Guide to the Papers of Oskar Spate

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MS 7886

National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record

Collection Summary

Creator
Spate, Oskar, Professor
Title
Papers of Oskar Spate
Date Range
1934-1989
Collection Number
MS 7886
Extent
4.68 metres (21 MS boxes, 1 map-folio + 1 packet)
Language of Materials
English
Repository
Special Collections (Manuscripts)

Introduction

Scope and Contents

The National Library took custody of this collection in March 1989. Series 2-9 were transferred to the Library in a total of 32 labelled box files. The contents of these box files have been removed into files without disturbing the order of the papers therein. The three part numbering system used in this list (eg: File 3/1/2) consists firstly of the series number, secondly of the box file number within that series, and thirdly the file number within that box file. The full collection as sorted and listed consists of sixteen manuscript boxes (2.24 metres).

Conditions Governing Access

Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2645399).

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Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions.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 Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.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 Oskar Spate, National Library of Australia, MS 7886, [box number and series and/or file number]'.

Bibliography

T. M Perry, "Oskar Spate: a personal impression", in Jennings, J. N and Linge, G. J. R, Of Time and place: essays inhonour of OHK Spate, Canberra, 1980, pp. xiii-xix.

Biographical Note

Oskar Spate was born in England in 1911 and spent some childhood years in the USA. Back in London, he attended St Clement Dane's Grammar School and was taught geography by Leonard Suggate. In 1930 he moved to Cambridge University and achieved honours in geography. In 1937 he completed his Phd. on the development of London. After a year at Reading he moved to Burma, joined the Army in late 1941, and was wounded in a Japanese bombing raid on Rangoon. After the war he combined lecturing in England with writing a regional geography on the Indian sub-continent.

In 1951 he arrived in Canberra to take up the post of Foundation Professor of Geography at the ANU Research School of Pacific Studies, a position he held until 1967. In 1953 he advised the Australian Minister for Territories on the future economic development of Papua and New Guinea. In 1954 his landmark text India and Pakistan was published, the culmination of nearly ten years work. In 1958-9 he conducted a crucial survey of the economic problems of the Fijian people, his report guiding the colonial administration's economic preparations for Fijian independence. He returned to Fiji in 1969 as a member of the Commission on Education in Fiji, having previously fulfilled a similar role in Papua New Guinea as a member of the Commission on Higher Education (1963-65). This New Guinea Commission recommended a qualified shift away from the sole aim of achieving mass literacy, to one of incorporating access to higher education.

As a result of these reports he subsequently became a member of the councils of the University of Papua New Guinea and the University of the South Pacific.

From 1967 to 1972 he was Director of the ANU Research School of Pacific Studies, and in 1972 moved to the Department of Pacific History. Upon his retirement in 1976 he devoted most of his energies to researching and writing his three volume history The Pacific since Magellan. Throughout his career Oskar Spate has published a wide diversity of papers and essays on the geography of Europe, South Asia and Australia, the exploration of Australia and the Pacific and many other subject areas.

Item Descriptions

Series 1. Diaries, 1942-May 1960, 1965-88

1942-54 (File [unnumbered]) - Box 1

1955-May 1960 (File [unnumbered]) - Box 2

1965-69 (File [unnumbered]) - Box 3

1970-75 (File [unnumbered]) - Box 4

1976-82 (File [unnumbered]) - Box 5

1983-88 (File [unnumbered]) - Box 6

Series 2. Family and Personal Correspondence, 1941-45

Correspondence with mother, 1941-45 (Burma and India) (File 2_1_1) - Box 7

Correspondence with L.S Suggate, geography teacher, 1942-44 (File 2_1_2) - Box 7

Series 3. Professional/Academic Career, 1950-89

Correspondence re appointment to ANU, 1950-51 (File 3_1_1) - Box 7

Offer from Leeds University, 1957 (File 3_1_1) - Box 7

Study leave report, 1961 (File 3_1_1) - Box 7

Offer from Toronto University, 1962 (File 3_1_1) - Box 7

Correspondence re Cambridge Chair in Geography, 1964-65 (File 3_1_1) - Box 7

Correspondence re Directorship of ANU Research School of Pacific Studies, 1967-80 (File 3_1_2) - Box 7

Correspondence re RGS Victoria Medal, 1971 (File 3_1_2) - Box 7

Correspondence re Of Time and place festschrift, 1980 (File 3_1_2) - Box 7

D. Litt. Citation, 1984 (File 3_1_2) - Box 7

Papers re ANU Coat of Arms, 1952-53 (File 3_2_1) - Box 7

Study leave reports, 1956-76 (File 3_2_1) - Box 7

Memos re ANU Deanery, 1955-57 (File 3_2_1) - Box 7

Correspondence, etc. re H.C Brookfield, 1968-69 (File 3_2_1) - Box 7

Correspondence re Richard Feachem, 1968-70 (File 3_2_2) - Box 7

Papers re Coombes Building, ANU, 1970-71 (File 3_2_2) - Box 7

Report on Council debate on Research School of Earth Sciences proposal, 1971 (File 3_2_2) - Box 7

