Guide to the Papers of Jack and Jean Horner

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MS 9503, MS Acc06.134

National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record

Collection Summary

Creator
Jack and Jean Horner
Title
Papers of Jack and Jean Horner
Date Range
1956-2003
Collection Number
MS 9503, MS Acc06.134
Extent
9.95 metres (61 boxes, 1 folio Box, 3 oversized boxes, 2 card drawers)
Language of Materials
English
Repository
National Library of Australia

Introduction

Scope and Contents

The bulk of the collection comprises papers relating to both published and unpublished works by Jack Horner, most of which concern Aboriginal rights issues. They include correspondence, research material and edited drafts.

There are papers relating to the involvement of Horner and his wife with the Australian Council of Churches Commission on Aboriginal Development. They include agenda, minutes of meetings and related documentation.

A small amount of correspondence is included in the papers, most of which relates to research for and publication of works by Jack Horner. This correspondence can be found in the relevant series, together with other papers relating to the work. Correspondents include Faith Bandler, Rev. F.G. Engel, Bill Gammage, Lex Grey (University of Sydney) and Dame Edith Lyons.

Conditions Governing Access

Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1941650).

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Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions.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 Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.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

Provenance

The papers were donated to the Library by Jack and Jean Horner in April 2000.

Further papers were received in August 2001.

Papers relating to the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders have been retained by Jack and Jean Horner.

The Oral History Section of the Library holds the following related recordings:

1989 Jack and Jean Horner talking about Jessie Street (ORAL TRC 2303/32)

1994 Interview with Jack and Jean Horner (ORAL TRC 3074)

1998 Interview with Jack and Jean Horner (ORAL TRC 5000/6)

See also MS 9506, papers of Monica Clare, author of Karobran : the story of an Aboriginal girl. Horner was involved in the posthumous publication of this book.

Finding Aid Source(s)

Please note: This finding aid may comprise or contain descriptive information provided by donors, researchers and/or volunteers.

Collection Retrieval Advice

Please note: each consignment in this collection has a separate box number sequence (i.e. there may be multiple Box 1s). Please cite the relevant Class number as well as the Box number when requesting retrieval of material from the collection.

Biographical Note

Jack (John) Curwen Horner was born at Sandringham, Victoria on 15 May 1922. He was educated at Sydney High School for four years and then studied art at East Sydney Technical College (1940-42). In 1943, he was called up to serve in the Australian Army. After being discharged, he studied at East Sydney Technical College under the Commonwealth Reconstruction Training Scheme.

In 1950, Jack and his wife Jean travelled to England where they found work designing and painting scenery for theatre productions. They returned to Australia in 1953 where Jack worked for the Law Book Company. During this time they became involved with the Workers' Educational Association and developed an awareness of discrimination against Aborigines, which has led to their involvement in campaigning for Aboriginal rights and taking an active role in organisations supporting this cause. As Secretary of the Aboriginal-Australian Fellowship, Jack was responsible for campaigns to remove discriminating clauses relating to Aboriginal people from New South Wales laws and he was Secretary of the 'Vote Yes' Committee for the 1967 referendum to remove similar clauses from the Australian Constitution.

The Horners were Executive members of the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI). From 1969 to 1970 Jack was General-Secretary and from 1961 to 1971 Jean was the Treasurer. For a number of years, they were also members of the Australian Council of Churches Commission on Aboriginal Development. As members, they were involved in supporting issues brought to the Commission's attention by Aborigines and Islanders, mostly relating to land rights and decisions affecting their political and human rights. Jack is a member of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies in Canberra.

Jack Horner has published biographical and historical works, contributed chapters to books and written numerous journal articles, mostly concerning Aboriginal rights issues. His published works include A dictionary of Australian history (1970), co-authored with A.R. Barnes, Vote Ferguson for Aboriginal freedom (1974), 'The day of mourning' in Australians 1938, co-authored with M. Langton (1987) and A peace that is no peace (1988). He is currently working on a history of FCAATSI.

