Identity area
Reference code
AU NBAC N437
Title
Date(s)
- c. 1900 - 2019 (Creation)
Level of description
Deposit
Extent and medium
56 type 1 boxes, 1 type 2 box + 7 albums
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Born Mavis Moten in Melbourne, to John and Claire (nee Tilley) Moten. Member of the Eureka Youth League in the 1940s. Married journalist Alec Robertson in 1953. Campaigned on numerous causes including against apartheid, in support of Chilean refugees following the 1973 coup, in the peace and anti-nuclear movement, and for women’s liberation. Became a joint secretary of the Communist Party of Australia in 1976 and left the party in 1984. First chair of Jessie Street Trust. Became involved in the superannuation industry in the 1980s and held leadership roles in several organisations, including the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST), Cbus, and Women in Super. In 1998 co-founded the Mother’s Day Classic fun run for breast cancer research.
Name of creator
Biographical history
Born in Brisbane. Cadet at Courier-Mail. Joined Communist Party of Australia in 1939. Enlisted in Australian Army in 1941 and served as lieutenant in New Guinea then as a pilot in the Australian Air Force. Returning to Courier-Mail after the war, he was awarded the Kemsley Empire Journalism Scholarship, reporting from London and Europe. Fired by Keith Murdoch for not obeying editorial instructions. Robertson then become sub-editor of the Melbourne Argus, before joining the Victorian Peace Council. He became secretary of the NSW Peace Council in 1951. Robertson married Mavis Moten in 1953. In the 1950s Robertson was elected to the CPA's Central Committee and later the National Committee. Became Chief Editor of the Tribune in 1964. Campaigned for Papua New Guinea's independence and the anti-Vietnam war movement, and other left wing causes.
Name of creator
Biographical history
Foundation member of the Australian Journalists' Association in Queensland. School teacher and headmaster, and early member of the Queensland Teachers' Union. Journalist at Queensland Daily Mail. Journalist, then later the Chief Editor of the Labor Party's Queensland newspaper (the Daily Standard). Prominent in anti-conscription during WWI. Editor of the Courier-Mail from 1932. First station manager of the Courier-Mail radio station (4BK-AK). Chief of public relations for the Southern Electrical Authority 1951 - 1960.
Repository
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Papers of Mavis and Alec Robertson relating to their work, activism and interests in journalism, communism, women’s liberation, the anti-Vietnam war movement, Papua New Guinea independence, the peace and anti-nuclear movement, Chile, and superannuation. Material includes correspondence, diaries, notebooks and travel diaries, photographs, speeches, grey literature such as reports and travel ephemera. Also includes some papers of Alec Robertson (Senior) and some family history material.
Some books and pamphlets are unprocessed (as at Oct 2022).
Accruals
System of arrangement
Most papers relate to Mavis Robertson, but are intermingled with papers of Alec Robertson, and some of his father Alec Robertson (Senior). Rearrangement has not been undertaken, although many papers were loose and have been placed in folders by the archivist.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Researchers must sign an access agreement.