Guide to the Papers of Warren Osmond, 1884-2000 (bulk 1965-2000)

Summary

Collection number:

MS 9612, MS Acc04.014

Creator:

Osmond, Warren, 1947-2000 and Richter, Juliet, Ms

Extent:

19.65 metres and (127 ms boxes + 1 ms carton + 1 small folio box + 27 sound/av carriers)

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Warren Osmond, National Library of Australia [class number, box number and series and/or file number]'.

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Part requires permission for research; part not available for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

This extensive collection is comprised of materials which record the activity of Osmond's career in academia and journalism. Within the sixteen series are substantial runs of correspondence, notebooks, research files and articles produced by Osmond, as well as cuttings, reviews, index cards, photocopies, and large amounts of printed material which he used to support his writing and research. Osmond's early involvement in the radical student movement of the late 1960s at Monash University and his political activism as a member of the New Left are reflected in several series. Of special interest are the papers which document Osmond's wide network of professional contacts, his expertise in international affairs (particularly in the Middle East) and fascination with Jewish matters, and the voice he gave through his work to marginal groups such as international students. Importantly, the collection also preserves the notes and research materials which Osmond amassed whilst preparing his meticulous biography of the Victorian politician and diplomat, Sir Frederic Eggleston (1875-1954).

As well as a large circle of journalists and friends, some prominent academics, historians and intellectuals number amongst the wide range of correspondents represented in the collection. These include Henry Mayer, Humphrey McQueen, Dennis Altman, W. Macmahon Ball, Don Watson, Robert Haupt, Sir Walter Crocker, Sir Keith Hancock and Manning Clark. In addition there is some interesting original correspondence with members of Eggleston's family, particularly with his son Egan, and with Eggleston's associate, Sir John Condliffe (1891-1981).

Biographical Note:

Warren Osmond was born in Melbourne in 1947. He matriculated from Huntingtower School, Mt Waverley in 1964 and went on to study political science at Monash University, graduating with a BA in 1968. While at Monash he also became heavily involved in student politics and was co-editor of Lot's Wife, the now defunct student magazine, in 1968.

Osmond dropped out of his honours year at Monash in 1968 and travelled around Australia in 1969 working at a variety of different jobs. On his return he decided to return to university to complete his honours degree. He also resumed writing articles for student and left-wing journals, and his writings attracted the attention of Henry Mayer, then professor of political theory at Sydney University. In 1970 Mayer offered him a job in the University's Department of Government. As a tutor (1970-1972) and later, an assistant lecturer (1973-1974), Osmond developed and taught a course in the history of sociological theory whilst completing his MA thesis, 'The education of a Victorian liberal : Frederic Eggleston, 1875-1916'.

From 1976 Osmond began to focus on a literary rather than academic career. He supported himself as a freelance writer and book reviewer and continued his research for his doctoral thesis. A brief return to academia as a part-time tutor at the New South Wales Institute of Technology in 1977 helped supplement his income. During this period many of his book reviews were published in The National Times, Nation Review and Australian book review. He also worked as a publisher's reader and between 1977 and 1979 was employed in a part-time capacity for the publisher Hale and Iremonger. In 1981 he was engaged for a short period as a journalist for The National Times.

Upon obtaining his doctorate in 1982, Osmond left Australia to take up a year long Fulbright Fellowship at University of Pennsylvania. On his return he reworked his thesis into a book, Frederic Eggleston: an intellectual in Australian politics, published in 1985.

In 1983 Osmond joined The Sydney Morning Herald as an editorial (leader) writer specialising in international affairs. From 1987 he served as Foreign Editor, a position which he held until 1993. He and his foreign desk colleagues won a Walkley Award for their coverage of the coup in Russia that led to the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991. In January 1993 Osmond moved to the position of Diplomatic Editor which required regular commentary of international affairs and Australian foreign policy. He also undertook various overseas assignments during this time. The position was abolished in June 1994 and Osmond returned to freelance work, concentrating on higher education issues and international politics. His main outlets were The Australian and The Australian Financial Review.

In 1996 he was appointed editor of Campus Review, a weekly national newspaper specialising in higher education and vocational training. During this period he was able to enlarge and reshape the public debate on higher education in Australia as well as increase the newspaper's circulation. He left the newspaper shortly before his sudden death in October 2000.

Provenance:

The papers were bequeathed to the Library by Warren Osmond and transferred by his partner Juliet Richter in two instalments in December 2000 and August 2001, with the assistance of Cassandra Pybus.