Item Descriptions

Class MS 9503. Original consignment

Comprises papers relating to both published and unpublished works by Jack Horner, most of which concern Aboriginal rights issues. The papers include correspondence, research material and edited drafts. There are papers relating to the involvement of Horner and his wife with the Australian Council of Churches Commission on Aboriginal Development. These include agenda, minutes of meetings and related documentation. A small amount of correspondence is included in the papers, most of which relates to research for and publication of works by Jack Horner. Correspondents include Faith Bandler, Rev. F.G. Engel, Bill Gammage, Lex Grey and Dame Enid Lyons.

Contained in 10 boxes, 1 fol. box.

Class. Origninal consignment

Series 1. A dictionary of Australian history

A dictionary of Australian history was compiled by Horner and A.R. Barnes, Lecturer in History, Sydney Teachers' College. It was published by Cassell Australia, Melbourne in 1970.

Included in this series are research notes, edited drafts and galley proofs of the book.

Research notes (File 1) - Box 1
Early edited manuscript and typescript (File 2) - Box 1
Typescript of rejected entries (File 3) - Box 1
Edited typescript of early draft (2 copies) (File 4-5) - Box 1, 2
Edited typescript (File 6) - Box 2
Galley proofs, 1970 (File 7) - Box 2
Series 2. Australian Council of Churches Commission on Aboriginal Development, 1970-80

Both Jack and Jean Horner were members of the Australian Council of Churches (ACC) Commission on Aboriginal Development (COAD). The Commission's role was to support issues raised and brought to its attention by Aborigines and Islanders, mostly relating to land rights and decisions affecting their political and human rights.

This series comprises mainly agenda papers, minutes of meetings and related documentation for the COAD. There is also a small collection of papers relating to the activities of the ACC, which includes reports, correspondence, cuttings and a copy of their submission to the Senate Committee on Social Environment (1972). Correspondents include Rev. F.G. Engel (General-Secretary, ACC) and Lex Grey (University of Sydney).

Agenda, minutes of meetings and documentation, 1970-73 (File 1) - Box 3
Agenda, minutes of meetings and documentation, 1974-75 (File 2) - Box 3
Agenda, minutes of meetings and documentation, 1976-77 (File 3) - Box 3
Agenda, minutes of meetings and documentation, 1978-79 (File 4) - Box 3
Agenda, minutes of meetings and documentation, 1980 (File 5) - Box 3
Papers relating to ACC activities, 1970-80 (File 6-7) - Box 3
Series 3. Vote Ferguson for Aboriginal freedom: a biography, 1965-74

William Ferguson (1882-1950) was a shearer and trade union organiser who, in his later life, campaigned for Aboriginal rights reform in New South Wales. In 1937 he launched the Aborigines' Progressive Association, through which he conducted conferences, formulated policies and arranged publicity and welfare work. He was one of the organisers of a 'Day of Mourning' conference for Aborigines on Australia Day 1938, which led to the petitioning of the Prime Minister, Joseph Lyons, for a national Aboriginal policy. From 1943 to 1949, Ferguson was one of two Aboriginal representatives elected to be a member of the Aborigines Welfare Board. In 1949 he was vice-president of the NSW branch of the Australian Aborigines' League. Administrative reforms drafted by Ferguson on behalf of the League and put to the Minister for the Interior were ignored. Determined to take action, Ferguson stood for Parliament in the 1949 elections, but received only 388 votes.

Horner wrote a biography of Ferguson, which was published by the Australia and New Zealand Book Co., Sydney in 1974. In 1994, the book was republished in Canberra by Horner, under the new title Bill Ferguson, fighter for Aboriginal freedom.

This series consists of a large collection of research material, mostly in the form of loose pages of handwritten notes taken from a number of sources, interleaved with early drafts of the book. The material has been foldered in the order it was received from Horner. There are also edited typescripts of later drafts and galley proofs of the book.

There is a small collection of correspondence relating to research and publication of the book, including a letter from Dame Edith Lyons (1966), and a strip of unidentified black and white negatives.

