journals, working papers— and oral history interviews — canreveal the state of mind of the personat the time of setting down theirthoughts. But what of accurate recall?No doubt accounts produced close tothe time of the event are likely to bemore accurate in the detail, but they’reunlikely to contain the thoughtful per-spective that distance can produce. Isnot the gently probing interview yearsafter the event as interesting, as reveal-ing even, as a diary entry or letterwritten at the time? And where per-sonal papers do exist, the interviewcan be a productive exploration of theevent with reference to contemporarydocuments. The personal papersbecome the material link betweeninterviewee and past events, a triggerfor reflection; and the interviewer, theinquisitor of the personal papers, cri-tiquing the ‘silences’ (what isn’t writ-ten), and asking the interviewee to fillin the gaps and evaluate the eventfrom their present perspective.

~My first mission when I was appoint-ed to look after the UNSW Archives

oral history project in 1994 (whichlater became the Oral History Programin the UNSW Archives) was to inter-view Michael Birt, UNSW EmeritusProfessor and former WollongongUniversity Vice-Chancellor, who hadthen recently retired as UNSW Vice-Chancellor. The Archives held his offi-cial papers as UNSW Vice-Chancellor,a useful resource for devising ques-tions about significant events duringhis time at UNSW.

Beyond this, I read widely: aboutMelbourne in the 1940s and 1950s,one or two of his early scientificpapers (although I admit it was hard-going trying to comprehend the scien-tific language of the metamorphosis of a maggot into a blowfly — theresearch that gave him the nicknameBlowfly Birt), about Sir Hans Kreb (theNobel Prize-winner for work in bio-chemistry), about the ANU andCanberra in the 1960s, aboutWollongong in the 1970s and theestablishment of the University ofWollongong, and, more generally,about changes in university educationfrom the 1950s to the 1990s. (I incl-uded a select bibliography of thirty-two references with the interview.)

I then set about interviewingMichael Birt, asking him questions thatnot so much repeated what I couldread elsewhere, what was already onrecord, but getting him to record andanalyse his experiences at variouspoints in his life. I interviewed himover a number of sessions. When atopic arose that had escaped my re-search efforts, I asked him to providean outline — the journalist’s who, what,and when — and before the next ses-sion, I delved deeper into my sourcesto devise more questions that wentbeyond the written sources. With ques-tions bursting forth, I settled down withMichael Birt to a long, long interview.

About twenty hours of recordinglater, I had completed the interview.The interview was transcribed, tidiedup and subsequently edited and pub-lished in 1997, with excerpts from aninterview with Jenny Birt, as Not anIvory Tower. At 150 pages (includingindex and select bibliography) itlooked a compact and unassumingbook (although with a wonderful photograph on the front cover ofMichael and Jenny Birt, a good-

2 Origins No. 8

looking vice-chancellorial couple,striding past the Library in front of tel-evision cameras).

But for years I never openly dis-cussed the fact that I had recorded atwenty-hour interview with only oneperson, let alone having recordedequally long interviews with otherpeople. Some people shrieked withhorror and disbelief at the thoughtyou could spend so much time inter-viewing a person about their life —surely, they thought, a much shorterinterview would do. So I remainedsilent, biding my time until I felt itwas the moment to make the case forthe long interview.

The case is not complex and isintegral to the successful realisation oforal history as a modern form of per-sonal papers. Time can help developempathy, a rapport between the inter-viewer and the person interviewed.Time can aid the interviewee’s memoryand provide the opportunity for themto reflect upon life’s events.

Conducting an interview over a num-ber of sessions also allows the inter-viewer to revise questions after eachsession, ready for the next, even tochase new lines of enquiry. But, mostimportantly, if the interview is to pro-vide a document of historical merit,the interviewer needs to ask a lot ofquestions, weaving in and out of what’son the public record, what’s recordedin official documents and, if personalpapers are available, what’s in them.

About seven years after this twen-ty-hour interview, the Birts approachedthe UNSW Archives to deposit MichaelBirt’s personal papers — items thatranged over his whole life, and whichhe had kept as a personal record, forwhich he had devised a record-keepingsystem to tame the masses of paper.The papers arrived at the Archives in2001, and were processed as part ofthe Archives collection; soon after, Idecided to look at them, curious toknow how they might have helped mewith the interview.

What I’d inadvertently left outwas not so striking as how his inter-view responses were a combination ofmaterial divulged from his personalpapers with subsequent thoughtfulanalysis. It came as no surprise to me,for instance, when I found that thecontent of a series of letters from sen-ior academics congratulating him onhis appointment as vice-chancellorcontained observations about universi-ty administration as a means of cre-ative institutional development, andthe position of vice-chancellor as oneof inspired builder.

Michael Birt’s responses to myquestions about the roles and respon-sibilities of being vice-chancellor hadbeen similar to the observationsmade by those academics so manyyears before, but in my interview hehad gone beyond that and reflectedanalytically upon the practicality ofthese sentiments in the cut-and-thrust of modern senior universityadministration. It was as if he wasresponding to these letters — onlytwenty years later. And perhaps he was. One of his most revealinganswers to my questions about uni-versity administration was to com-pare in detail his vice-chancellorialstyle with that of Sir Rupert Myers,the then immediately precedingUNSW vice-chancellor — an obser-vation, if found in personal corre-spondence, that a biographer or historian might relish.

I’m not advocating that archivesand the like stop collecting personalpapers. But these collecting institu-tions do, I think, have a responsibilityto consider the changing nature ofpersonal papers, and to determinewhether the sort of material valuableto biographers, historians and otherresearchers will be able to be obtainedfrom the personal papers of futuregenerations. Personal papers areimportant cultural resources. The longbiographical interview is not only ameans to pursue new avenues ofenquiry by scrutinising personalpapers (and other sources); it also, inthe absence of personal papers,ensures that future researchers havesomething of substance to consult."

