Mary Baird interviewed by Wendy Lowenstein in the Communists and the Left in the arts and community oral history project [sound recording]
- Bib ID:
- 2244515
- Format:
- Audio
- Author:
- Baird, Mary Jean, 1921-2002, interviewee
- Online Version:
- National Library of Australia digitised item
- Access Conditions:
- Access open for research, personal copies and public use.
- Description:
-
- 1995
- 2 digital audio tapes (125 min.)
- Series:
- Communists and the Left in the arts and community oral history project.
- Summary:
-
Baird speaks about joining the Communist Party of Australia in the late 1940s in Malvern, Vic.; how she was caught in the post-war housing shortage; eviction from her rented house because an ex-serviceman bought it; an offer of emergency accommodation at the Watsonia Army Camp; her refusal to accept the living conditions which were dreadful; how she lobbied John Cain, Senior Leader of the Opposition and this got her into an emergency housing settlement at Camp Pell established at Royal Park; how the other occupants were primarily Roman Catholic unlike her family; how her family was terrorised and the role played by the police; how Phyllis and Ken Ophel as the communist activists in the camp but were discriminated against over obtaining a Housing Commission home; Gerald O'Day, the local communist doctor, answering calls at Camp Pell; how tenants had no rights against the power of the officials; the sabotaging of tenants attempts to provide sports for their children. Baird concludes by explaining that her husband eventually left the CPA over their tactics in union elections.
- Notes:
-
- Recorded on 9 May 1995 at Eltham, Vic.
- Also available online http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-221191410
- Index/Finding Aid Note:
- Timed summary available.
- Subject:
- Other authors/contributors:
- Lowenstein, Wendy, 1927-2006, interviewer
- Related Records:
-
This belongs to the Communists and the Left in the arts and community oral history project.
This collection contains 52 records. - Copyright:
-
In Copyright
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- Reason for copyright status:
- Until 2065 [Created/Published Date + 70 Years]
Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Sound Recording
- Published status:
- Unpublished
- Creation date:
- 1995
Copyright status may not be correct if data in the record is incomplete or inaccurate. Other access conditions may also apply. For more information please see: Copyright in library collections.
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