Guide to the Papers of Robin Gollan
MS 9372
National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record
Collection Summary
- Creator
- Robin Gollan
- Title
- Papers of Robin Gollan
- Date Range
- 1920-2005
- Collection Number
- MS 9372
- Extent
- 3.11 metres (22 boxes)
- Language of Materials
- English
- Repository
- National Library of Australia
Introduction
Scope and Contents
They include correspondence, lecture notes, drafts, manuscripts, typescripts, research notes, journal articles, photocopies, and notebooks relating to Gollan's long career as a history lecturer and labour historian and his interests in forest issues, the peace movement and uranium mining.
Conditions Governing Access
Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn234208).
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Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions.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 Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.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 Robin Gollan, National Library of Australia, [class/series/file number]'.
Provenance
The papers were donated to the Library by Robin (Bob) Gollan in 1994.
Related Materials
Papers of Anne Gollan, Robin Gollan's wife, are held at MS 9371.
Arrangement
The collection was arranged in files with titles when received by the Library. The arrangement of papers within these files and the file titles have been preserved by the Library.
Biographical Note
Who's Who in Australia 1991, Melbourne, Information Australia, 1990
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1917 | Born 8 December, Woodburn, New South Wales |
| 1940-42 | Teacher, NSW Department of Education |
| 1942-45 | Served in the Royal Australian Air Force |
| 1946-52 | Lecturer at Sydney Teachers' College |
| 1953-76 | Research Fellow, Fellow, Senior Fellow, Professorial Fellow, History Department, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University |
| 1976-82 | Manning Clark Professor of Australian History, Australian National University |
| 1982 | Emeritus Professor of History, Australian National University |
| 2007 | Died 15 October, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory |
Item Descriptions
Class MS 9372. Original Consignment
Series 1. Correspondence, 1948-94
This series consists mainly of professional correspondence relating to academic appointments, lectures and talks, requests to act as examiner for PhD candidates, references for students and requests for book reviews and journal articles. The main correspondents are universities, publishers, academic colleagues and students. The material in folders 3 -7 was originally housed in two ring binders. The material has been removed from the binders for preservation reasons and placed in folders. The correspondence in folders 3 - 5 was arranged alphabetically by surname in one of the folders.
Correspondence, 1989-91. The file includes a paper 'Frank Anstey and the Russian revolution' by Peter Love (File 11) - Box 2 (MS 9372)
Correspondence, 1992-94. The file includes the following papers: 'Guns for Nauru in the Cold War' by L. J. Lewis, 'Discovering our republican heritage' by Gollan, 'Dealing with Moscow: the Comintern and the early history of the Communist Party in Australia' by Stuart Macintyre and the draft of the first chapter for a book on the Communist Party in Australia by Stuart Macintyre (File 12) - Box 2 (MS 9372)
Series 2. Lecture material, 1958-81
This series consists of prepared lectures, notes and research material for courses in Australian history.
Handwritten lecture notes for a course in Australian history at Melbourne University, 1958 (File 1-2) - Box 3 (MS 9372)
Handwritten lecture notes for a course in Australian history at the Australian National University, 1970 (File 3-4) - Box 3 (MS 9372)
Handwritten lecture notes for a course in Australian history at the Australian National University, 1976 (File 5-7) - Box 3, 4 (MS 9372)
Handwritten lecture notes for courses in Australian history at the Australian National University, 1976-80 (File 8-9) - Box 4 (MS 9372)
Series 3. Writings, 1955-86
This series comprises drafts, typescripts, papers, talks, and copies of journal articles written by Gollan.
