9 10 85 https://oralhistories.arts.uwa.edu.au/files/original/eba2fc2e5e605c4981f287f3e2c0cece.mp3 54a79fc68c158aea60ed6d602a49c4d7 https://oralhistories.arts.uwa.edu.au/files/original/9c0ee0f13fde086e18de68beb4efaddc.mp3 0dd35610b87424f65dee1c7e39355c7d https://oralhistories.arts.uwa.edu.au/files/original/5a64104341d98c9d4b10ea91b0882392.mp3 63ab5f3f33415a21fed76c106144c6b4 https://oralhistories.arts.uwa.edu.au/files/original/d08d355ad24ac691ac0ddc5f322e22e3.mp3 f0627175c90bc373c0925f6b49e9fef0 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource UWA ORAL HISTORIES Description An account of the resource A collection of interviews with former UWA staff, recorded by the <a href="http://www.alumni.uwa.edu.au/community/historical-society" target="_blank">UWA Historical Society</a> to mark the Centenary of the University in 2013. <br />The UWA Historical Society’s <a href="http://www.alumni.uwa.edu.au/community/historical-society/oral-histories" target="_blank">Oral History Program</a> started as a project with four oral histories funded from Society resources. It was then expanded with support from every Faculty on campus, the Guild, Convocation and through private donations. Additional funding was received through a Heritage Grant. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available University of Western Australia Historical Society Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource University of Western Australia Historical Society Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Julia Wallis Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Alex Cohen Location The location of the interview Mount Pleasant, WA Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) Interview 1: 54 minutes, 33 seconds Interview 2: 52 minutes, 18 seconds Interview 3: 19 minutes, 11 seconds Total: 2 hours, 6 minutes, 2 seconds Bit Rate/Frequency Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio) 128 kbs Time Summary A summary of an interview given for different time stamps throughout the interview Interview 1 00:00:00 Introduction by Julia Wallis 00:01:14 Alex Cohen (“AKC”) outlines his plan for the interview sessions and will discuss the Senate years in the first interview. AKC was involved as a medical representative on behalf of the university at various meetings. Around about 1981, it was suggested that he stand for the UWA Senate. He had studied medicine in Adelaide as the medical school at UWA was not founded until 1967 but was admitted ad eundem gratum by Professor Mervyn Austin in about 1976 to the Convocation of UWA Graduates. At the time of the Senate election in 1981 he was in competition with John Gillett, the son of a former Chancellor at UWA. AKC was assisted in his lobbying by Eric Silbert and was elected by 1 vote! AKC served on the Senate for the next 8 years. He learnt a great deal and felt that he was gradually groomed to become the Chancellor. 00:05:47 AKC was Chair of the University Extension Board (1984-1987) then ran by Maureen Smith . The Extension office was near the Lawrence Wilson Gallery. They planned events and advertised on the university radio station. He was Chairman of the Finance Committee (1991-1998) even though he had no accountancy skills. From 1986 to 1998, he served as Chair of the Finance Committee on the Festival of Perth Board of Management. The Director at the time was David Blenkinsop. He had a more relaxed style than his predecessor John Birman. Professor Fred Alexander the founding Professor of History at UWA was on the Festival Finance Committee and interfered in almost every decision that was made! The Festival became a big success even though it went through some tough times financially. AKC was an invitee to most of the Festival events. His late first wife Adele was a professional actor, was connected with the University Dramatic Society and knew Joan Pope, Neville Teede and John Baden-Powell. In 1998, Adele died and AKC stopped working as a physician for a little while. 00:11:48 During his time on the Senate, AKC encountered several Vice-Chancellors and Chancellors. Sir Lawrence Jackson was calm, knowledgeable, authoritative and fair. He met AKC for a cup of tea a week after his election to the Senate and explained how it worked. Robert Street was a very intelligent physicist but perhaps too kindly. Don Aitken , who succeeded the Hon Sir Lawrence Jackson as Chancellor, was an engineer. He liked order and precision. The next Chancellor, the Hon Mr Justice Kennedy was a High Court Judge. He was kind, whimsical and quietly spoken. He had wanted to retire earlier but stayed on in order to give AKC the opportunity to stand as Chancellor. 