J U L I A H O R N EUnivers i ty o f Sydney

Origins No. 8 3

In 1996 at the NewSouth Wales Gover-

nor’s office Julia Horneconducted a long

interview with theHon. Justice Gordon

Samuels, formerGovernor of New

South Wales (1996–2001) and former

UNSW Chancellor(1976–94) [CN

2002A63]

Can you tell us something aboutyour background and why youdecided to pursue a career in the

information sector?WELLS: Well, I have to confess it wasnot my first choice. It took me a longtime to find the right career. I comefrom a family of engineers, so studiedengineering for three years, not alto-gether willingly (in fact, I hated it). Istarted working at the University ofQueensland Library in 1975 while Icompleted a Science degree. I flirtedwith the idea of being a musician, too,and worked for the Queensland OperaCompany as a répétiteur for a while.But I kept coming back to libraries. In1980 I applied for a job at MacquarieUniversity Library, moved to Sydneyand never looked back! At that stage ofmy life, I was drawn to the complexityof these organisations and their liberat-ing and important social purpose.

Looking back on my childhood, Irealise I used public libraries all thetime. My mother is a great reader — I think she had read everything inBoulder Public Library. It was a greatinfluence and I loved the freedom Ifound in libraries.What was your motivation in acceptingthe position of University Librarian atUNSW?WELLS: A number of things. I workedhere from 1982 to 1986 as a cata-loguer. I broke one of my rules —never go back. But I like UNSWLibrary and there are many things todo here. It was clear that the universitywas looking for a University Librarianwho was willing to implement changeand lead the library through thesechallenging times. The information,technological and economic environ-ments tend to keep me awake at nights!What exposure to archives did you havein your previous positions?WELLS: From 1989 to 2001 I worked atthe State Library of New South Walesand the National Library of Australia.At the State Library I managed theDocument Delivery Service. Thisincluded managing on-site and off-siteaccess to the Mitchell Library collec-tions. I learnt a lot there about archival

materials. At the National Library I wasa member of the executive, and I got tounderstand more about the collectingand use of manuscripts. There wasclose liaison with the National Archivesthere, too. I had early involvement inthe establishment of the Register ofAustralian Archives and Manuscripts.Over those ten or so years, I had regu-lar contact with archival mattersthrough holding senior positions inthose important collecting institutions.

I confess I am not the ‘curatorial’ typebut understand the need for, andexpertise of these professionals.What do you consider to be the strongpoints of the Library and the Archives?WELLS: UNSW Library has consistentlybeen an innovative institution — itwas an early leader in library automa-tion. Most recently, its role in develop-ing the Australian Digital ThesesProgram shows its willingness toexperiment with new forms of scholar-ly communication. It has a dedicatedand professional staff, and the Libraryconsistently wins praise for the qualityof its services.

The Archives has achieved much —its oral history program, the breadthand depth of its documentation, itsservices to the UNSW community. TheArchives has had strong and commit-ted staff, too.What do you see as the future for theArchives’ oral history program?WELLS: As an important component ofthe record of UNSW — to be comple-mented by textual, visual and digitalrecords.What major challenges face the Libraryand the Archives in the foreseeable future?WELLS: The Library is transforming itsservices — it is not all about deliveringinformation through locally held collec-tions anymore. The major challenge isembracing the opportunities offered bythe digital environment. Physical col-lections are just one way we will deliverinformation; other ways will bethrough access to remote databases, useof unmediated document delivery,increased collaboration with other uni-versity libraries and supporting learn-ing through on-line delivery of course

materials. The immediate challenges aredealing with space (we have exceededour storage capacity and student needsmust be addressed), implementing thenew library and information system inDecember 2002 and improving a ratherrun-down physical environment.

The University Archives is about toembark on a new phase. We haveappointed a new University Archivist,Guilaine Buckley. I will be workingwith Guilaine and her team to developa plan for the Archives. Among manyother matters, the plan will addressways to improve access to the archives,automation of its operations, a vitalrecords plan and ensuring that we meetlegislative requirements for Staterecords. It is going to be an excitingtime for us.Can you give some background on therecent administrative changes in theUniversity Archives?WELLS: Well, we found it rather hard tofind a new University Archivist, so Itook the opportunity to step back andhave the Archives reviewed. JudithRussell, who had been at the Universityof Sydney, carried out this review in anexpert way. Judith recommended thatwe change the staffing structure to meetthe challenges I’ve just described. TheArchives needs a small, highly profes-sional team. I was sorry to see JuliaHorne go. Karin Brennan has kepteverything together most capably but Iam sure Karin is looking forward to thecreation of a new team.We also plan to revise the structure and

composition of the University ArchivesAdvisory Committee to ensure we havethe best advice and representation.And your vision for the Archives?WELLS: To be visible and valued. Forthe UNSW community to understandits importance. To embrace the chal-lenges of documenting activities whichare increasingly carried out in the digi-tal environment. How many versionsof the UNSW website have we kept orlost! There is much to do, and promot-ing access to the Archives will be amajor undertaking for us."

PA U L W I L S O N

4 Origins No. 8

Andrews Wells, University LibrarianP R O F I L E I N T E R V I E W

Guilaine Buckley grew up inParis and completed her secondary education in Vers-

ailles, after which she moved to Syd-ney. She graduated from UNSW with aBA (Hons) and subsequently obtainedher professional qualification, alsofrom UNSW, in the field of archives(Graduate Diploma in InformationManagement – Archives Administration).In 2002 she completed six years’ part-time study at the Law School, UNSW,graduating with an LLB.

Guilaine began working inarchives in 1990, her first professionalappointment being in local govern-ment archives. Following that, shetook up the position of AssistantArchivist at the CongregationalArchives of the Sisters of Charity. This160-year-old organisation has servedthe community in Australia and over-seas through its schools, its health-and aged-care facilities, orphanagesand numerous welfare undertakingsand facilities — one of which isSydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital, a teach-ing hospital of the University of NewSouth Wales. The Sisters of Charityhas maintained a significant archivaland museum collection, the manage-ment of which is the Congregational Archivist’s responsibility. This rich anddiverse collection documents allaspects of the Congregation’s affairs aswell as its ‘mission’. After a few yearswith the Sisters of Charity Guilainewas promoted to the role of Con-gregational Archivist, the position sheheld until her UNSW appointment.

