Guide to the Papers of Herbert Cole Coombs, 1918-1995

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Summary

Collection number:
MS 802
Creator:
Coombs, H. C. (Herbert Cole)
Extent:
(49 ms boxes + 44 archives boxes + 5 ms cartons)
Language:
English and English
Preferred citation:
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Herbert Cole Coombs, National Library of Australia, MS 802, [series and/or file number]'.
Availability:
Available
Access conditions:
Part available for research ; part permission required for research; part not available for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

The collection comprises correspondence, reports, conference papers, research material and newspaper and journal articles, mainly relating to Coomb's involvement with the Aboriginal community and his support of many Aboriginal causes. Also included are papers produced while Coombs was a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies at the Australian National University, papers relating to the Australian Council for the Arts, personal papers, newspaper clippings, photographs, files of biographical material and correspondence with Christina Stead.

The following is a brief synopsis of the subject matter of some of the groups of files:

Files 1.1 - 2.16 Aboriginal Children's Heritage Project, 1978 - 93 (bulk 1978-85)

Files 12.1 - 12.3 Post-War Reconstruction, 1947-48, 1982

Files 13.1.1 - 13.1.9 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Housing Panel, 1976-84

Files 15.1 - 15b21 Aboriginal communities, 1975-94

Files 16.1a - 16b35 Aboriginal education, 1980-95

Files 19.1 - 20.1.7 Biographical material, 1934-96

Files 21.1 - 21.9 Aboriginal law and reform, 1976-93

Files 22.1 - 22.9 Aboriginal land rights, 1977-84

Files 25.1 - 26.11 Uranium mining, 1976-84

Files 27.1 - 27.134 Coombs' writings, 1948-96 (bulk 1970-90)

Boxes 86-87 General correspondence, arranged alphabetically

Boxes 88 - 92 The CLC and the NLC, 1977-84

Biographical Note:

Herbert Cole (Nugget) Coombs was born on 24 February 1906 at Kalamunda, near Perth and educated at Perth Modern School, the University of Western Australia and the London School of Economics.

19315 December, married Mary Ross 1934-38Assistant Economist, Commonwealth Bank 1939Economist, Commonwealth Treasury 1942Director of Rationing 1943-49Director-General, Department of Post War Reconstruction 1949-60Governor, Commonwealth Bank of Australia 1951-60Board member, Commonwealth Bank of Australia 1954-68Chairman, Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust 1960-1968Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia 1968-1974Chairman of the Australian Council for the Arts 1968-76Chairman of the Australian Council for Aboriginal Affairs 1968-76Chancellor of the Australian National University 1972Australian of the Year 1972-75Consultant to the Prime Minister 1975Chairman, Royal Commission on Australian Government Administration 1976-96Visiting Fellow, Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies at the ANU 199729 October, died in Sydney References:

Who's who in Australia, 1997Monash biographical dictionary of 20th century Australia (1994)
Provenance:

The papers were donated to the Library by Dr Coombs and the executors of his estate in numerous instalments between 1976 and 1998.

Arrangement:

The 1996 addition (Boxes 50-96) was donated by Dr Coombs in three instalments during 1996. Many of the files are numbered and a list, compiled by Coombs' secretary Mrs Ettie Oakman, was included. The order and numbering of these files has been retained in the arrangement of this addition, and Mrs Oakman's list has been incorporated into the description of the papers. Several copies of books published by Coombs were included with these papers. Books held already in the Library's general collection were discarded.

Indexed terms

Names:
Coombs, H. C. (Herbert Cole)

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:
Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1441047).
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 Herbert Cole Coombs, National Library of Australia, MS 802, [series and/or file number]'.
Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact:
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