Correspondence, 1966-74 (File 1) - Box 4

Black and white negatives

Research material, 1965-73 (File 2-12) - Box 4, 5
Edited early drafts: Chapters 1-2 (File 13) - Box 5
Edited early drafts: Chapters 3-4 (File 14) - Box 5
Edited early drafts: Chapters 5-7 (File 15) - Box 6
Edited early drafts: Chapters 8-11 (File 16) - Box 6
Edited early drafts: Chapters 12-14 (File 17) - Box 6
Miscellaneous notes (File 18) - Box 6
Edited typescript (2 copies) (File 19) - Box 6
Edited typescript (2 copies, one of which is a folio item) (File 20-20a)
Edited proofs, 1974 (2 copies) (File 21) - Box 7
Series 4. A people with courage: the story of the South Sea Islanders in Australia, 1975-80

Horner researched and wrote a booklet entitled 'A people with courage: the story of the South Sea Islanders in Australia'. Written on behalf of the Black Research Committee of the Australian Council of Churches (ACC), it is a history of the South Seas labour trade in the nineteenth century. It was originally intended for publication by the ACC, but this did not eventuate.

The bulk of this series comprises a disorderly collection of research material consisting of notes taken from a number of sources, interleaved with manuscript and typescript drafts of the booklet. The material has been foldered in the order it was received from Horner.

There is also a small collection of correspondence, mostly relating to research for the booklet, the correspondents including Faith Bandler and Clive Moore (James Cook University).

Correspondence, 1975-80 (File 1) - Box 7
Research material (File 2-6) - Box 7, 8
Edited typescript (35pp) (File 7) - Box 8
Series 5. The day of mourning, 1981-85

'The day of mourning' is the title of a chapter contributed by Horner and Marcia Langton to Australians 1938, which was edited by Bill Gammage and Peter Spearritt and published by Fairfax, Syme and Weldon, Sydney in 1987. The chapter recounts the background of mistreatment of Aboriginal people by white settlers, which led to the organisation of a 'Day of mourning' conference for Aborigines only, held in Sydney on 26 January 1938. It was the first national meeting of Aboriginal people seeking law reforms and full citizenship rights. The chapter also details resolutions passed at the conference, and subsequent approaches to the Prime Minister, Joseph Lyons, to have the suggested reforms implemented.

Included in this series is correspondence relating to the writing, editing and publishing of the chapter, research notes, notes on the structure of the chapter and a number of drafts, dating from December 1983-November 1984.

Major correspondents include Diane Barwick and Bill Gammage (both from the Australian National University), Marcia Langton, Andrew Markus (Riverina College of Advanced Education) and Craig Munro (University of Queensland Press).

Correspondence, 1981-85 (File 1) - Box 8
Research notes and notes on the structure of the chapter (File 2) - Box 8
Drafts, 1983-84 (File 3-6) - Box 9

Class. Consignment received 30 August 2001

Series 6. Published and unpublished works of Jack Horner, 1960-94

This series contains typescripts of articles, book reviews, short stories, scripts and drafts for radio and film. A number of these works have been published in magazines and broadcast. Some works were entered in various literary competitions.

Typescripts of articles and book reviews, 1960-94 (File 1-3) - Box 9
Typescript 'The Family Circle', a radio play written for an Australian Broadcasting Commission competition, 1975 (File 4) - Box 10
Typescript 'William Ferguson', a biography written for ABC radio's Encounter program, includes typescript drafts (File 5) - Box 10
Typescript 'Land of the Holy Spirit: an Australian Christmas Collation', written for ABC radio's Encounter program, includes typescript drafts (File 6) - Box 10
Typescript draft 'Life as Aborigines saw it', a film commentary script, typescript and draft 'The charcoal burners, a television script, typescript 'Commonsense about the Aborigines', a radio discussion feature (File 7) - Box 10
Typescripts of short stories by Horner; 'The football ground', 'A stretch of blue water' and 'The outbreak' (File 8) - Box 10
'FCAATSI report on racism in Australia to the World Council of Churches, Geneva', circa, 1971 (File 9) - Box 10

Class Acc06.134. Consignment added 2006

Comprises papers accumulated by Jean and Jack Horner reflecting their roles in the Aboriginal rights movement including their involvement with the Aboriginal-Australian Fellowship and the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI). The instalment includes correspondence, draft articles and publications prepared by Jack Horner, research files, press cuttings, newsletters and minutes of FCAATSI.

Contained in 51 boxes, 3 oversize boxes, 2 card drawers.


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