Guilaine writes that she chose towork in the field of archives after giv-ing up her dream of becoming a pro-fessional musician. She saw in theworld of archives the opportunity toengage in work that offered the abili-ty to combine the present with a mixof the past and the future. Workingwith information about the past andmaking decisions about informationrequirements for the future requiresthe archivist to maintain a long-termview of the organisation and the larg-er community. It is this perspective,coupled with the variety of skills

used on a day-to-day basis, whichmakes archives work so stimulating.

~‘My appointment at UNSW is aninteresting opportunity to extendmyself professionally. I am lookingforward to the challenges of manag-ing an archives service for a large,complex and dynamic organisationfostering academic excellence. I amkeen to take full advantage of infor-mation technologies and address thevarious challenges they present in thefield of archives: preserving the uni-versity’s electronic records of archivalvalue, enhancing accessibility, andfacilitating access to the general col-lections through electronic media. Asignificant area of responsibility willbe to ensure compliance with allapplicable legislation — with theState Records Act 1998 (NSW), espe-cially, which provides a comprehen-sive regime for the creation, disposaland retention of university records, aswell as with law covering other areassuch as intellectual property protec-tion (copyright, patents) and privacyprotection (personal data).

‘Perhaps my most challengingtask will be to further develop the

collection so that it successfully doc-uments the diversity of functions andactivities undertaken by the universi-ty community. I have a particularinterest in collecting the personal andprofessional papers of individualswho have a strong connection withthe university, including those per-sons who have made a significantcontribution to the life of the univer-sity in their particular role or field.

‘I am looking forward to a fruit-ful professional association withUNSW, where I already have a strongpersonal connection, having complet-ed all my tertiary studies here, not tomention achieving the highlight ofwinning the 1986 UNSW ‘bandcomp’! I am certain, though, thateven this achievement will be sur-passed by the significant and valuablecontribution I intend making at theUniversity Archives.

‘Away from work, I enjoy attend-ing countless soccer and cricketmatches, supporting my thirteen-year-old son in his sporting endeav-ours. When there is time and energyleft over, I take pleasure in the com-pany of family and friends, and inreading, and listening to music.’ "

Origins No. 8 5

Guilaine Buckley, University ArchivistP R O F I L E

Guilaine Buckley, who took upher new role as UniversityArchivist on 28 October 2002,seen here at the Engineering oralhistory project morning tea

6 Origins No. 8

P H O T O F E A T U R E

CivilEngineering‘TraditionsDay’ 1961

1961was a busy enoughyear at Kensington

campus: more buildings already ontheir way or well-advanced in plan-ning. New institutions, too, werebeing engendered: the UniversityUnion started up and the Round-house opened for business. The firstFoundation Day procession to paradethrough the streets of Sydney. It wasall, as Patrick O’Farrell put it ‘pullingUltimo activity into Kensington, end-ing that Ultimo feeling of being out-side the mainstream of universitylife’. At least, it was for most.

By 1961, when the university hadalready changed its name to theUniversity of New South Wales andthe new Arts and Medicine facultieswere being established — emblems,some would argue, of emergingchanges in the character of the institu-tion — some schools still remained asa touchstone and lingering connectionto the old university and its Ultimodays. Three engineering schools werethen still operating at the old SydneyTechnical College premises. But, ofthese, Electrical and MechanicalEngineering’s inner-city days werenumbered: in 1961 new buildingswere commenced at Kensington forthose schools (and completed in1963). Mining Engineering andChemical Engineering had been atKensington for some time already.

Civil Engineering was the last tomove; it remained at Ultimo until1966, increasingly seeing itself assomewhat beleaguered — an outpost,where resided, so its denizens them-selves said, ‘the forgotten tribe ofUltimo dwellers’.

It was against this background thatin 1961 Civil Engineering IV andSurveying IV students — as an accountin the celebratory album has it —‘declared that a day should be set asideeach year [so they could] disregard

their overcrowded, underprivilegedwarehouse building and have cere-monies enacted that would show usthat the University does actually exist’.

Evidently, the demise of theAnzac Parade tram service early thatsame year made it even harder forthem to take the 6-kilometre trek outthere for a visual check: ceremonieswould have to suffice. Obviously, too,though, a need was being expressedin all this for some sense of belong-ing, which some felt was beingdenied them. How far the studentswere actually the main instigators of‘Traditions Day’, or whether it was setin train by that intriguing figureCrawford Munro, remains to be seen.That Munro — whom Professor RonWoodhead recently described as ‘themost unlikely professor that I haveever met’ — had a considerable handin proceedings is clear from the sur-viving pictorial record. Whatever thecase, it bespeaks a time whenstaff–student relations were on a verydifferent footing: it was perhaps sym-bolic of the last gasp of an altogetherolder tradition, as things have turnedout since, rather than the institution— as was hoped — of a new one.

~The plan was for a special day of cer-emonies, including talks by ‘eminentmen on non-examinable topics’. Aday, it was hoped, to be repeated eachsucceeding year. And, as the albumobserved, seeing that ‘traditions’ donot spontaneously occur ‘in a youngUniversity such as our own … wewould “adopt” some of the betterknown traditions from the olderEuropean universities and, togetherwith some ideas of our own which wehoped would become traditions ofthis University with time, enact themduring this day. And so the nameappeared — “Traditions Day”.’

