Guide to the Papers of Sam Cohen
MS 9846
National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record
Collection Summary
- Creator
- Samuel Herbert Cohen
- Title
- Papers of Sam Cohen
- Date Range
- 1918-2000
- Collection Number
- MS 9846
- Extent
- 0.84 metres (6 boxes + 2 folio boxes)
- Language of Materials
- English
- Repository
- National Library of Australia
Introduction
Conditions Governing Access
Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2344299).
Conditions Governing Use
Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.
Preferred Citation
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Sam Cohen, National Library of Australia, MS 9846, [box number and series and/or file number]'.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The papers were donated by Judith Cohen, Sam Cohen's widow, in several instalments between March 2001 and February 2005.
Related Materials
The Library holds a typescript of a national broadcast of an interview of Cohen, then Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, by R.H. Sherry, dated 15 November 1967. The typescript is held at call no. UApam 878.
Arrangement
The collection has largely been left in the original order as arranged by Judith Cohen. Where papers were grouped together and labelled or annotated by Sam Cohen, they have been placed into Files maintaining the original order. Correspondence and newspaper cuttings have been placed in chronological order.
The majority of papers are those collected by Cohen himself and date from 1918 to his death in 1969. The few items dated later than 1969 are: letters of condolence following Cohen's death, material related to the Samuel Cohen Memorial Foundation and three articles added by Judith Cohen.
Biographical Note
Samuel Herbert Cohen was born on 26 October 1918 at Bankstown, Sydney, the son of Russian-born parents. His father was a tailor's cutter. He began his education in Griffith, New South Wales, but completed it in Melbourne at Elwood Primary and Central schools, Wesley College and the University of Melbourne.
He was a successful debater at school and university, led the intervarsity debating team, and became involved in the Student Representative Council, holding the posts of Treasurer and President. He graduated with a Master of Laws in 1942 and was articled the same year, but released to undertake military service and was seconded to the Universities Commission.
He resumed his articles in 1945, was admitted to the Victorian Bar in 1946, practised in common law and became a specialist in industrial law. He was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1961. In 1953 he married Judith Jacqueline Selig, a solicitor.
Cohen's formal involvement in politics commenced with his membership of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in 1946, although he had been a founder member in 1942 of the Jewish Council to Combat Fascism and Anti-Semitism, later serving as President.
A collision of these two spheres of activity - Jewish community advocacy and conventional politics - and an attempt to discredit Cohen came about when he stood for pre-selection in 1960 for the Senate. It culminated in public accusations that he was a Communist fellow-traveller and that the Jewish Council to Combat Fascism and Anti-Semitism was a Communist front organisation.
He was nonetheless elected to the Senate in 1962, where he became ALP spokesman on education, legal issues and matters relating to science, radio, television and culture. He later became Shadow Minister for Education, Science, Communications and the Arts and in 1967 became Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, acting at times as Leader. He was a member of the Central Executive of the Victorian ALP. He was a member of the Australian National University Council from 1968, and, shortly before his death, was co-opted to the Executive of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).
Cohen died of heart failure in Adelaide on 7 October 1969, following an address to an election meeting. He was survived by his wife and their two daughters.
Item Descriptions
Series 1. Early life and personal documents, 1918-1969
The contents of this series incorporates personal documents relating to Cohen's early life including birth and death certificates of both Cohen and his parents, war service documentation and details of primary and secondary education including school reports and photographs.
Birth and death certificates, copies of war service documentation, photographs, reports from primary and secondary education, copies of the school magazine, Wesley College Chronicle, legal study examination certificates and affidavits of legal service regarding completion of articles, 1918-1969 (File 1) - Box 1
Series 2. University papers, 1938-1944
Cohen commenced study at the University of Melbourne in 1938 and graduated with a Master of Laws in 1942. The papers relate to Cohen's studies and participation in student theatricals and his active career as a student politician through involvement in the Students' Representative Council (SRC) and the National Union of Australian University Students (NUAUS). The papers also reflect Cohen's interest in and support of higher education, and specifically interest in government plans for the post-war period, including the setting up of the Australian Universities Commission.
Papers relating to university life and Cohen's involvement in the SRC, 1938-1942 (File 1) - Box 1
Includes material relating to the SRC annual theatrical revue: a programme, photographs and cutting of the review in Farrago.