00:16:01 The consequence of AKC’s election as Chancellor can be discussed during the next interview but there was a great deal of lobbying. UWA had never before had a doctor as Chancellor. Ken Michael had been brought onto the Senate to serve as Chancellor and was a strong contender for the position. AKC put it to Ken Michael that perhaps he should wait until AKC had served his time as Chancellor which he willingly did. This did not appease Ken Michael’s supporters and there was much political lobbying in the University Club dining room! AKC was elected Chancellor in 1998. 00:18:13 In 1985, Robert Street was replaced as Vice-Chancellor by Bob Smith . Smith was charming and very socially adept. This was a time of great change in universities with the Dawkins Review in 1987. Universities such as UWA were now in competition with other educational establishments. There was discussion in the Senate that Murdoch should have been the second campus of UWA. Murdoch has had many challenges but has now established itself as the premier veterinary school in WA. A more serious threat was the establishment of Curtin University (formerly T.A.F.E.) under Don Watts. Curtin has a more practical approach to academe and is more community orientated. At first Edith Cowan was not well regarded as it has been a teachers’ college but has since found its niche in the market. Notre Dame is also a threat. The Vice-Chancellor of Notre Dame was once a member of the UWA Senate. 00:25:56 The Dawkins Review and the reintroduction of Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) in 1987 has challenged established universities such as UWA. The Vice-Chancellors during this time were Robert Street and at the time of Dawkins, Bob Smith (who, unbeknown to UWA, was on Dawkins’ Committee). He was seconded to implement the Dawkins’ recommendations and was replaced by Fay Gale . She was from Adelaide and her background was history and arts. Her passion for female equality caused ripples of anxiety at UWA. Fay did a lot of travelling and in her absence, Alan Robson held the fort. He had hoped to be made Vice-Chancellor following the departure of R H T Smith in 1989. Alan Robson was from the School of Agriculture which was one of the founding disciplines at UWA. AKC has the greatest respect for Alan Robson. 00:30:36 At one time, there was a concern that there was an over representation of Catholic councillors on the UWA campus. It was decided that a deputation that included AKC, Fay Gale and the registrar, Malcolm Orr, should meet with Archbishop Hickey. Fay Gale arrived late – dressed from head to toe in purple and succeeded in upstaging the Archbishop! When Fay Gale retired due to ill health, Derek Schreuder was recruited. He came into office at about the time that AKC was elected as Chancellor. AKC is of the opinion that he was not the right appointment for that time. It was a time when self-examination and deep esprit de corps was required. The portraits of the UWA Chancellors hang in the Senate Room while those of the Vice-Chancellor hang in the Foyer of the Chancellery. All the portraits are the same size apart from Schreuder’s which is twice as big as the rest! 00:33:49 AKC recalls other members of the Senate. Although it changed over the 8 years, there was a time when David Malcolm and the Dean of Arts, Felicity Haynes sat opposite him. They were both statuesque – like a Greek God and Goddess! The Chair of the Professorial Council represented the academics and Terry Quickenden from Chemistry represented the staff. Lawyer, Paul Nichols reminded AKC of Rumpole of the Bailey. 00:36:48 Dr Sue Baker was the Chair of Convocation. The role of Convocation is extremely important but was ineffective at one time. Sue Baker was a strong advocate for Convocation but unfortunately died in 2014. The current Warden, Adjunct Professor Warren Kerr AM is also trying to reinvigorate Convocation. There is a fear in university circles that there are moves afoot to abolish Convocation as has occurred in universities in the eastern states. If Convocation does disband AKC fears that the forces that have corporatised the Senate will reign supreme. AKC is not a fan of the current corporatisation that is happening at UWA. UWA is at a watershed. 00:41:25 When AKC was Chancellor, he used to take the Student Guild Committee to dinner before each Senate meeting. One of the students who stood out on the committee was Rosie Dawkins (Guild President in 1998). He was disappointed that sometimes the Guild elections degenerated into lies and dirty tactics. 00:42:38 It was assumed that any member of the Senate is there to promote the university and not their own agenda. When AKC was first elected to the Senate he sat and absorbed what was going on and said nothing so that he did not make a fool of himself. The first day that Jack Krasnostein he asked whether the insurance policy would cover the theft of a valuable statue that was displayed in Winthrop Hall. The Sir Jacob Epstein bust of a girl has since been moved! In 1986, AKC delivered some medical lectures in Karratha. Visiting Cossack on a free afternoon, he discovered the bust of Professor A D Ross (the inaugural Professor of Physics) in a second hand shop. UWA bought it and it now stands in the foyer of the Physics building. 