~So it was that at 9.30 am on Thursday,15 June 1961, students formallydressed in lounge suits and academicgowns assembled outside the CivilEngineering school building inUltimo for the first ceremony of theday — the planting of the ivy.Tradition ‘only comes with age’, itwas reasoned, ‘and one of the signsof age is a building covered with ivy’.However, on the grounds that he wasfrom a red-brick university, the per-son chosen to officiate took umbrage,presented the chairman with a redbrick and fumbled the planting.

Next, management consultantW.D. Scott gave a talk on problemsfacing the world, chief among whichwas, apparently, the problem ofhuman relations. He was followedwith an address on ‘Human Rights’ byE. St John, QC, a distinguished bar-rister and constitutional law expert,recently returned from observingMandela’s trial in South Africa.

Following lunch, in what wasprobably one of the day’s highlights,the students chose ‘Miss Civil Engin-eering 1961’. The winner, MissStephanie Glyn, was one of six final-ists selected, no, not from Engineering,but from ‘ladies attending the Secre-tarial course at the technical college’.

What the duties of office were isunreported, but she was duly invest-ed by Munro ‘decorating her with aroyal blue sash … [and] presentingher with a box of chocolates’, and abig hug — yet another indication ofchanged moeurs.

Then came the first address ofthe afternoon, an illuminated talk (asthey used to say) by Stan Shaw,Professor of Civil Engineering, on‘cable structures, their design, devel-opment and construction’, whichcontained ‘an appropriately placed

Crawford Munro, with the boxof chocolates, shares a wordwith Miss Civil Engineering1961 [CN907}

The ‘forgotten tribe of Ultimo dwellers’ at rest —Civil Engineering IV and Surveying IV students andstaff members, with Crawford Munro, holding thestaff of ceremony, at their centre [2002 A100/1]

slide of a shape dearer to the stu-dents’ hearts than cable structures’ —and presumably more uplifting.

Following a vote of thanks toMunro and Shaw for all their efforts,the students felt their appreciationwas best shown by permitting theirprofessors to shout them drinks atthe Clare Hotel, across Broadway.This hotel figured significantly in thesocial life of staff and students fromvarious schools in the university’s ear-liest days. And it has been observedof Munro by one of his colleaguesthat, ‘here, he was in his element’.

Accordingly, with Munro at theirhead, ‘in all their gowned glory thestudents and staff proceeded in twosacross Broadway, banking the traffic up

in the process’. At the Clare it was acase of ‘an entertaining hour of refresh-ments and social discourse’ beforereturning for the final talk, which wasMunro regaling his audience with talesof his just completed European tour.

The day’s final event was the‘challenge’ — to third-year studentsto organise the next ‘Traditions Day’twelve months hence.

From this vantage of time, wemay well look askance at someaspects of the day but at its heart ithas elements that suggest a warmthand cordiality, that evince attempts tocultivate broader interests, and thatseem designed to engender amongthe participants that desired sense ofbelonging — with each other, as well

as with the university. Of course itwas another world; more importantly,it was a far smaller university.

And so much of this eventseems to have had on it the imprintof that larger-than-life character,Crawford Munro (foundationProfessor of Civil Engineering from1954 until retirement in 1969,though he had first joined staff in1951). Munro, in Woodhead’s esti-mation, ‘was a good man’; it was,Woodhead continues, ‘the genius ofthe beginnings of the university thatthey chose a most unlikely person tobe a professor’. Could that be a tra-dition, too?"

R O D E R I C C A M P B E L L

Origins No. 8 7

The upholding of traditions alwaysdemands a degree of self-sacrifice inthe common good: no record remainsof the beer consumed [2002 A100/11]

The procession of participants across Broadway to theClare Hotel, heading for a serious partof the day’s proceedings [CN907]

This year UNSW Press celebratedits fortieth anniversary — notperhaps as old as some universi-

ty presses but, as Patrick O’Farrellobserved at the commemorationlaunch, ‘just right for celebration’.

The institution of a universitypress is a venerable concept with a tra-dition stretching back to the origins inEurope of the moveable-type press andthe great mediaeval centres of learning.

The printer’s art and the growth ofa new centre of learning are key ele-ments, too, in the story of theUniversity of New South Wales Press(UNSWP). The Press came into beingin a way that was unusual for modernuniversity presses; yet, at the sametime, its story mirrors this university’sown origins and development.UNSWP was born out of pragmatismand practicalities, and curious liaisons— created, as Doug Howie once said(Alumni Papers, Summer 1986), ‘in amoment of exquisite lunacy’.

~

UNSWP never quite fitted into theorthodox mould of a university press.Or so the legend goes. A universitypress that began its life as a printingshop — a little infra dignitatem, youmight have thought? And to find, too,that at its start it was being run by stu-dents jointly with the university was towonder even more at the nature of thiscurious creation.

Humble beginnings it certainlyhad — but not so a-typical, after all,perhaps. Just as the university emergedfrom Sydney Technical College andgradually transformed itself into some-thing mightier and more expansive, sotoo did the press.

The original primary focus for thisventure was the printery room, distinc-tive in its sounds and smells, tactile. Inkand paper, slugs of lead type; an oldHeidelberg, its platen slapping the page

down on the type — the meeting ofhard and soft. The melancholy whisk ofthe page kissing the forme. And admin-istering the venture, an unusual partner-ship in what seems to have been anedgy relationship: the Students’ Unionand the university itself.

It was only after the edginess inthis partnership came to a head overdisagreements about present prospectsand future directions for the press, in1973, that events wereset in train, producing achange in direction forthe enterprise — onehaving more to do withthe creation and nurtur-ing of books than justprinting them. It was ashift that by all accountstook some of the partici-pants by surprise, and itssuccess was largelyattributable to the visionand energy of one manwho saw the opportuni-ty and grasped it:Douglas Howie.

Nothing marks thescope of this change more than thecontrast between the press’s earliestpublications in the 1960s and its pres-ent ones: from dryasdust, unadorned,unedited texts in typewriter fonts,roneoed and ringbound in stiff cardwraps, to the elegant, challenging, dis-cursive and learned works of todaywrapped in striking covers, perfectbound and created with high design,editorial and production values.

~The operation of a Students’ Unionprintery was an activity that predatedthe university, and goes back to SydneyTechnical College (STC) days at Ultimoin the early 1940s. However, much ofthe early history remains obscure with-out a great deal of surviving documen-

tary record or oral history to rely on.John Gannon, who retired in 1987

as University Registrar and was aninaugural director of the Press, was alab assistant attached to the STCChemistry department in the 1940s.His recollection is that it was thisdepartment that had established asmall printing operation, using roneoduplicating machines to begin with,principally to print lecture notes for

technical college students. While someof the Chemistry teachers appear tohave instigated the enterprise, andobtained the equipment, early on itwas all handed over to the STCStudents’ Union, apparently to help theunion fund its provision of studentservices.

When the new University ofTechnology started in 1949 a new stu-dents’ union was formed (initiallycalled the Society of Students), whichbegan to assume the membership andfunctions of the old union as diplomacourses at the technical college weregradually transferred over to the nas-cent university. In the early 1950s theSTC Students’ Union was wound upand its considerable assets were trans-

UNSW Press celebrated its inception with an event in the Scientia to launch a bibliography of its publications and an exhibition inthe Library lobby of specially designed posters reflecting forty years of publishing activity.

8 Origins No. 8

Books published by the Press changed in content and appearance: from the early days (left) to its more recent productions

Exquisite lunacy: the founding of a university press

Alan MacDonald, the first manager of the Press, pictured when he was Secretary of the Students’ Union,1952 [V234]. The Union Store advertises its wares inUnity News, the Students’ Union paper, March 1953.This was when the store was still in its original locationand run by the union. [V234]

ferred to the recently formed NewSouth Wales University of TechnologyStudents’ Union.

The new students’ union continuedthe operation of the printing enterprisethrough the 1950s, and the new union’sname became the imprint name. By thisstage its publications had expanded inscope so far as subject material went;some were now appearing ring-bound,with stiff card covers, the front simplybearing title, author and imprint namein modest bold sans-serif capitals — astyle that was to continue for early pro-ductions of the Press proper in the1960s. Nevertheless, rather than focus-ing on the needs of students of the newuniversity, union publications contin-ued to cater mainly for STC students,their principal audience — whichremained the case for some time evenafter the Press came into being.

Another legacy of the STC Students’Union was the Union Store, a retail out-let at the union’s premises in Ultimo,which principally sold stationery andstudent needs, as well as the union’spublications. Indeed, part of the trans-ferred assets had included its stock andthe use of its retail premises.

The Union Store subsequently con-tinued life as a core part of the Press’sbusiness activities (later as The CollegeShop) until it was sold in 1999, by asuitable stroke of irony, to the Students’Union of the University of Technology.For most of that period it occupied ashopfront on George St, facing RailwaySquare, in the old Marcus Clarke build-ing, whose 1924 design is attributed toJ. Nangle, the former Superintendent ofTechnical Education and GovernmentAstronomer.

Ultimo thus remained a majorfocus for the enterprise’s activities —just as it did for the new universityitself — with the union split betweenthere and the newly developing cam-pus at Kensington until ca 1960, whenmost of the union’s functions finallyshifted over. In the meantime the busi-ness and the turnover had increasedsignificantly, Heidelbergs having bynow replaced the original roneos. Andit was about this time that discussionsbegan on establishing a joint venturebetween the Students’ Union and theuniversity, which led in 1961 to theformation of New South WalesUniversity Press Limited (known as

Unipress) — that exquisite moment.The business was incorporated on 22December 1961, and the first formalmeeting of the new Press took place on9 March 1962.

~The structure and genesis of the newPress was unusual. Agreement hadbeen reached on the basis that theunion contributed its property andassets ‘connected with its printing andduplicating activities’. This consistedmainly of its printing equipment andpaper stock, materials and publica-tions, all of which moved to a buildingin Randwick, the supply of which con-stituted the university’s contribution.Unipress was also to take over all staffemployed by the union in these activi-ties and the running of the shop.

Among these staff members wasAlan MacDonald, who became thePress’s first general manager. He hadalso been originally employed in theSTC Chemistry department, as a tech-nician, before becoming full-time secre-tary of the STC Students’ Union and inthat role had already had some involve-ment in managing the Union Store andthe printery.

This unusual com-bination of forces wasreflected in the struc-ture of the Board,which was composed ofan equal number ofnominees from eachside, with an appointedchair who was accept-able to both. It may bethat this compositioncreated a structuralweakness, affecting theoperations of the com-pany over time. Or per-haps each side had dif-fering aims or perspec-tives. Or was it just, assome have suggested, a true marriageof irreconcilables? Whatever the case,there emerged on the Students’ Unionside a growing dissatisfaction with therole of the general manager and of theuniversity. The initial expectation hadbeen that the Press’s printing facilities‘would provide a substantial part ofthe printing needs of the University’— something expressed in the originalMemorandum of Association — butthis did not happen and the printery’s

profitability began to decline.By 1972–73 the situation was

serious enough for the printery to beclosed down. This decision, apparentlymade by the Board on financialgrounds and on other ‘practical’ con-siderations, was one that the Students’Union was distinctly unhappy over. So,the union took advice from people inthe printing industry and decided tofight the shut-down. They sought, andobtained a meeting with theChancellor, Sir Robert Webster, at hishome, in early December 1973 toargue that the closure was prematureand urge that the Press should be con-tinued as, in their view, it could still bea viable proposition.

Following this meeting, the unionwrote a report strongly dissenting fromthe decision that the Board had taken.In their report the union attributed thePress’s problems to ‘poor management’and ‘uninformative accounting proce-dures’. They questioned the university’srole, too, pointing out that at the sametime as the amount of work for thePress’s printery was declining, ‘theUniversity expanded its own on-cam-

pus printery’. Their fol-low-up report was writ-ten, and sent to Websterby 2 January 1974; as anappendix, it listed ‘SomeAreas of Investigation forManagementConsultants’.