Memos re North Australian Research Unit, 1971-74 (File 3_2_2) - Box 7

"Early days at ANU: an anecdote" - photocopy, (n.d) (File 3_2_2) - Box 7

Academic references, 1965-84 (File 3_3_1) - Box 7

Papers re the beginnings of the University of PNG the University of the South Pacific, 1962-80 (File 3_4_1) - Box 7

"Early days of UPNG" - seminar paper, 1989 (File 3_4_1) - Box 7

Series 4. Scholarly Papers, Essays and Reviews, 1934-88

Miscellaneous writing (pre-ANU), 1934-65 (File 4_1_1) - Box 8

Published papers, 1938-45 (File 4_2_1) - Box 8

Published papers, 1947-52 (File 4_2_2) - Box 8

Published papers, 1953-56 (File 4_2_3) - Box 8

Published papers, 1957-64 (File 4_2_4) - Box 8

Published papers, 1965-68 (File 4_3_1) - Box 8

Published papers, 1971-77 (File 4_3_2) - Box 8

Published papers, 1977-88 (File 4_3_3) - Box 9

Miscellaneous writing: ABC talks, early 1950s (File 4_4_1) - Box 9

Miscellaneous writing: Historical geography, 1950s-1972 (File 4_4_1) - Box 9

Miscellaneous writing: Education, early 1950s (File 4_4_1) - Box 9

Controversies, 1953-87 (File 4_5_1) - Box 9

Literary and facetiae, 1940s-1988 (File 4_5_1) - Box 9

ANU memos and other papers, 1959-88; Travels, 1967-70 (File 4_5_2) - Box 9

Papers on the Pacific, 1959-86 (File 4_6_1) - Box 9

Papers on geography, 1940-78 (File 4_6_2) - Box 9

Papers on South Asia, 1943-81 (File 4_6_3) - Box 9

Miscellaneous papers, 1957-77 (File 4_6_4) - Box 10

Papers on Australia, 1957-84 (File 4_6_4) - Box 10

Reviews: geography and miscellaneous, 1950-86 (File 4_7_1) - Box 10

Reviews: Asia and Australia, 1950-78 (File 4_7_2) - Box 10

Reviews: Pacific, 1963-78 (File 4_7_3) - Box 10

Series 5. Miscellaneous Correspondence, 1944-88

Australian geographical correspondence, T. G Birtles, 1985-8; R. H Greenwood, 1966-68; Ann Marshall, 1952-58; RGSA (Qld), 1952-87 (File 5_1_1) - Box 10

Archie Price, 1951-83; Griffith Taylor, 1951-63; Text book scandal, 1944-53 (File 5_1_2) - Box 10

University of W.A., 1953-4; Webster/Peter Ryan re Moon man, 1983-84; Arthur Wilcock, 1951-54 (File 5_1_3) - Box 10

Australian correspondence - general, 1953-88 (File 5_2_1) - Box 11

UK correspondence, 1951-88 (File 5_3_1) - Box 11

Correspondence with A. J Toynbee and other papers re Toynbee, 1950-62 (File 5_3_2) - Box 11

USSR correspondence, mainly A. M Ryabchikov and I. Fyodorovna, 1963-88 (File 5_4_1) - Box 11

USA correspondence, 1950-70 (File 5_5_1) - Box 11

USA correspondence, re Francis Drake, 1976-80 (File 5_5_2) - Box 11

USA correspondence, 1947-88 (File 5_5_3) - Box 11

Series 6. India and Pakistan, 1946-87

Papers re Punjab boundary dispute (Lahore), 1947 (File 6_1_1) - Box 12

Correspondence with Survey of India, 1950-52 (File 6_2_1) - Box 12

India and Pakistan maps - correspondence re battle with Indian bureaucracy, 1966-67 (File 6_2_1) - Box 12

Correspondence re attempted banning of India and Pakistan, 1961-70 (File 6_2_2) - Box 12

Correspondence with A. T. A Learmouth, 1971-76 (File 6_2_2) - Box 12

Correspondence re changing map of Asia, 1966-70 (File 6_2_2) - Box 12

Indian correspondence, 1946-87 (File 6_3_1) - Box 12

Indian correspondence, including re National Atlas of India, 1956 (File 6_3_2) - Box 12

Series 7. Australia and the Pacific: Papers re Geography, History and Exploration, 1947-88

Papers re Portuguese discovery of Australia, including correspondence with Armando Cortesao, 1947-79 (File 7_1_1) - Box 13