00:47:05 Even though, AKC was the first physician that was made Chancellor, notable physicians who served on the Senate included Leslie Le Souef , Bruce Hunt and Hector Stewart . These men were influential men who were favoured by the Government. It was considered that the Chancellor needed a legal mind. AKC believes it was a quirk of fate that led him to become elected as Chancellor. It is not considered to be a pre-requisite for the Chancellor to serve time on the Senate. 00:50:11 Notable women who served on the Senate include Janet Holmes a Court (1984-1994); Barbara Hamilton; Dorothy Ransom and Jean Rogerson (who became substantial donors to the university). Philippa Maddern was a strong presence on the Senate as was Cheryl Praeger, the mathematician. Margaret Seares was a very influential member of the Senate and served on the Executive. Up until 1998, the Chancellor would have had a much more intimate and influential governance of the university. When AKC became Chancellor he was not invited to meetings of the Executive. It was the Executive who formulated the policy. Another change was that for 6 years, AKC chaired the appointments committee to Professorial posts but when Derek Schreuder arrived, he took over that role. The role of the Chancellor has gradually become eroded so that the role is now more like a figure head. 00:54:33 END OF INTERVIEW 1 Interview 2 00:00:00 Introduction by Julia Wallis 00:00:37 AKC had served as Pro Chancellor for 2-3 years (1995-1998). He had had experience on various committees and had chaired the Appointments Committee for 4-5 years. Ken Michael was being groomed as the next Chancellor but AKC felt that he should throw his hat into the ring. Some people on the Senate were opposed to him becoming Chancellor. AKC gave an excellent and well received farewell speech for David Blenkinsop, who was retiring as Director of the Festival of Perth and this may have helped his cause. The election went well and AKC became Chancellor. The night he was elected Chancellor he was telephoned to come and fix a banging gate on the southern campus. The following morning he was photographed by the West Australian in a pose that reminded him of an academic grocer. In the West interview, he stated that he wanted to strengthen ties with Indonesia. As physician to the King of Bali, he was visiting the universities. He wanted to encourage a partnership between the two countries and assist them to develop. 00:06:16 The first thing he did when had settled into the role was to visit all the Faculties and Deans. The Chancellor was more of a titular role. He did not attend Executive meetings. Colin Campbell-Fraser, the Press Officer, also attended the Executive meetings. He was invaluable for his knowledge of the media and the wider world. The Chancellor greeted individual students at the graduation ceremonies and he considered this an important role. Mel (Melville) Sargent used to introduce the students to the Chancellor in his plummy voice. Many universities in Australia no longer have individuals greeted but are conferred with their degrees as a sort of ‘job lot’. 00:12:23 At the time, there were problems settling the dispute over the Shenton Park bushland. AKC met the Aboriginal community on site but the matter was unresolved. Another troublesome period was during the Rindos affair . AKC and Alan Robson had to explain the situation in the West Australian Parliament. It was a difficult time. Another difficult time concerned one of AKC’s friends in another Faculty which put him in an awkward position. Lynne Smith was a marvellous PA. AKC attended the Hackett Foundation meetings and did a lot of public speaking on behalf of the University. 00:16:08 The Queen visited to open the Centre for Experimental Medicine at WA. During his Chancellorship the new University Club was being built by the architect Geoff Warn . AKC considers the new club to be a vast improvement and wrote an article on the subject in Uniview. The building has attempted to blend in with the campus. The tiles were very expensive and caused some controversy. Harold Clough was very supportive of the project and of the university in general. 00:20:31 Most UWA graduates are proud of their alma mater and value the quality of the teaching and the undergraduate experience. Dr Harold Schenberg said on many occasions that UWA had changed his life. Peter Leunig and the Office of Development came into being to assist people like Dr Schenberg to leave money to UWA as a legacy. They brought in lots of money and even travelled overseas to talk to ex graduates. This has led to an almost commercialisation of the university with a vast infrastructure of people doing what they can to raise money. Many years before, the Raine bequest had also brought money to UWA and in recent years the university has benefited from the Andrew (“Twiggy”) Forrest Legacy. 