Guide to the Papers of Meredith Stokes, ca. 1970-1997

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Summary

Collection number:
MS 9486, MS Acc10.127
Creator:
Meredith Stokes
Extent:
3.11 metres and (13 boxes, 17 folio items, 1 folder, 1 packet)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Meredith Stokes, National Library of Australia [class number, box number and series and/or file number]'.
Availability:
Available
Access conditions:
Available for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

The papers consist principally of secondary source material relating to a wide range of issues relating to women, human rights and the environment. Among the issues reflected in the collection are women in the peace movement, the rights of indigenous Australians, energy conservation, the uranium industry, and United States military installations in Australia. International issues represented in the collection include the independence movements in East Timor and Papua New Guinea, apartheid and military intervention in Central America.

The activities and publications of several organisations, including many Canberra groups, are documented in the collection. They include the Women's Electoral Lobby, the Canberra and South-East Region Environment Centre, the Canberra Programme for Peace, Canberra Women for Survival, the Registry of Women Artists, the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (Australian Section) and the Committees in Solidarity with Central America and the Caribbean (CISCAC) (files 55-58).

The collection includes some correspondence, circular letters, newsheets, articles and speeches, conference documents, printed ephemera, newspaper cuttings and miscellaneous journals. There are a few pages of notes made by Stokes on the Women and Development Network of Australia (WADNA) (files 28-29) and on other subjects (file 72). Two poems by Petronella Ardlie, entitled 'Two arrive' and 'The markets', appear in the Summer 1987 issue of WADNA newsletter (file 29). A copy of a typescript draft of an article by Petronella Ardlie entitled 'Social defence' (n.d.) may be found in file 40.

The National Labor Women's Conference was held in Canberra from 29 January to 1 February 1982. Conference documents in the collection include notices to delegates, copies of the Programme, papers delivered and Resolutions carried by the Conference. There is a paper by Julia Ryan entitled 'Capitalism and patriarchy'and one by Edna Ryan called 'Labor women since Federation' (file 30).

The material on East Timor includes a letter from Petronella Ardlie to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, A. Street (1978) and a Statement by Jose Ramos-Horta, Fretelin representative to the United Nations (1984) (File 66).

Biographical Note:

Meredith Stokes, who lives in Canberra, has worked for peace and women's rights over many years. She has been associated with various networks, organisations and fora of nonviolence activists. She served as a Committee member of the Women and Development Network of Australia, ACT Branch. She was also involved in broadcasts for the Canberra community radio station 2XX.

Provenance:

The collection was donated to the National Library by Meredith Stokes, through the National Museum of Australia, in 1993.

A small addition was received from Meredith Stokes in January 2001.

Arrangement:

The papers have been arranged according to the subject categories employed by Stokes in her listing of the files, with the 2001 addition being incorporated into the collection. The Museum records are not referred to in the listing.

Indexed terms

Names:
Meredith Stokes

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:
Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1759169).
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 Meredith Stokes, National Library of Australia [class number, box number and series and/or file number]'.
Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact:
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