Guide to the Papers of Andrew Reeves
MS 8076, MS Acc04.305
National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record
Collection Summary
- Creator
- Andrew Reeves
- Title
- Papers of Andrew Reeves
- Date Range
- 1857-1999
- Collection Number
- MS 8076, MS Acc04.305
- Extent
- 9.78 metres (57 boxes, 10 folio packets, 4 cartons)
- Language of Materials
- English
- Repository
- National Library of Australia
Introduction
Scope and Contents
Papers collected by Andrew Reeves, primarily relating to the trade union movement, the Australian Labor Party, the Communist Party of Australia and left wing political issues. There are also papers relating to student political activities on the University of Melbourne, Monash and La Trobe University campuses; the anti-Vietnam War movement; the Socialist Party of Australia; the League of Nations International Labour Conference; the Association of Architects, Surveyors, Engineers and Draughtsmen of Australia and the co-operative movement. Papers of Phillip Bain collected by Andrew Reeves are also contained in the papers.
The papers include broadsheets, pamphlets, handbills, press cuttings, original trade union records, reports, correspondence, letterbooks, minutes, ledgers, conference papers, speeches, articles, publications, banners, photographs, posters and other papers.
Conditions Governing Access
Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2120042).
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Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions.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 Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.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 Andrew Reeves, National Library of Australia, MS 8076 [class number, box number and series and/or file number]'.
Provenance
The collection was partly purchased and partly donated to the Library by Andrew Reeves under the Taxation Incentives for the Arts Scheme. The collection was received in nine instalments between 1987 and 2001.
Related Materials
Personal Papers of Andrew Reeves are held at MS 9554.
Papers of Andrew Reeves' father, John Reeves are held at MS 9475.
Arrangement
Series 1-6 were grouped by Reeves in his listing of the 1987 consignments. Other series were added by Library staff for subsequent consignments.
Material in the early consignments (1987) was mostly arranged by Reeve in subject files. Later consignments were comprised mainly of loose paper and were arranged by Library staff.
Separated Materials
Publications were separated from the collection at the time of processing and integrated into the Library's book and serial stacks. Films and videos from the collection were sent to Screensound Australia and AIATSIS.
Bibliography
'Eight hours day and labour celebration', catalogue for Objects, documents and pictures to reflect upon exhibition, University of Melbourne, 1978 'The five month strike ' and 'The 1949 defeat', chapters in John M. Coghlan (ed) The state coal mine and Wonthaggi (1979) 'Damned Scotsmen! British migrants and the Australian Coal Industry 1919-1949', chapter in First Commonwealth conference of Labor histories (1983) Another day another dollar: working lives in Australian history (Carlton: McCulloch Publishing, 1988) Margaret Anderson, Julia Clark, Andrew Reeves When Australia was a woman: images of a nation (Perth, W.A. : Western Australian Museum, 1998)
Biographical Note
Andrew Paul Reeves was born on 10 April 1952 in Kew, Victoria. He was educated at Camberwell High School (Melbourne) and the University of Melbourne (1970-73) where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons), majoring in history. In 1974-75 Reeves attended La Trobe University where he graduated with a Master of Arts in 1976. During this time he assembled a large collection of pamphlets and broadsheets.
In 1976-83 Reeves worked as an archivist at the University of Melbourne Archives. During his employment with the Archives he was principally responsible for the development of the trade union and labour movement collection. He was also involved with curating exhibitions on the eight hours day and curated 'Peace -Progress-Amity: trade union banners and labor celebration', a joint exhibition with the State Library of Victoria and University of Melbourne Archives.
After leaving the Archives in 1983, Reeves wrote a commissioned history of the Victorian Trades Hall Council, 1856-1966. He later worked at the National Museum of Australia (1984-86), as Director and Deputy Director of the Division of Human Studies at the Museum of Victoria (1986-92) and as Director of the Western Australian Museum (1993-97).
Reeves was a member of the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History and the Welsh Labour History Society.