Whatever Webster, adistinguished business-man and the chairman ofBradmill Industries, mighthave felt about the viabili-ty of the organisation, thecommissioning of manage-ment consultants W.D.Scott Ltd presumablyresulted from this meeting.The choice of Scott’s as the

university’s consultant for such thornymanagement issues was probably anobvious one. Sir Walter Scott (whoretired as its governing director in 1974)had connections with Sir RobertWebster — they had both served on theboards of Felt and Textiles Ltd, Berlei,and Burlington Mills, in the 1960s —and seems to have had at least somefamiliarity with UNSW. He had been aguest-speaker at the inaugural CivilEngineering ‘Traditions Day’ in 1961.

Origins No. 8 9

Doug Howie receiving themanuscript for Flora of NewSouth Wales, from GwenHarden, 1989 [V548]

(continued on page 10)

When the consultants’ report was deliv-ered, two months later (March 1974), itunsurprisingly endorsed the decision toclose the printery, and essentially rec-ommended the winding down of thewhole operation: ‘From our analysis ofthe situation it appears doubtful thatNSW University Press Limited canoperate profitably in the future’.

Not long after this AlanMacDonald resigned and DouglasHowie, then Assistant Registrar andhead of UNSW’s PublicationDepartment, was seconded to the Press‘with instructions to close down theprinting operation and to dispose of itsequipment’. He found a Board ‘split onthe issue of the future of the Press’ andsought a compromise solution.

After the sale of the printingequipment, which gave the Press somecash and some respite, Doug Howiecame up with a ‘business plan … to

make the operation profitable provid-ed he was able to spend one day aweek on the project’. This was agreedto by the parties and, so, the Pressrose from its own ashes — renewedand with a new focus ‘to continuepurely as a publishing outlet’. His planessentially was to publish more,improve the quality of the books beingpublished, and also to place the Presson a securer financial footing so thatits more scholarly publications couldbe subsidised from the press’s ownresources. In this the Union Storeplayed its role by contributing to thefinancial reserves that made it possiblefor the Press to grow.

Naturally, the job grew too: at theend of 1974 Doug Howie wasappointed as part-time general manag-er, but still on the university payroll.He was also on the Board as a directorand, in 1979, he became full-time

general manager, the first to beemployed directly by the Press. Hewas subsequently appointed managingdirector, remaining in this role untilhis retirement in 1995. After a briefperiod with Peter Sharpe as managingdirector (1995–96), Robin Derricourt,the present managing director, joinedthe Press in early 1997.

And the Students’ Union? Theirdirect role in the Press ended in 1978,when the Press purchased their half-share; but their influence didn’t, asunion approval continued to be re-quired for the replacement of two of theoriginal student positions on the Board.The union deserves its credit, too, forhaving grasped what the Press could be-come and pushing their case. Frommoments of exquisite lunacy great proj-ects of saneness and civility do come."

R O D E R I C C A M P B E L L

Late in 2000 the Engineering fac-ulty commissioned the Archivesto document its development

and undertake an oral history. Theproject commenced under the direc-tion of Dr Julia Horne, at that timeheading the Oral History Program.Leading the charge from the facultywere Professor Mark Wainwright, thendean, and the faculty’s executive man-ager, Robyn Horwood. The U Com-mittee provided additional funding forthe project, as did the Archives unit.

A lot of information has been col-lected for the project in that time. Thisincludes over 130 hours of oral histo-ry interviews, close to 400 brief sur-veys and about 100 in-depth ques-tionnaires, in addition to all the pho-tos and other pieces of memorabiliasent in by alumni and staff. This material is now held as part of theArchives’ collection, available forfuture researchers (subject to accessconditions).

With this stage completed, it wastime to celebrate the project’s successand its significant contribution to thehistory of the faculty and to the uni-versity’s own collection. So, alumniand staff were honoured at a functionon 31 October 2002 to mark the com-

pletion of the project’s major work andto thank all those who have given sogenerously to the project. The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Wyatt R. Hume,spoke warmly of the faculty andProfessor Mark Wainwright, DeputyVice-Chancellor, and Mr AndrewWells, University Librarian, bothexpressed their sincere admiration forthose who have given such lastingcontributions to the university bysharing their lives with the Archivesand the faculty.

Amongst those present wasAssociate Professor Colin Stapleton, along-time staff member of the school ofElectrical Engineering. Shirley Phillips,the wife of Hal Phillips (recentlydeceased), came with her son and obvi-ously knew many of the people at themorning tea. Hal Phillips was a generalstaff member from Ultimo days untilhis retirement in the 1980s.

Jack Jenkins told how he came towork for the school of CivilEngineering in 1948 for six monthsand ended up staying for thirty years.Pat Rodgers, a 1965 ChemicalEngineering graduate was keen tocompare notes with Jack as they hadboth completed their study part-timewhile working full-time.

Professor Jim Galvin, currentlyhead of the school of Mining met upwith two BE (Mining) graduates fromvery different times: Michael Lindsay(1983) and Colyn Harrison (1954).Peter Lowndes, a 1999 MechanicalEngineering graduate, was among thefew recent graduates at the morning tea.

The new head of Archives,Guilaine Buckley, had an opportunityto talk about the project with intervie-wees and faculty staff, includingRobyn Horwood, and the author ofthe forthcoming faculty history,Blanche Hampton.

This project has involved many ofthose who work in Archives not onlybecause of its scope but also becauseof interest in the people and the sto-ries that they have brought with themas they completed surveys or wereinterviewed. Thanks are due to them,to all at Archives and to faculty mem-bers for their valuable contributions tothe project’s success. Sue Georgevits,one of the principal interviewers forthe project, who was also present, willbe continuing to conduct interviewswith academic staff over the next fewmonths."