Papers 1938-1942 (File 2) - Box 1
Including a report to the Minister of Public Instruction regarding proposed Government scholarship system, a speech by P.C. Spender, Minister for the Army, regarding post-war reconstruction delivered to the NUAUS.
SRC and Universities Commission, 1944 (File 3) - Box 1
Education and post-war reconstruction, including notes, pamphlets and miscellaneous background material. SRC public relations programme, including correspondence, press cuttings and programmes.
NUAUS 4th annual conference and council meeting, report of proceedings, 17-24 January 1941; meeting minutes (various bodies, 1941-1942) and a report on Melbourne University Press. (File 4) - Box 1
University- and NUAUS-related reports, minutes, pamphlets, speech drafts, 1942-1943; Reports and conference proceedings, NUAUS 7th annual conference 4-8 January 1943. (File 5) - Box 1
Series 3. Jewish affairs, 1947-1969
Material relating to Cohen's interest in fighting anti-Semitism, including his involvement in the Jewish Council to Combat Fascism and Anti-Semitism, and the overlap between this interest and Cohen's political career. In particular, there is material from the controversy in Jewish and political circles during 1960 and 1961 surrounding Cohen's pre-selection for the Senate. The series also includes personal correspondence between Cohen and close friend Professor Julius Stone.
Papers and reports from the Australian Council for Civil Liberties, particularly relating to the Communist Party Dissolution Bill 1950, 1947-62. (File 1) - Box 2
Correspondence and cuttings, material relating to the Jewish Council to Combat Fascism and Anti-Semitism, Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the Victorian and NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, the German migration issue and the Russian Jewry issue., 1950-1962 (File 2) - Box 2
Controversy amongst Jewish community regarding pre-selection, cuttings and correspondence, material on anti-Semitism., 1960-1962 (File 3) - Box 2
Cuttings and correspondence on anti-Semitism, racism and associated topics., 1958-1964 (File 4) - Box 2
Series 4. Legal and parliamentary career, 1946-1969
This series includes papers relating to Cohen's legal and parliamentary career including pre-selection to the Senate, Senate leadership, Cohen's candidacy for Deputy leadership of the Opposition in the Senate, speeches, papers on Cohen's stand on education and welfare. Press cuttings and certificates of appointment are also included.
Letters of congratulation and cuttings relating to Cohen's appointment as Queen's Counsel, 17 June 1960-14 December 1961. (File 1) - Box 3
Letters of congratulation and other papers regarding Cohen's pre-selection for the Senate., 1960 (File 2) - Box 3
Papers 1963-1966. Law Reform Policy Committee, including pertinent press cuttings and Hansard extracts. One copy of The Rationalist, August-September 1963. Correspondence and cuttings regarding Cohen's trip to Papua New Guinea with Gough Whitlam 1963. (File 3) - Box 3
Senate election, 1967. Includes copies of FACT (newspaper of the Australian Labor Party), correspondence and speech notes. (File 5) - Box 3
Australian Labor Party pre-selection contest for the electoral seat of Melbourne fought between Jim Cairns and Arthur Calwell, 1968. National Service Bill 1969. (File 6) - Box 3
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Conference trip, March 1968. Includes correspondence, tickets, visitors book. (File 7) - Box 3
Education and the Australian Labor Party, includes speeches, correspondence, press cuttings, notes, meeting minutes, press releases, papers of the National Advisory Council on Education, 1964-1969 (File 9-14) - Box 4
Curtin Memorial Lecture: Education in the 1970's, delivered by Cohen., 8 September 1967 (File 15) - Box 4
Series 5. Posthumous Papers, 1969-2000
Various papers including papers on the Samuel Cohen Memorial Foundation and associated lecture series which were instituted to improve relations between Australia and Israel. The first Chairman of the Foundation was Professor Julius Stone.
Julian Phillips' entry on Cohen for The Australian Dictionary of Biography (draft?), n.d. (File 2) - Box 5
Press cutting, 'Bob Santamaria and the Jews', by Sam Lipski, from Australian Jewish News, 6 March 1998 (File 3) - Box 5
Series 6. Press cuttings and whole newspapers, 1960-1969
Includes miscellaneous cuttings, spiral bound photocopies of press cutting scrapbooks concerning Sam Cohen as Deputy Leader of the Opposition and whole newspapers kept by Cohen. There are some photocopies of invitations, menus etc.