Item Descriptions
Class MS 8076. Original consignment
Comprises papers collected by Andrew Reeves, primarily relating to the trade union movement, the Australian Labor Party, the Communist Party of Australia and left wing political issues. There are also papers relating to student political activities on the University of Melbourne, Monash University and La Trobe University campuses; the anti-Vietnam War movement; the Socialist Party of Australia; the League of Nations International Labour Conference; the Association of Architects, Surveyors, Engineers and Draughtsmen of Australia and the co-operative movement. Papers of Phillip Bain collected by Andrew Reeves are also contained in the papers. Material contained in the collection includes broadsheets, pamphlets, handbills, press cuttings, original trade union records, reports, correspondence, letterbooks, minutes, ledgers, conference papers, speeches, articles, publications, banners, photographs, posters and other papers.
Series 1. Student politics, 1970-75
The papers relate to the period 1970-75 and were assembled while Reeves while a student at the University of Melbourne. See also series 8 for La Trobe University student papers collected by Phillip Bain and series 16 for student posters.
Series 2. Other political campaigns, 1899-1999 (bulk 1970-75)
The bulk of the series contains ephemera concerning University of Melbourne campus political campaigns. There are also two earlier and later files of collected May Day material.
Series 3. International issues, 1948-92
Publications and ephemera concerning international political issues, protests and campaigns.
See also series 16 for posters on international issues.
Series 4. Maoism, 1970-76
The series comprises Monash and La Trobe University broadsheets and publications.
Series 5. Trotskyism, c.1930-75
Series 6. Vietnam, anti-war, draft resistance, 1966-74
Cuttings, articles, leaflets and publications relating to the Vietnam War.
See also series 16 for posters on the Vietnam War.
Series 7. Trade unions, 1857-1999
The series has been arranged into four subseries: (1) alphabetical files relating mainly to individual trade unions and trade union organisations, (2) loose papers sorted into geographic localities, (3) miscellaneous loose papers arranged chronologically and (4) papers of A.C. Williams.
Most of the series comprises printed or published material, including trade union rules, industrial agreements, membership books, programs of events, trade union manuals, workers' tickets, newspaper cuttings, voting slips, an audio tape, pamphlets, leaflets and other trade union ephemera.
Some files in sub-series 1 also include original trade union records, and in most cases these have been indicated in the file descriptions. There are also some original records scattered within the geographical and chronological sequences (subseries 2 and 3).
See also series 15 for trade union photographs and series16 for trade union posters.
Subseries 1. Alphabetical sequence, 1877-1997
Amalgamated Metal Workers' Union, 1972-74 (4 files) (File 1-4) - Box 9
Includes a painted banner for 'Labor Day for retired workers'
Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners, 1916-46 (File 5) - Box 10
Proposition form, circular and entrance book
Australasian Coal and Shale Employees' Federation (Western District), 1928 (File 6) - Box 10
Unemployment relief registers
Australasian Meat Industry Employees' Union (Queensland Branch), 1944-75 (File 7-10) - Box 10
Ballot papers, picnic programs, photographs and other papers
Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) including ACTU leaflets (1939), ACTU Congress papers (1945) and material relating to the 1927 and 1932 All-Australian Trade Union Congress (File 11) - Box 11
Australian Railways Union leaflets, publications, audio tape and other papers, 1932-86 (4 files) (File 17-20) - Box 11, 12
Australian Workers' Union - Amalgamated Workers' Union tickets, 1892-1903; AWU tickets and levies (1906-31) and correspondence, reports and other papers, 1923-44 (File 24) - Box 12
AWU- anti Communist Party of Australia texts (late 1930s), conference papers, an industrial agreement with Broken Hill Associated Smelters (1938-39) and papers of the F.G. Baxter Case (WA, 1930-56) (File 25) - Box 12
AWU- correspondence and other papers including papers relating to the SA pastoral workers' dispute (1943-50) (File 26) - Box 12
Ballarat Eight Hours Anniversary Committee, 1883-1935 (9 files) (File 30-38) - Box 13, 14
Includes ledgers, minute books and correspondence
Builders Labourers' Federation (both Gallagher and Mundey factions), 1973-87 (3 files) (File 40-42) - Box 15