V I R G I N I A PA C I N O

10 Origins No. 8

Engineering OH project morning tea

AccessionsThis is a selection of records received bythe University Archives from November2001 to October 2002. The Archivesextends its special thanks to all depositors.Access enquiries to the collection areinvited. In some instances access isrestricted or special conditions apply.

Personal donationsBirt, Mrs Jenny. Program for University of

Wollongong Ceremony paying tribute tothe late Emeritus Professor Michael Birt,November 2001 [01A88].

Burns, Mr R.A. Student notebooks (FoodTechnology), staff notes (School ofApplied Chemistry), microbiology notesand program with related papers per-taining to STC presentation of diplomasat UNSW Science hall, 1962 [02A4].

Danta, Dorothy. Copy of Food Australia,vol. 53 (6), obituary of Dr Fritz Reuter.June 2001 [02A39].

Dillon, Laurence. Photographs of themast of VL2UV, UNSW RadioUniversity, in its 1999 location, 1999[02A71].

Findlay, Ken. Copies of photographs of1952 Graduation and MiningEngineering Students, 1948–52 [02A38].

Gerdes, Peter. Theatre and Film Studies.Film: Creative Science, 9 videos, studentwork, film studies (still to beappraised). 1978–88. 5 b&w photo-graphic building studies [02A30,02A31].

Gilmour, Margaret. Photo of Ron andMargaret Gilmour at their home inForster and letter to UNSW Librarystaff, 2001 [02A57].

Harris, Mr Bruce. A History Of The Coastand The Prince Henry Hospital: A Tour ofthe Hospital with Dr Ralph L. Hockin,Little Bay 2002. CD ROM set [02A19].

Haynes, Mrs Janice. Copy of L.M.Haynes’s thesis, Socioeconomic Status

And Role Conflict As Factors InAcademic Achievement At TheSecondary School Level, 1961 [01A87].

Horne, Dr Julia. Correspondence andFilm Australia transcript of interviewwith Donald Horne for the AustralianBiography series, 1992–94 [02A47].

Kollar, Peter. Personal papers relating tohis work, teaching and research,1980–99 [02A22, 02A87].

Maloney, Major R.R. Reminiscencesregarding UNSW Regiment, 1962–64[02A86].

Marton, Geza. Course Notes for Sheep andWool Stage 2, University of TechnologyStudents Union, ca 1954 [02A113].

Milner Davis, Dr Jessica. Lecture notes,photos, negatives and slides used by thelate Emeritus Professor ChristopherMilner during his time in Cambridge,and diskettes relating to his papers,1991–94; obituary of Emeritus ProfessorPeter Angus-Leppan [01A89, 02A28,02A84].

Niland, Professor John (via SSH Library).Copies of submissions for the GreenPaper On Industrial Relations writtenfor the Greiner Government, 1988[01A77].

O’Farrell, Emeritus Professor Patrick.Personal files relating to UNSW APortrait, 1966–98 [02A21].

Read, Mr A.P. Reflux 1969, Yearbook ofthe Chemical EngineeringUndergraduate Society, vol. 1 [01A80].

Samuels, The Hon. Justice Gordon. Copiesof speeches, 1997–2002 [02A34].

Sharpe, Gordon B. Electrical Engineeringcourse material, late 1950s [02A70].

Governance & administrationCommittee for Information Technology

and Infrastructure. New SouthSolutions. Office files, 1997–2001[02A26, 02A73].

Customer Services. Division ofInformation Services. Files relating toCSD/CSU Library, 1972–74, and thereviews of CSU and Academic andAdministrative Computing, 1984,1993–94 [02A68, 02A72].

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research andInternational), Professor Fell. UNSWCalendars [02A3]; office and personalfiles [02A17].

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research andInternational), Professor MarkWainwright. Photograph album show-ing damage inflicted to KuwaitUniversity during the Gulf war andreconstruction after liberation, present-ed to UNSW by the Rector of KuwaitUniversity, 1991 [02A1].

Examinations Section. UNSWExamination Papers. 2000 [02A27].

Facilities Department. News clippingsrelating to Facilities’ services aroundcampus, 1975–80; aerial photographs,1998 [02A23, 02A79].

International Student Centre. Dr BryanBurke. Papers and photos relating to theestablishment and development of thecentre [02A14]; Student Counsellingand Research Unit Bulletin, correspon-dence, clippings [02A15].

Protocol Office. Ceremonial booklet ofthe 50th Anniversary Re-enactmentCeremony of the 1952 Conferring ofDegrees Ceremony; UNSW Conferringof Awards videos, 2000 [02A35,02A42].

Public Affairs and Development. Videopromoting UNSW campus for its 50th

Anniversary, ca 1997; Professor JohnNiland retirement video; photographs ofspeakers at UNSW 2000 Symposium[02A40, 02A54, 02A60]. PAD / AlumniAssociation. Unidentified b&w photo-graph of award presentation [01A81].

Publishing and Printing Service.Registrar’s Division. UNSW Calendar,Undergraduate and GraduateHandbooks 2002 [02A2, 02A8].Graduation booklets for 2001 [02A9].

Registrar and Deputy Principal. Freedomof Information: Statement of Affairs, June2002; Registrar Bursar Squash Compe-tition Trophy, 1968–72 [02A37,02A75].

Secretary to Council. Minutes, papers andagendas for the University Council andits Committees [01A83, 01A86, 02A6,02A7, 02A10, 02A11, 02A12, 02A24,02A25, 02A48–02A53, 02A65, 02A76,02A77, 02A83, 02A90, 02A91, 02A95].

University Library. Ms Bate. copies of var-ious UNSW committees, 1999–2002;reports on the UNSW Library, 1989–90;badges, ca 1975–mid 1990s; photo ofM. Bate at the Aurora LeadershipInstitute, 1999; bromide of libraryphoto for 1988 Annual Report; papersfor Web Strategic Directions Forum,1998 [02A5, 02A16, 02A18, 02A33,02A36, 02A56, 02A58, 02A93].