Arrangement:

The papers were transferred to the Library in the form in which they were found at the time of Osmond's premature death. The materials had been maintained under varying degrees of control, and the apparent disarray of some parts of the collection may reflect Osmond's intense work schedule, which left little time for adhering to formal filing systems. However, formed sequences of files were identified across the collection, and it is upon these that the final series arrangement of the papers has been based. In those instances where no existing filing system could be discerned, loose papers and unnamed files have been organised together into artificial groupings. Thus most series are an amalgam of original and imposed order, and incorporate original runs of files to which related files have been added by Library staff. At the same time, the internal composition of pre-existing files has not been rearranged, and they remain a faithful reflection of Osmond's working style.

In the course of sorting the papers, a large amount of duplicate printed material was weeded from the collection. In cases where some of these items - such as monographs and journals - were not already held, they have been added to the Library's printed Australian and overseas collections.

Container List:

Series	File/Item	Box
1	1-7	1
1	8-14	2
1	15-21	3
1	22-28	4
1	29-35	5
1	36-42	6
1	43-49	7
1	50-56	8
1	57-63	9
1	64-70	10
1	71-77	11
1	78-85	12
1	86-93	13
1	94-100	14
2	1-21	15
2	22-57	16
2	58-87	17
2	88-112	18
2	113-137	19
2	138-154	20
2	155-166	21
2	167-184	22
2	185-200	23
2	201-222	24
2	223-238	25
2	239-245	26
3	1-5	27
3	6-8	28
4	1-2	28
4	3-7	29
4	8-15	30
4	16	31
5	1-5	31
5	6-12	32
5	13-17	33
5	18-24	34
5	25-32	35
5	33-35	36
5	36	37
6	1-6	38
6	7-11	39
6	12-17	40
6	18-22	41
7	1	41
7	2-6	42
7	7-8	43
8	1-2	43
9	1-2	43
9	3-10	44
9	11-18	45
9	19-27	46
9	28-35	47
9	36-43	48
9	44-51	49
9	52-57	50
9	58-65	51
9	66-73	52
9	74-81	53
9	82-89	54
9	90-97	55
9	98-105	56
9	106-112	57
9	113-120	58
9	121-128	59
9	129-135	60
9	136-143	61
9	144-151	62
9	152-159	63
9	160-167	64
9	168-175	65
9	176-182	66
9	183-190	67
9	191-198	68
9	199-205	69
9	206-213	70
9	214-221	71
9	222-228	72
9	229-236	73
9	237-243	74
9	244-251	75
9	252-259	76
9	260-267	77
9	268-274	78
9	275-282	79
9	283-289	80
9	290-297	81
9	298-304	82
9	305-312	83
9	313-316	84
9	317-346	Folio
10	1-3	84
10	4-11	85
10	12-19	86
10	20-23	87
10	24-29	88
10	30-36	89
10	37-41	90
11	1	90
11	2-5	91
11	6-9	92
11	10-13	93
11	14-20	94
11	21-26	95
11	27-32	96
11	33-37	97
11	38-44	98
12	1-5	99
12	6-10	100
12	11-15	101
12	16-21	102
12	22-29	103
12	30-34	104
12	35-38	105
12	39-42	106
12	43-47	107
12	48-52	108
12	53-57	109
12	58-62	110
12	63-67	111
12	68-71	112
12	72-75	113
12	75a	Folio
12	76-77	114
12	78-79	115
12	80-81	116
12	82-84	117
13	1-5	118
13	6-10	119
14	1	119
14	2-9	120
14	10-13	121
14	14-17	122
14	18	123
15	1-3	123
16	1-8	124
16	9-12	125

Related

Separated Material:

A twenty-one box collection of Osmond's papers forms part of the Rare Books and Special Collections of the Fisher Library, University of Sydney. The following items have been removed from the collection and returned to Juliet Richter: a video recording which accompanied Series 1, Files 72-73 (containing footage of the November 1997 Lateline episode on the Media Watch television program); 84 micro-cassettes previously in Series 9, relating to his writings for the Sydney Morning Herald between 1983 and 1994; a computer disk from Series 9, File 120 (containing a 1992 article published in the Asian studies review); and two cassettes which accompanied Series 10, File 26, (containing a 1995 interview with, and lecture by, Noam Chomsky).

Indexed terms

Names:

Richter, Juliet, Ms

Conditions Governing Access:

Access conditions may apply to this collection, please refer to the collection's catalogue record for further information (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn788555).

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 Warren Osmond, National Library of Australia [class number, box number and series and/or file number]'.

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

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