Claire Wagner letters received and published articles, 1948, [ca. 1960]-1998

MLMSS 10093

fonds

1948, [ca. 1960]-1998

Textual Records, Clippings, Ephemera

9607535

0.16 metres of textual material (1 box)

Claire Wagner, journalist, writer, editor and activist, wrote articles, book reviews and opinion pieces on a range of social issues including housing, urban planning, the environment, gender, social inequality, welfare, Aboriginal disadvantage and labour history. In the 1960s and 1970s she wrote for publications including The Nation, Nation Review, National Times, Canberra Times, Australian Financial Review, The Radical and The Australian Quarterly.

In 1962 Wagner joined Cumberland County Council. She studied town planning at the University of Sydney, graduating in 1966. She became editor for the Wild Life Preservation Society of Australia. After publishing an article on koala habitat, Wagner began an ongoing dialogue with Judith Wright (co-founder and president of the Wild Life Preservation Society of Queensland).

After working in London in the early 1970s and attending the 1972 UN Conference on the Environment, Wagner worked for the New South Wales Department of Urban and Regional Development. She established links with planning professionals in Asia in the late 1970s and 1980s, and became a Councillor of the Eastern Regional Organisation for Planning and Housing.
Reference: Library correspondence file

The collection comprises: clippings of published articles written by Claire Wagner, 1967-1994; correspondence received, largely from Judith Wright, and single letters received from Patrick White, Hugh Stretton, Walter Murdoch and HC Coombs, 1948, 1971-1982; handwritten article by Lewis Keeble; Wagner's summary of her involvement in urban environmental issues since 1962; other typed articles, research notes, and ephemera including invitations, [ca. 1960-ca. 1994]

The letters received from Judith Wright provide an insight into Wright's environmental activism. Patrick White writes of his dislike of his factual writing, 31 October 1977. Walter Murdoch writes about the difference between beauty and perfection, 15 March 1948. HC Coombs and Wright send letters regarding the Aboriginal Treaty Committee [ca. 1981]

Copyright status:: In copyright
Copyright holder:: This collection has multiple copyright holders
Rights and Restrictions Information:: No reproduction without prior written approval of copyright holder
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and Courtesy copyright holder