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History
The Noel Butlin Archives Centre houses one of the largest collections of business
and trade union records in Australia, holding over 15,000 shelf
metres of records.
Known variously as the Australian National University Archives,
the Archives Unit and The Archives, Research School of Social Sciences,
the collection was formally named the Archives of Business and Labour
in 1975. The Archives was renamed the Noel Butlin Archives Centre
Incorporating the Archives of Business and Labour in 1992, following
Noel Butlin’s death the previous year. In 2001 the NBAC, together
with the University Archives, became part of the ANU Archives Program.
The Centre, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2003, collects
the permanently valuable records of Australian companies, trade
unions, employer and professional associations and industry bodies,
and makes them available for research. Its holdings date from the
1820s and are a major resource for Australian business, industrial
and social history.
The Australian National University
Established by Act of Parliament in 1946, the ANU was to be a ‘research’ university and had four research schools:
Social Sciences, Pacific Studies, Physical Sciences and the John Curtin School of Medical Research. In 1948 the
University instituted a scheme for scholarships, enabling recipients to study research techniques overseas, in
the hope that they would return to Australia as ANU staff.
One of the recipients was Noel Butlin. Butlin lectured in Economics at the
University of Sydney from 1946 to 1949, before spending two years
as a Rockefeller Fellow at Harvard University. In 1951 he accepted
a Senior Research Fellowship in Economics at the ANU, becoming Reader
in Economics in 1954 and the first Professor of Economic History
in 1962.
Economic history
Noel Butlin's chosen area of study was the post-gold rush Australian economy,
first the public and then the private sector. The lack of post-1850
source material in the National and State Libraries soon became
clear. The first requirement was to collect a full set of government
and other statistical material (the basis of the Horrie Brown Library—since
transferred to the University of Canterbury, New Zealand). Noel
Butlin, with his colleagues and scholars, then began the search
for company records to complement their statistical sources.
In 1953 the first approaches were made to the directors of companies in Sydney and Melbourne (mainly building
and finance companies) and Newcastle (mining companies). Companies were asked to make their records available for
specific research projects then under consideration.
Business archives
At first it was envisaged that scholars would use the records in situ, but it soon became clear that it would
be easier for all concerned if the records came to Canberra.
The first deposits were made in 1953, followed in 1955/6 by deposits from the Australian Agricultural Company
and Goldsbrough Mort. For many years, these remained two of the largest deposits. These first collections were
the basis of one of the Centre's major, and unrivalled, collecting strands of pastoral records.
In 1957 Sir Keith Hancock became Director of the Research School of Social Sciences and took an active interest
in the growing collection. Within a year steps were taken to find additional accommodation and, in the financial
year 1959/60, the Archives were transferred from the Department of Economics to the School of Social Sciences.
At the same time, Faculty appointed an Archives Committee to oversee the administration of the Archives Unit.
Trade union archives
In 1958 Bruce Shields was appointed as the first Archives Officer, and through him the second major strand of
the collection was developed. Some Miners' Federation records had already arrived on a temporary basis, but in
1959 the collecting policy was officially extended to include records of trade unions and the labour movement.
Negotiations began with both the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) and the state trades and labour councils,
with the first deposits being made in 1960.
The National AIDS Archives Collection
The National AIDS Archives Collection was a government-funded project established in 1992. It is a collection
of material issued by government and non-government bodies to educate the community about HIV and AIDS. It also
documents the evolution of the administration of programs in this area, through deposits from national organisations
and individuals.
Collections - an overview
Over the years, the number of company collections grew, and the collecting focus widened from the original pastoral
base. Some of the largest collections are Elders Smith Ltd, Australian Estates Ltd, Humes Pipes Ltd, Australian
Mercantile Land & Finance Company Ltd, Dalgety Ltd, New Zealand Loan & Mercantile Company Ltd, New Zealand
& Australian Land Company, CSR Limited, Tooth & Co Ltd, Adelaide Steamship Company Ltd, and Burns Philp
& Co Ltd.