Operative Painters and Decorators' Union of Australia, 1903-60 (File 60-61) - Box 18
Correspondence and election material
TLCQ- North Queensland Trade Union Rank File Convention for Security (Townsville, 28-29 Nov. 1953 (File 68-69) - Box 19
TLCQ- Peace (including Townsville Peace Committee for International Co-operation and Disarmament, 1963-65 (File 70) - Box 19
TLCQ- 'The case for £2 increase to the Queensland basic wage…', hearing in the Industrial court of Queensland, 22 Mar. 1954 (File 71) - Box 20
United Furniture Trades Industrial Union of Workers, 1929. Leadlight Designers' award. Transcript of notes of proceedings before the Industrial Board, Perth, WA (File 72) - Box 20
Victorian Operative Bricklayers' Society (No. 3 Branch, Ballarat) letterbook, 1889-1893 (File 74) - Box 20
Victorian Trades Hall Council- Clothing and Allied Trades Union correspondence and other records, 1966-73 relating to the Victorian Trades Hall Council dispute with 26 rebel unions (File 80-84) - Box 21, 22
Melbourne Trades Hall Council split, 1967; Exposé of right wing in the 1963-64 Melbourne Trades Hall Council dispute; Equal pay, 1965-69 (File 86) - Box 22
Waterside Workers' Federation Federal Committee of Management minutes, 1939-43 ( 5 files) (File 93-97) - Box 23
Waterside Workers' Federation Sydney Branch, 1967-78 including Women's Committee (1968-71) (File 103) - Box 24
Waterside Workers' Federation Sydney Branch, 1987-91 undated material including badges (File 104) - Box 24
Subseries 2. Geographical sequence, 1857-1999
Trade unions: international- World Federation of Trade Unions- photographs of the Konferensi Nasional Sentral Organisasi Burum Selurum (S.O.B.S.I), Indonesia, n.d (File 3) - Box 26
Trade unions: international- World Trade Union Conference (5th: Moscow, 4-15 Dec. 1961) (File 4) - Box 26
Trade unions: international, 1901-91 (File 5) - Folio-Box 1
(Includes 1 folio item: The Scottish worker, 10-15 May 1926)
Trade unions: Queensland, 1893-1905. Album containing cuttings relating to the 1889 Brisbane printers' strike and articles calling for the formation of a labour party in Queensland (File 14) - Box 27
Trade unions: Queensland, 1931-39. Relates to the newspapers The Daily Standard, The Worker and Labour Daily (File 15) - Box 28
Series 8. Phillip Bain Papers, 1919-86 (bulk 1972-86)
Phillip Russell Bain was born on 3 March 1954. He attended La Trobe University in 1972-78 where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and Diploma of Education. While a student at La Trobe, Bain was a member of the La Trobe Socialist Left and the Communist Group. He was elected a member of the SRC in 1976 and later served as President. In 1979 he was co-editor of the La Trobe University student's newspaper Rabelais.
Bain was an active member of the Northern Branch (formerly Heidelberg-La Trobe) of the Communist Party of Australia, serving as Joint Branch Secretary (1978), Treasurer (1979) and President. In 1980 he was involved in the establishment of the Northern news, a multi-lingual monthly community newspaper. He was also a member of the Preston Employment Action Group.
The papers relate mainly to Bain's involvement in the Communist Party of Australia between 1976 and 1986. There is also material relating to student politics at La Trobe University, the Northern News Group and the Thornbury Branch of the Australian Labor Party. The papers include correspondence, minutes, newspaper clippings, Victorian State Conference papers, articles, leaflets, publications and notes and drafts by Bain.
Series 9. Communist Party of Australia, 1919-88
Papers collected by Reeves relating to communism and the Communist Party of Australia. Reeves' files have been arranged roughly chronologically by Library staff, and interspersed with files of loose papers relating to the same period. The papers include pamphlets, leaflets and other publications of the Communist Party, a Royal Commission report, articles, and speeches.
See also series 16 for Communist Party of Australia posters. Papers relating to Andrew Reeves' involvement in the Carlton Branch of the Australian Communist Party are at MS 9554.
CPA, 1920-29. Includes pamphlet 'The Communist Party of Australia', dating from c.1920 and containing the CPA's initial declaration of aims (File 2) - Box 41
Series 10. Australian Labor Party, 1914-93
This sub-series forms two sequences of material: papers relating to the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party (files 1-8) and other collected ALP paper, arranged chronologically (files 9-20).