Journal articles: 'The trade unions and labour parties, 1890-94', Reprinted from Historical Studies, vol 7, No 25, November 1955, 'Newcastle miners and colliery proprietors, 1860-80', Royal Australian Historical Society Journal and Proceedings, vol 45, 1959 and 'Arbitration and the sliding scale in the NSW coal industry in the eighteen-seventies' (n.d.) (File 1) - Box 6 (MS 9372)
Typescript of 'Radical and working class politics in Australia, 1850-1910' which was published as Radical and working class politics: a study of Eastern Australia, 1850-1910 in 1960 (File 2) - Box 6 (MS 9372)
Handwritten draft and typescripts with corrections of the John Curtin Memorial Lecture entitled 'The Labour Movement and equality 1890-1980', presented on the 17 November 1976. There is also correspondence with the Research School of Pacific Sciences, 1976-77, relating to the lecture (File 4-5) - Box 6, 7 (MS 9372)
'Labour, socialism and equality, an Australian case': a revised version of the John Curtin Memorial Lecture, 1976, (n.d.) (File 6) - Box 7 (MS 9372)
Galley proofs and ammendments of entries for the Australian Encyclopaedia on 'trade unionism' and 'strikes and lockouts'. There is also a letter from the Australian Encyclopaedia, 4 August 1982, relating to the entries (File 7) - Box 7 (MS 9372)
Drafts and final of a foreword for a book written by Bill Gollan, Robin Gollan's brother, August 1986. There is also correspondence between the two brothers in 1985 passing on biographical information for the foreword and a letter from Pluto Press (January 1986) declining to publish the book (File 8) - Box 7 (MS 9372)
Typescript paper 'Australian populism and nationalism - historical perspective' (n.d.) and handwritten draft 'The Australian identity' (n.d.) (File 9) - Box 7 (MS 9372)
Series 4. Book reviews, 1953-85
This series consists of book reviews of works by Gollan and book reviews written by him on works by others.
Photocopies of book reviews of works by Gollan: Radical and working class politics: a study of Eastern Australia, 1850-1910 (1960), The coalminers of New South Wales: a history of the union 1860-1960 (1963), The Commonwealth Bank of Australia: origins and early history (1968), and Revolutionaries and reformists: Communism and the Australian Labour Movement, 1920-55 (1975) (File 1) - Box 8 (MS 9372)
The file also contains a copy of an agreement between Gollan and Allen and Unwin for the publication of Revolutionaries and reformists, 1984
Series 5. Australian Dictionary of Biography, 1976-90
This series consists of correspondence, manuscript drafts, corrected drafts, typescripts, and biographical notes for entries for the Australian Dictionary of Biography. Gollan compiled entries for Guido Baracchi (1887-1975), James Curley (1846-1913), and Sir Denison Miller (1860-1923). An entry for Phyllis Anderson (1901-1957) was prepared by Moira Scollay, who was a research assistant for Gollan at the Australian National University.
Correspondence with the Australian Dictionary of Biography, 1976-77, biographical notes, drafts and final typescript of an entry for the ADB on Phyllis Anderson (1901-57). The entry was written by Moira Scollay, research assistant to Gollan (File 1) - Box 8 (MS 9372)
Correspondence with the Australian Dictionary of Biography, 1984-85, biographical notes, drafts and final typescript of an entry for the ADB on Sir Denison Miller, 1860-1923 (File 2) - Box 8 (MS 9372)
Correspondence with the Australian Dictionary of Biography, 1990, and Betty Roland, 1991, biographical notes, drafts and final typescript of an entry for the ADB on Guido Baracchi (1887-1975). The file also contains an obituary notice for Bill Gollan (brother), written by Gollan and two letters of condolence (File 3) - Box 8 (MS 9372)
Series 6. References written by Gollan, 1969-87
This series consists of references written by Gollan for his students and professional colleagues. They mainly relate to academic postings, teaching positions or for scholarships.
Series 7. Papers relating to the Australian National University, 1959-83
This series consists of notes, reports and discussion papers relating to the Australian National University. They cover early aspects of the university's administration and its role as a research institution. Gollan had also undertaken research and interviews for a history of the ANU.