Papers re Portuguese discovery of Australia - miscellaneous, 1956-83 (File 7_1_2) - Box 13

Correspondence with WA Richardson, 1984-8 (File 7_2_1) - Box 13

Correspondence with K. G McIntyre and others re The Secret discovery of Australiam, 1978-88 (File 7_2_2) - Box 13

reviews, etc., 1978-85, notes and correspondence re "Luso-Australia", 1978-81 (File 7_2_3) - Box 13

Notes and correspondence re George A Collingridge, 1978-82 (File 7_2_4) - Box 13

Correspondence re de Lozier Bouvet, 1962-64 (File 7_3_1) - Box 13

Reviews, notes, correspondence, pictures, etc. re Peter Dillon, 1974-75 (File 7_3_2) - Box 13

Portuguese translations for Australian Commonwealth Investigation Service, 1957-63 (File 7_4_1) - Box 14

Correspondence with Dr Claudio Veliz (Chile), 1971 (File 7_4_1) - Box 14

Meanjin and Quadrant correspondence, 1954-60 (File 7_4_1) - Box 14

Papers re death of J. W Davidson, 1973 (File 7_4_2) - Box 14

Papers re Cook commemoration, Bega High School, 1969-70 (File 7_4_2) - Box 14

Correspondence with Lord Casey re proposed book on exploration and discovery of Australia, 1966-70 (File 7_4_3) - Box 14

Correspondence and reviews re Australia (Ernest Benn), 1967-68 (File 7_5_1) - Box 14

Typescript of report on development in PNG, 1953 (File 7_6_1) - Box 14

Typescripts, drafts and other papers re Pacific history, 1965-85 (File 7_6_2) - Box 14

Papers re Pacific history, 1986-88 (File 7_6_3) - Box 14

Miscellaneous Pacific correspondence, 1976-86 (File 7_7_1) - Box 15

Miscellaneous Pacific correspondence, 1967-88, including with Frank Horner, 1982-87 (File 7_7_2) - Box 15

Pacific since Magellan - drafts, correspondence, progress notes, 1970-83 (File 7_8_1) - Box 15

Correspondence and reviews re The Spanish Lake, 1979-83 (File 7_9_1) - Box 15

Correspondence and reviews re Monopolists and freebooters, 1983-84 (File 7_9_2) - Box 15

Series 8. Fiji, 1955-70

"The Fijian political scene: some reflections", 1959 (File 8_1_1) - Box 15

Correspondence with H. P Ritchie and P. MacDonald, 1957-67 (File 8_1_1) - Box 15

Correspondence with R. W Robson, 1958-60 (File 8_1_2) - Box 15

Broadcasts, texts of talks, correspondence, clippings, 1958-61 (File 8_1_2) - Box 15

Correspondence with Stuart Inder (Pacific Islands monthly), 1959-60 (File 8_1_2) - Box 15

Miscellaneous papers re 1959 Fiji report, 1957-74 (File 8_1_3) - Box 15

Correspondence with R. R Nayacakalou, 1958-64 (File 8_1_4) - Box 15

Notes on village visits, 1958 (File 8_1_4) - Box 15

"Personalia", fragments, etc. 1955-58 (File 8_1_4) - Box 15

Papers re Fiji Education Commission, 1968-70 (File 8_2_1) - Box 16

Printed copy of Education for modern Fiji, 1969 (File 8_2_1) - Box 16

Series 9. Scandals, 1954-79

UNESCO questionnaire, 1966 (File 9_1_1) - Box 16

Institute of British Geographers "Letter from afar" - correspondence etc, 1964-65 (File 9_1_1) - Box 16

Correspondence with Flinders University re symposium and book on Matthew Flinders, 1974-79 (File 9_1_2) - Box 16

Correspondence with the University of WA, re attack on geography, 1958, re L. A Noonan Phd, 1969 - 71 (File 9_1_3) - Box 16

Correspondence with International Institute of Arts and Letters, 1962 (File 9_1_4) - Box 16

Clippings and correspondence re Francis West's article on ANU, 1954-70 (File 9_1_4) - Box 16

Clippings and correspondence re Daniel Bennett's Canberra times letter on the House of Representatives, 1978-79 (File 9_1_4) - Box 16

Professor Oskar Spate interviewed by Dr Joe Powell Part 1, 1989 (Item NLA.MS-SAV014214) - Shelf-Tall OH1-19-035

1 item, Eastman, Consumer formats - VHS, S-VHS etc

Program length 34 min

Professor Oskar Spate interviewed by Dr Joe Powell Part 2, 1989 (Item NLA.MS-SAV014215) - Shelf-Tall OH1-19-035

1 item, Eastman, Consumer formats - VHS, S-VHS etc

Program length 29 1/2 min


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