00:25:44 The Director of Finance (then Gaye McMath) manages these monies via the university share portfolio. UWA is no longer a wealthy university as it was at the time of the Hackett Bequest due to competition from the other universities. The Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery was the gift of Sir Lawrence just before he was declared bankrupt. Alan Robson had his own fund to which he had access. This fund provided the shortfall of $13,000 which enable the School of Music to buy a particular instrument. This would not happen today. 00:29:50 Towards the end of AKC’s time as Chancellor he and the Hon Peter Jones AM raised $3 million to establish a Chair in Diabetes at UWA. AKC is proud that the Diabetes Research Foundation has founded many scholarships. Money was also raised for the professorial walk behind the Medical Library. Sculptors Joan and Charles Smith were commissioned to create 12 bas-reliefs of the founding professors of the Medical Faculty (founded in 1956). The children of some of the founding professors including Eric Saint, Ralph ten Seldam and Neville Stanley were happy to donate money towards the project and the entire medical profession also gave generously. During the time that AKC was Chancellor, he was the Director of Postgraduate Medical Education at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. He developed the lecture theatre in memory of Mary Lockett, the first woman Professor (Pharmacology) at UWA. 00:33:25 The Medical School at UWA opened in 1956 after a very successful fund raising drive across the community. The twelve professors were recruited and the Medical School was based at Royal Perth Hospital (“RPH”). There were only about 20 students in the early days and some of them had returned from studying in Adelaide to finish their degrees in Perth. In 1963, the old Perth Chest Hospital was enlarged and renamed Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital (“SCGH”). Richard Joske transferred from RPH to head up SCGH. Eric Saint was the inaugural professor and Joske followed him. Rivalry developed between the two hospitals. On Wednesday lunchtime, the medical students were addressed by a person from outside the Medical School. SCGH has become the favoured site and RPH has been denigrated. AKC spent 35 years at RPH and believes it to be an essential hospital serving the inner city. AKC believes that the UWA Medical School has missed opportunities. In about 2006 it was offered the chance to convert to a 4 year medical course. They didn’t at that time but has since had to do this as it was the popular model throughout Australia (based on the Harvard system) and was taken up by the Medical School at Notre Dame. If Curtin also start a medical school, it will be difficult to find enough people qualified to teach the students and places for their practical. Nobel Laureate, Dr Barry Marshall has been the cherry on the cake for the UWA Medical School. 00:40:11 The UWA Medical School is set apart from the rest of the campus. The students are fully occupied with their studies and their way of learning is different to the rest of the campus. If the students have no exposure to other disciplines outside of medicine during their undergraduate years they rarely pick that up when they have graduated. Teaching is very different now and AKC feels that there should be more face to face teaching and less online studying. This is an area where UWA needs to lift its game. Research has been privileged over teaching. A good teacher is not always a good researcher and vice versa. 00:43:20 In the days of Hackett and his successors the Chancellorship had a commanding role. This is no longer the case. Universities became more of a business and the Chancellor did not have the skills. The Vice-Chancellor no longer attends meetings of the Professorial Board so the link with the Academic staff is not as strong as it used to be. 00:46:02 Mary Lockett was the first female Professor at UWA. Now there are many female Professors in many fields. Women administer the Lawrence Wilson Gallery. John Birman the director of the Festival of Perth began University Extension. Maureen Smith carried it on and developed the University of the Third Age. At the time, the university had an FM radio station in a wooden structure near the Lawrence Wilson gallery. It was a sad loss the day that costs forced the radio station to close as it was an importance presence on campus and a great outreach to the community. 00:49:19 Through the time that AKC was Chair of Finance and after, the future and survival of UWA Press was under discussion. Some in the Vice-Chancellery felt that it was an unjustified expense. Fremantle Press was developing and it was felt there was no need for a UWA Press. However, Professor Geoffrey Shellam fought hard against it closure. AKC supported him but it was tough going. The Press was founded by Philip Parsons, who taught in the English Department of the University of Western Australia in the 1950s and his wife, Katharine Brisbane. The current editor, Terri-ann White has to make some tough editorial decisions to keep the press viable. 