Guide to the Papers of Lorraine Hepburn, 1983-1994

 

Collection context

Summary

Collection number:
MS 9819
Creator:
Lorraine Hepburn and Merrony, Justine & Paul
Extent:
(11 MS boxes)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Lorraine Hepburn, National Library of Australia, MS 9819, [box number and series and/or file number]'.
Availability:
Available
Access conditions:
Available for reference. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

The collection comprises a copy of Hepburn's thesis, 'Ova-dose: Australian women and the new reproductive technology' (1988) and notations leading to the published book of the same name by Allen and Unwin in 1992. It contains Hepburn's comprehensive collection of research for the topic in the form of newspaper cuttings, scientific, medical and popular periodical articles, book chapters, government papers and print-outs from Hansard.

Subjects include in vitro fertilisation, reproduction techniques, reproductive technology and the church, genetic defects, the early human embryo, frozen embryo technology, fertility and the social control of women, infertility, foetalists vs. feminists, biotechnology, bioethics, and women, surrogacy, technology and work.

Biographical Note:

Lorraine Hepburn was born in October 1938. She lived in Hobart until 1965, when she moved to Canberra, then in 1977 moved to Sydney to study art. Hepburn studied at Sydney College of the Arts between 1978-1980, obtaining a degree in Visual Arts. She gained a Postgraduate Diploma in Professional Art Studies at the City Art Institute in 1981.

Hepburn worked as an artist during the 1970s and 1980s, with her work shown in many one-person and group exhibitions around Australia. She was awarded Australia Council Grants in 1974 and 1982, an Australia-Japan Foundation Travel Grant to Japan in 1978, and in 1980 was one of 40 participants selected to attend the International Symposium and Workshop 'Metals plus textiles equals?' in Zurich, Switzerland.

In 1986 she enrolled at the University of New South Wales, where she gained Master of Arts and Master of Fine Arts degrees. Hepburn overhauled her 1988 thesis 'Ova-dose? Australian women and the new reproductive technology' for publication under the same name by Allen and Unwin in 1992. Artwork on the back cover and frontispiece to Hepburn's book, Ova-dose?, entitled 'Who', is from the author's exhibition 'The in vitro fairy story: a post-conceptual artwork', 1990.

Hepburn died in a car accident in Tasmania in August, 1995.

Immediate Source of Acquisition:

The collection was donated to the Library by Justine Merrony, daughter of Lorraine Hepburn, in 1997.

Arrangement:

Lorraine Hepburn's untimely death occurred during the period the National Library was negotiating with her the transfer of her papers. The collection was donated to the Library in 1997 by her daughter, Justine Merrony. Material presented in Files has been retained in that order. The rest of the collection has been organised into sections reflecting the progress of material from thesis to book, followed by administrative and other correspondence, then by research material from newspapers, periodicals, books and government sources.

Indexed terms

Names:
Merrony, Justine & Paul

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:
Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1690609).
Conditions Governing Use:
Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.
Preferred citation:
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Lorraine Hepburn, National Library of Australia, MS 9819, [box number and series and/or file number]'.
Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact: