2021 ASSLH Conference: The 17th biennial conference of the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History (ASSLH) will be held 5-8 December 2021 in Bendigo, Victoria. Organised with the support of LaTrobe University, the theme of the conference is Fighting for Life: Class, Community and Care in Labour History. Details are at https://www.labourhistory.org.au/2021-conference/.
Abstracts of 200 words, and a brief bio., with institutional or organisational affiliation where relevant, should be submitted via the form available on the Conference webpage by the deadline of 15 February 2021. Acceptances will be notified in March 2021.
Women of Steel, the Jobs for Women film: Many readers will have taken the opportunity to see Robynne Murphy’s great documentary about the ground-breaking 1980s Jobs for Women campaign during the 2020 Sydney Film Festival; some may have been lucky enough to attend the Wollongong premiere in November or local screenings.
For more information about the film, see https://www.womenofsteelfilm.com/or view the official trailer on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-22E8ltWs-M&feature=youtu.be .
Email info@womenofsteelfilm.com to find out where screenings will be or to arrange a screening of the film.
1917 Great Strike film: Mandy King and Fabio Cavadini’s documentary commemorating the Great Strike of 1917 is now available on DVD from Ronin Films – see https://www.roninfilms.com.au/feature/16810/great-strike-1917.html
Hummer vol 13 no 2 (the TUTA special issue): we still havea number ofcopies available for sale @ $10 plus $2 postage. Email us on sydneybranch.asslh@gmail.com to order.
A Turbulent Decade now available free online: Sydney Branch ASSLH’s very popular 2005 publication, A Turbulent Decade: Social Protest Movements and the Labour Movement 1965-1975, edited by Beverley Symons and Rowan Cahill, is unfortunately now out of print. However, it has now been digitised by the University of Wollongong and is available for free download at https://ro.uow.edu.au/uowbooks/28/
Bibliographies of Communism in Australia now available free online: As part of the centenary commemorations of the foundation of the Communist Party of Australia, the State Library of NSW has digitised Beverley Symons’ bibliographies, now available at the links indicated:
Communism in Australia: a resource bibliography / compiled by Beverley Symons with Andrew Wells and Stuart Macintyre,Canberra: National Library of Australia, 1994:
https://search.sl.nsw.gov.au/permalink/f/s8mhc3/SLNSW_ALMA21119750810002626
Communism in Australia: a supplementary resource bibliography, c. 1994-2001 / compiled by Beverley Symons with the assistance of Stuart Macintyre, Newtown, NSW: Sydney Branch, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, 2002.
https://search.sl.nsw.gov.au/permalink/f/s8mhc3/SLNSW_ALMA21141898970002626
One Hundred Comrades for 100 Years: Comrades! Lives of Australian Communists (eds Bob Boughton, Danny Blackman, Mike Donaldson, Carmel Shute and Beverley Symons), published by the SEARCH Foundation in association with ASSLH as part of the CPA centenary commemoration, contains 100 short biographical essays about the lives and work of everyday communists. Additional biographies are being published online at https://www.search.org.au/communist_biographies_project
The book launch on 30 October is available for viewing at (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpLRliIbzek&feature=youtu.be and you can order the book online through the New International Bookshop (https://nibs.org.au/comrades-book ) or check at your favourite bookshop.
You’ll find a list of those whose bios are included in the book on the SEARCH website at https://www.search.org.au/link_to_preorder_comrades_lives_of_australian_communists