Comments by Sir Alexander Carr-Saunders (formerly Director of the London School of Economics) on the Australian National University as a research university, 1959, and responses to these comments by Gollan and others within the Research School of Social Sciences (File 1) - Box 9 (MS 9372)
Proposal for the preparation of a guide to manuscript sources held in Great Britain and Ireland on Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, 1963-64. Gollan was Publications Officer at this time. The guide Manuscripts in the British Isles relating to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific was edited by Phyllis Mander Jones and published in 1972 (File 2) - Box 9 (MS 9372)
Correspondence, 1964-65, relating to staffing and administrative matters within the Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University (File 3) - Box 9 (MS 9372)
'The Australian National University: history of the site plan, 1912-71', ANU, 1973 (File 4) - Box 10 (MS 9372)
Presentation of an Honary LL.D to C. Hartley Grattan, University of Texas, by the Australian National University, September 1977 for his public services in promoting interest in Australia in the United States of America. The file contains biographical information about Gratton and a copy of the citation for the award written by Gollan (File 5) - Box 10 (MS 9372)
Notes on discussions with Sir John Crawford, 1983, relating to the history of the Australian National University (File 6) - Box 10 (MS 9372)
Chronology of events at the Australian National University taken from Council minutes and a paper 'Report to the Vice-Chancellor on a project for a history of the Australian National University' written by Gollan in October, 1983 (File 7) - Box 10 (MS 9372)
Papers: 'Some recollections of early history of ANU' (1983) and 'Hancock and history at the ANU' (n.d.) (File 8) - Box 10 (MS 9372)
Notes relating to the history of the Australian National University, including a manuscript draft paper 'Towards a history of the Faculty of Arts' (File 9) - Box 10 (MS 9372)
Series 8. Conferences and seminars, 1957-90
This series consists of copies of papers and synopsis of papers given at conferences and seminars attended by Gollan or papers written by colleagues. He was also a member of the committee responsible for the organisation of the Post-War Reconstruction Seminar, held at the Australian National University in August, 1981.
Conference of historians, Australian National University, 24-27 August 1957: roneoed notes, typescript summaries of discussions and a review of the conference (File 1) - Box 11 (MS 9372)
First Arena conference held in Melbourne, 3-5 July, 1964 to discuss the Australian professional intelligentsia. The file includes an opening speech by Gollan, the text of a session chaired by him and a review of the conference to be published in Arena (File 2) - Box 11 (MS 9372)
ANZAAS Congress, Hobart, August 1965: 'T.A. Coghlan as an historian', paper by E.C. Fry (File 3) - Box 11 (MS 9372)
Socialist Scholars Conference, Sydney University, 21-24 May, 1970: papers by Terry Irving and Baiba Berzins, Colin Mackerras, Coonie Sandford, Dennis Altman and John Playford (File 4) - Box 11 (MS 9372)
Post-War Reconstruction Seminar, Australian National University, 31 August 1981: minutes, notes and progress reports relating to the organisation of the seminar and a list of papers to be presented (File 5-6) - Box 11 (MS 9372)
Old Left and Australian Historiography Seminar, School of History, Macquarie University, North Ryde, New South Wales, 3 December 1983: program and synopsis of papers by Frank Bongiorno, Frank Cain, Mark Hearn and Beverley Kingston. The file also contains promotional flyers for Gollan's book The myth of the level playing field, 1993 (File 7) - Box 12 (MS 9372)
V. Gordon Childe Centenary Conference, University of Queensland, 23-26 September 1990: program and abstracts of papers, drafts, corrections and final of an opening address by Gollan and correspondence, 1989-90, relating to the conference (File 8) - Box 12 (MS 9372)
Maritime Strike Centenary Conference, University of Wollongong, 14 December 1990: program and synopsis of papers and the text of an after dinner address by Gollan on Eric Fry and his contribution to the Society for the Study of Labour History. There is also a listing of the papers of the Society held at the Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University (File 9) - Box 12 (MS 9372)
Series 9. Other papers, 1920-91
This series consists of research notes, photocopies, journal articles and papers covering a wide range of Gollan's interests, including the peace movement, government and politics, Spanish Civil War, nuclear disarmament, forests, woodchipping, trade unions and communism. Many of the folders contain summaries of events from the daily newspapers and various journals. The series has been arranged in chronological order.