University Photographer. Transparenciesof buildings and student activities onKensington campus (via MBT Program),ca 2000; images used in UNSW publi-cations (via Publishing and Printing),1995–2000 [02A74, 02A78].

UNSW Executive Working Party. UNSW2000. Working papers of ArthurAnderson representative [01A82].

Vice-Chancellor’s office, Professor JohnNiland. Copy of UNSW condolencebook presented to the Consul-Generalof the United States following the eventsof September 11, 2001; publicationsrelating to UNSW Campus and theScientia Building; 50th Anniversary andUNSW Peace Oration (Bertie Ahern)videos; UNSW Annual Report 2001;colour photograph of Professor J.Niland at the investiture of his AC,2001; ADFA promotional video, nd[02A13, 02A45, 02A29, 02A61,02A82].

Origins No. 8 11

What have you gotthat might interest

us?

We would like to hear from you ifyou are leaving UNSW and have per-sonal papers or other records relatingto your time here or can help us doc-ument any part of the story of theuniversity and its people.

Family members of those whohave been in any way associated withthe university may also like to con-tact the Archives about depositingany personal papers, photographsand other memorabilia they haveinherited.

Vice-Chancellor’s office, Professor WyattR. Hume. AV recordings of publicinterviews and Vice-Chancellor’sForum, 2002 [02A80, 02A81, 02A85,02A88, 02A89, 02A94].

Faculties, schools & centresCentre for Community History. School

of History. Office files, 1986–2001[02A32].

Chemistry / Royal Australian ChemicalInstitute. Copies of RACI magazineChemistry in Australia, vol. 68 (6), con-taining obituary for Dr Reuter writtenby Sir Rupert Myers [01A85].

Computer Science and Engineering (viaRic Forster). Photograph of School ofElectrical Engineering staff, 1975[02A20].

Information, Systems, Technology andManagement, school of. Faculty ofCommerce and Economics. Office files,mainly relating to the School of Library,Information and Archive Studies,1981–99 [02A69].

Law, faculty of. Marion Dixon. Researchnotes for Thirty Up: the story of theUNSW Law School 1971–2001 [01A84].

Medicine, faculty of. R. Winton’s papersand oral history interviews used forwriting the faculty history, 1958–90s[02A43].

University organisations &associationsCricket Club. Annual Report, 2001/02

[02A66].Students’ Union. New South Wales

University of Technology. Program of‘Bottoms Up’ the second UniversityRevue, 1958 [02A41].

Oral History ProgramA. GENERAL

Horne, Dr Julia. Prints and negativestaken during oral history interviews —1960s Hong Kong alumni; Dr J. Geake,former SU president; The Hon. GordonSamuels; launch of Not An Ivory Tower[02A59, 02A62, 02A63, 02A64].

Students in the 1970s. Survey forms.1971–81 [02A55].

B. ENGINEERING PROJECT

Baker, John. Student photographs –Mining Engineering, 1949–51[02A102].

Bridge, Russell. Photographs – CivilEngineering staff and students, 1962[02A100].

Harrison, Colin. Photographs – studentdays in Mining Engineering;Engineering Yearbooks, 1951–59[02A103].

Herrman, Jonathan. Tharunka cuttings reengineering team pranks, 1991[02A109].

Hind, E.C. Papers and photographs doc-umenting career and student time,1957–99 [02A101].

Irvine, K.R. Photographic record of theConferring of Degrees held at NewcastleCity Hall in May 1953 [02A106].

Karbowiak, Antoni E. Copies of papersrelating to his career, 1973–87 [02A98].

O’Neill, Peter John. Photographs –Engineering students, 1954–57 [02A105].

Phillips, Hal. Photographs and corre-spondence documenting his associationwith UNSW, 1963–82 [02A110].

Pout, Denis. Photographs – Engineeringstudents, 1964–65 [02A99].

Robinson, Anthony. Photographs andbiographical data, 1959–2002 [02A97].

Sheaves, David James. Photographs –Surveying students, 1959–61 [02A108].

Sim, Ian Marshall. Graduation photo,1964 [02A104].

Smith, Joseph Michael. Copy of ‘WHO’SWHO’ crossword he created for survey-ing students, and related correspon-dence, 1972, 2002 [02A112].

Stapleton, Colin. Papers relating to AHistory of Control Education in Australia.1999–2001 [02A96].

Sutton, Camden J. Photographs.Electrical engineering students on a tripto the Snowy Mountains Scheme.1961 [02A107].

Taylor, Alan. Group photograph, CivilEngineering students with head ofschool, 1977 [02A111].

Publications / printed itemsBaxter, J.P. The ABC of the Atom. Sydney:

Commonwealth Office of Education,1951 [02A67].

How to contact the Archives

12 Origins No. 8

The Archives is openMonday – Friday, by appointment

Closed on public holidays,and 25 December to 1 January

AddressUniversity Archives

Level 1, University LibraryUNSW

Sydney NSW 2052

TelephoneUniversity Archivist

Mrs Guilaine Buckley(02) 9385 1028

Assistant University ArchivistMrs Karin Brennan(02) 9385 2906

Oral History Program(02) 9385 2908

Facsimile(02) 9385 1228

Email<Archives@unsw.edu.au>

WebsitesUniversity Archives:

<www.archives.unsw.edu.au>

Oral History Program:<www.oralhistory.unsw.edu.au>

Origins is prepared by the staff of theUniversity Archives

edited by R. Campbell and Dr P. Wilsondesign by Di Quick

ISSN 1326 – 5407

The U Committee’s generousassistance in the publication of Origins is gratefully acknowledged.

‘Gangleshanks’, thebed which made theCivil Engineeringworld-record ‘bedpush’ of 1961, havingbeen pushed continu-ously for 460 miles in76 hours. Here, withMiss Civil Engineeringaboard, it is bound forthe first FoundationDay parade, 1961[02A100/6].