Librarians and journalists

666 ABC Canberra Mornings presenter, Alex Sloan, and museum historian, Dr Barry York, are sharing stories from the museum’s oral history collection during September. The latest theme from the collection is ‘librarians and journalists’.

Jessie Bennett

Jessie Bennett came to Canberra in 1947 as a trainee librarian with what was then the Parliamentary and National Library. Attitudes toward women in those days had not yet changed among the older generation. 

Jessie Bennett audio transcript (MS Word)

Jessie Bennett was recorded for the Oral History Program by Jean Magdulski in 2002. The full interview is not currently available online but is available upon request at the Museum of Australian Democracy. Please contact the museum prior to your visit and quote the reference number OHI 36.

Wallace Brown

Veteran journalist, Wallace Brown, describes conditions in the Press Gallery in the 1960s… and how a leaking roof was dealt with. Is small really beautiful?  

Wallace Brown audio transcript (MS Word)

Wallace Brown was recorded for Old Parliament House’s Oral History Program by Tony Duffy in 2003. The full interview is not currently available online but is available upon request at the Museum of Australian Democracy. Please contact the museum prior to your visit and quote the reference number OHI 52.

Glenda James

Librarian Glenda James recalls the arrival of the first computer in the Provisional Parliamentary Library in the mid-1980s… and the unofficial hair-dressing salon in the printing room! 

Glenda James audio transcript (MS Word)

Glenda James was recorded for Old Parliament House’s Oral History Program by Barry York in 2007. The full interview is not currently available online but is available upon request at the Museum of Australian Democracy. Please contact the museum prior to your visit and quote the reference number OHI 131.

Rob Chalmers

Rob Chalmers, the Press Gallery’s longest serving journalist, explains why the Rose Garden annexe for parliamentarians was built in the 1980s and how Prime Minister Bob Hawke saved the day for the Press Gallery! 

Rob Chalmers audio transcript (MS Word)

Rob Chalmers was recorded for Old Parliament House’s Oral History Program by Tony Duffy in 2003. The full interview is not currently available online but is available upon request at the Museum of Australian Democracy. Please contact the museum prior to your visit and quote the reference number OHI 44.

Immortality at 300

Share your memories and experiences of Provisional Parliament House between 1927 and 1988 for your chance to become the 300th oral history recorded in the Museum of Australian Democracy collection.

The winner will receive four audio copies of the 300th oral history interview and a historian guided museum tour. The museum’s oral history collection currently features interviews with librarians, journalists, tradespeople, gardeners, parliamentary staffers, prime ministers, waitresses, stenographers and telephonists who reflect on their memories of Provisional Parliament House.

Terms and conditions apply and entries close 5pm, Friday 28 September 2012.

Share your memories at abc.net.au/canberra.