On the trade union side, the collection is rather more comprehensive, again
following industry lines. 'From the top' the Centre holds the records of the
Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), and some of the state trades and
labour councils. Then there are the records of the large industry unions, including
the metal workers (AMWU), the ironworkers (FIA), the miners (ASCEF), and the
railwaymen and engine drivers (ARU, NUR, AFULE). We hold records from the white-collar
unions in banking (ABEU), the insurance industry (AIEU), drawing and technical
staff (ADSTE), and the public service and statutory authorities (ASPA, ACOA,
APTU, POA). The maritime industry is also well represented by the Seamen's Union
and the WWF, and the entertainment industry by Actors' Equity, the Musicians
Union and the ABC Staff Association. The clothing trades, printers and old craft
unions, such as the Merchant Tailor's Cutters and the Federated Felt Hatters,
are also included.
Employers are well represented through the records of such organisations as the Confederation of Australian
Industry (now the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry), the Commonwealth Steamship Owners Association,
the National Farmers Federation, and the Printing and Allied Trades Employers Association.
Clients
Researchers using the NBAC include academic scholars and undergraduates from the ANU, as well as from other
Australian and overseas universities. Their disciplines include history, economic history, economics, industrial
relations, demography, sociology, environmental studies, women's studies, heritage and architecture, Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander studies, Pacific history and political movements. Many members of the general public
have also searched the records, mainly in connection with family and local history.
In 2005, 35% of researchers were academics, postgraduates and undergraduates
from other universities and 30% from the ANU. The remaining researchers
were concerned with individual, family and local history.
Research topics
Research topics have been as varied as the researchers themselves.
To mention but a few: power structures in the ACTU; occupational
health nursing; a history of Footscray (through CSR Limited’s Yarraville
refinery); Asian labour in Australia before 1914; rural pressure
groups and tariff politics 1965-81; an environmental history of
the Western Division of NSW; the anti-war movement in the 1930s;
silkworm culture; Australian-Japanese relations 1868-1930; wage
justice for women; Fijian sugar tramways; employer organisations
in the 1920s; a history of modern sexuality; the Bankstown anti-eviction
riots; the Australian pearling industry; Green Bans; shipwrecks
in the English Channel; and the manufacture of signal pistols.
Locations
In 1964 the Archives moved from a number of temporary locations,
including the Architect's Office (building 64, formerly the Laboratory
for Canberra Community Hospital, now the Gardeners' Depot) into
the recently completed Social Sciences wing of the HC Coombs building
(building 9). It moved again in 1971 to the Coombs Hemi-Hexagon,
while various permanent solutions to 'archives storage' were considered.
In 1981 the Archives moved to Acton Underhill (building 76) at the
southern end of Balmain Crescent. Widely known as 'The Tunnel',
the building is a large, elongated structure above Parkes Way. In
2004, the Archives reading room and staff offices were relocated
to the Menzies building and the repository extended into the area
previously used for these purposes.
Former Archives Officers
Bruce Shields: 1958-66
John Joseph Jones: 1967-68
Robert Sharman: 1969-72
Michael Saclier: 1972-97
Recent developments
In 1997, the Senior Archivist, Emma Jolley became the head of the
Noel Butlin Archives Centre. From January 1998 to July 2001 the
Centre was administratively associated with the ANU Library. Transitional
funding to cover the employment of 3.5 staff and non-salary expenses
was provided for three years. The University also undertook either
to erect a new building to house the Centre's collections and the
University Archives, or to refurbish the existing premises. During
the period 1998 to 2000 the Centre was required to seek external
sources of funding. A campaign to raise funds succeeded in attracting
several donations to the ANU Endowment for Excellence.
In July 1998, Kathryn Dan was temporarily appointed University
Archivist, followed by Dr Sigrid McCausland in November 1998. The
University Archivist while having responsibility for the strategic
direction of the Noel Butlin Archives Centre was located in the
Menzies building separate from the Centre and its staff. Sigrid
resigned in 2005 having seen the NBAC through threats to its survival,
refurbishment of the repository, and relocation of the reading room
to the Menzies building.
In August 2001 new arrangements were implemented by the Vice Chancellor,
establishing the ANU Archives Program, which includes both the University
Archives and the Noel Butlin Archives Centre. The Program has since
March 2005 been under the direction of the University Archivist,
Maggie Shapley, who reports to the Director, Scholarly Information
Services.
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