The South Australian Branch papers include policy speeches by Dave McKee, candidate for the Port Pirie District (1958); agenda and minute papers from ALP annual conventions; news releases; ALP platform, constitution and rules; circulars; and biographies of candidates for the 1971 state elections.
The chronological papers include leaflets, pamphlets, Federal Platform statements, membership tickets, court transcripts, newspaper cuttings, election material and other ephemera. These papers comprise files and loose materials kept in a box marked ALP by Andrew Reeves.
See also series 16 for Australian Labor Party posters.
Series 11. Socialist Party of Australia, 1931-48
This series of files relates to the relationship between the Socialist Party of Australia and socialist parties in Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States during the 1930s and 40s. The files contain correspondence, financial statements, meeting papers, reports and printed material. The records were maintained by the then Secretary of the Socialist Party of Australia, William J. Clarke. File titles have been inscribed by Andrew Reeves.
Series 12. League of Nations International Labour Conference, 1919-25
Papers relating to the seventh session of the League of Nations International Labour Conference, Geneva, 1925.
Series 13. Association of Architects, Surveyors, Engineers and Draughtsmen of Australia, 1963-80
Annual Conference minutes of the Association.
Series 14. Co-operatives, 1896-1995
Minutes, memoranda and articles of association, correspondence, agency agreements, circulars, bonus share certificates, reports, financial statements, photographs and publications collected by Andrew Reeves relating to co-operatives, mainly in Western Australia.
Series 15. Photographs, 1888-c. 1978
Photographs, slides and negatives collected by Andrew Reeves depicting trade union activities.
Photographic plate depicting conference of delegates of the Shearers' Union held in Echuca, March 7 1888 (File 1) - Box 52
Photographs of eight hour day rallies including the Glass Workers' Union (Victoria, 26 April 1909); Duke of York celebrations procession, Bourke Street, Melbourne; and the Coastal Boilermakers' Union of W.A., 1909 (Folio) (File 3) - Folio-Box 1
Photographs, including Waterside Workers' Federation Burnie and Sydney Branches, the A.U.S.N. SS Arawatta discharging bananas at the company's wharf, and O.S.M.S. conference 1918 (File 5) - Box 53
South Australian Federated Operative Bakers' Union, 1923-26 and Perth Federated Operative Bakers' Union, 1912 (File 7) - Box 53
Photographs, c.1936-1959 including Labor Day photographs (c.1936?) depicting the Operative Society of Bricklayers of Queensland, Shop Assistants' Union and others; photograph labelled 'Federal Council, Oct. 1944; Building Workers' Industrial Union annual conference, 1959; and the Youth Carnival for Peace and Friendship, 1950s? (File 8) - Box 53
Photographs (mostly undated) including drawing and photographs of Melbourne Trades Hall buildings, Federated Miners' Union Committee, anti-fascist demonstration, workers at Portland Cement Works (Geelong) and portraits of Victorian Building Workers' Industrial Union president Alex Lindsay, n.d. and of Tom Audley, c. 1978 (File 11) - Box 54
Series 16. Posters
Posters relating to the trade union movement, Communist Party of Australia, Australian Labor Party, Vietnam War, international politics, music, drama and student politics. Includes a poster depicting Sir John Kerr for a rally in Treasury Gardens (Melbourne) following the sacking of E.G. Whitlam on 11 November 1975, as well as posters relating to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, uranium mining, woodchipping, Vietnam War protest rallies, anti-conscription and the Fraser Government.
Series 17. Other collected papers, 1887-1997
Other files and loose papers collected by Reeves including lectures, articles, reports, ephemera, cutting books, leaflets, banners, an Aboriginal flag and other papers. The files are arranged roughly chronologically.
Other collected papers, 1887-1926 including Political Labour Council of Victoria, 1903-13 (File 1) - Box 54
Victorian Council Against War and Fascism; National Movement Against War; 'Peace and Democracy' Campaign, 1931-39 (File 4) - Box 54
Class MS Acc04-305. Consignment added 2004
Comprises trade union reports, directories and circulars, including bound issues of Boilermakers' Society of Australia quarterly reports, newspapers including issues of The Vanguard and The Militant, ephemera on the 1975 election and miscellaneous trade union pamphlets.