00:52:18 END OF INTERVIEW 2 Interview 3 00:00:00 Introduction by Julia Wallis. 00:00:40 AKC’s years on the Senate and as Chancellor have given him a renewed pride in the university. He believes his effect has been transient but he tried to build relationships on the Student Guild. He remains friends with many on the Senate and with various people on campus and still meets people for coffee a couple of times a week. The rise of four other universities has given UWA competition which prior to about 1974 it had never had to contend with. The university is a microcosm of life and there are many seething petty rivalries but also great stimulus and esprit de corps. 00:05:27 AKC wanted to repay the university in some concrete way. In August 2014, he met with the Office of Development and expressed the wish to fund a Chair in Translational Science. The office ran with the idea but did not ask for AKC’s assistance with it. Instead, he decided to work with the School of Music. Had been Chair of the Friends of Music for 5 years and knew the staff in the School of Music. David Tunley had mentioned the fact that the school used to have a visiting artist which enriched the staff and students. AKC discussed this with the Vice-Chancellor who gave him permission to personally fund raise. Later he learnt that the School of Music was planning to have a composer in residence for a year so he dropped the concept. 00:10:54 Taking to Professor Paul Wright (violin) and Dr Ashley Smith (clarinet) and Ian Gillings (piano) he decided to put on a Soiree that married the concepts of poetry, music and philosophy. Paul Wright was enthusiastic and the production included a metaphysical poem by Thomas Trahere and music by Gerald Finzi. There was one performance in the Callaway Theatre and it was packed out. He was greatly assisted in organising this Soiree by Pip White at the School of Music. 00:13:11 During this time, AKC began to realise how important St George’s College was to the promotion of music. They are one of the few places in Australia that has a Fazioli piano. Their students are committed to music and they have a programme of visiting artists for one on one and master classes and put on about 20 concerts each year. AKC feels that the college has the capacity to be a unique institution in Australia. They need to have a strong partnership with the School of Music at UWA. Inter-disciplinary partnerships across the campus should also be fostered in the Humanities. Music is very low on the list of priorities as people perceive that medicine, engineering and business are more important disciplines. 00:15:56 AKC is aware that the administrators at UWA have a difficult task coping with inconsistent government policy regarding funding and other matters. There needs to be a steady hand on the tiller. AKC has a great admiration for academics as long as they devote time to teaching. The enthusiasm of people like Professor Lyn Beazley, Professor Fiona Stanley and Winthrop Professor David Blair is inspiring. 00:19:11 END OF INTERVIEW 3 Audio Files Links to audio files <p><a href="http://oralhistories.arts.uwa.edu.au/files/original/eba2fc2e5e605c4981f287f3e2c0cece.mp3">Cohen_Alex, Interview 1, Track1<br /></a><a href="http://oralhistories.arts.uwa.edu.au/files/original/9c0ee0f13fde086e18de68beb4efaddc.mp3">Cohen_Alex, Interview 2, Track1</a><a href="eba2fc2e5e605c4981f287f3e2c0cece.mp3"><br /></a><a href="http://oralhistories.arts.uwa.edu.au/files/original/5a64104341d98c9d4b10ea91b0882392.mp3">Cohen_Alex, Interview 2, Track2<br /></a><a href="http://oralhistories.arts.uwa.edu.au/files/original/d08d355ad24ac691ac0ddc5f322e22e3.mp3">Cohen_Alex, Interview 3, Track1</a></p> <p><a href="5a64104341d98c9d4b10ea91b0882392.mp3"> </a></p> <p><a href="eba2fc2e5e605c4981f287f3e2c0cece.mp3"><br /><br /><br /></a></p> <p> </p> <p><a href="eba2fc2e5e605c4981f287f3e2c0cece.mp3"> </a></p> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Alexander Cohen interview, 21 February 2016, 23 February 2016 and 25 February 2016 Subject The topic of the resource Medicine Description An account of the resource Consultant Physician Alexander Kevin Cohen was born in Perth on 22 September 1926. He studied medicine at Adelaide University graduating in 1950. He spent his postgraduate years in London where he met his future wife. He was appointed to the Clinical Staff of the Royal Perth Hospital in 1957 and served as a physician until his retirement in 1992. His main interest has been in endocrine disorders and he has had a number of papers published in this field. He has been a member of the UWA Senate for many years. He was also chairman of the Finance Committee. In recognition of his contribution to the Faculty of Medicine, he was appointed Clinical Professor of Medicine. Since his retirement from the Royal Perth Hospital, he has been Director of Postgraduate Education at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and President of the Royal Australian College of Physicians. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Cohen, Alexander Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available University of Western Australia Historical Society Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright University of Western Australia Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource MP3 files Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral History https://oralhistories.arts.uwa.edu.au/files/original/e50c0a976537adb21ed5d0efc42dc7bf.mp3 2d0de7506e3d002340a9f0690c698e5e https://oralhistories.arts.uwa.edu.au/files/original/49d156bd6a3fed4204c5c06b77f861f4.mp3 c69c7fec0aced80eb992d34ea14fe494 https://oralhistories.arts.uwa.edu.au/files/original/f58e0e5c6a5c736f8f500a1e2d7b197c.mp3 0bf96e409aa00b8f796b126acb25f1f7 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource UWA ORAL HISTORIES Description An account of the resource A collection of interviews with former UWA staff, recorded by the <a href="http://www.alumni.uwa.edu.au/community/historical-society" target="_blank">UWA Historical Society</a> to mark the Centenary of the University in 2013. <br />The UWA Historical Society’s <a href="http://www.alumni.uwa.edu.au/community/historical-society/oral-histories" target="_blank">Oral History Program</a> started as a project with four oral histories funded from Society resources. It was then expanded with support from every Faculty on campus, the Guild, Convocation and through private donations. Additional funding was received through a Heritage Grant. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available University of Western Australia Historical Society Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource University of Western Australia Historical Society Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Anne Yardley Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Jan Lord Location The location of the interview Shenton Park, W.A. Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) Interview 1: 1 hour, 15 minutes Interview 2: 1 hour, 6 minutes, 30 seconds Interview 3: 46 minutes, 40 seconds Total: 2 hours, 53 minutes, 25 seconds Bit Rate/Frequency Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio) 128 kbs Time Summary A summary of an interview given for different time stamps throughout the interview Interview 1 0:00 Introduction by Anne Yardley 00:15 Jan’s academic struggles in high school due to polio. Went to St Hilda’s and repeated a year, sitting for matriculation 1962. Exam results published in Daily News newspaper , Jan passed three subjects but needed five to matriculate. 05:00 Studied hard over summer holidays and with coaching, sat supplementary exams and matriculated: I could barely believe it! Who knows what I would have done had I not matriculated. I’m extremely grateful to Mum and Dad for their support getting me to uni because it’s made a huge difference to my life. 08:30 Jan discusses her mother, Dorothy Ransom [1917-2012]: won a scholarship to Perth Modern School, completed a science degree, majoring in zoology and geology, and Graduate Diploma of Education, had research positions and was very involved in voluntary work at UWA: president of Federation of University Women [now Graduate Women], hard working and conscientious Senate member very interested in staff and students, regularly attended graduation ceremonies. 15:00 Jan’s interest was in zoology, she studied psychology, geology, biology and chemistry in first year. Recalls students wearing black gowns to lectures. Discusses university life in the 1960s: she lived at home, spent full days at uni, neither she nor her friends had jobs except during summer holidays, parents paid fees and books: It was very exciting time but I was still totally dependent on my parents. Jan received a Commonwealth scholarship in her second year. 20:00 Jan recalls Freshers’ camp at Araluen and the Freshers’ Ball at Winthrop, an occasion for some students for illicit under age drinking, drinking age was 21. Initiation rites common in most faculties with one student receiving facial burns as a result: Last Friday, it was revealed that stern disciplinary action had been taken against several students following an initiation torture of a first year Science student. This student had to be treated for facial burns at Royal Perth Hospital as a result of his initiation . 25:00 Fresher activity Meet the Dean. Science dean was foundation professor of micro-biology, Professor Neville Stanley who said to students: Look at the person next to you. Next year, one of you will not be here. Jan was determined to succeed. End of year exam results posted up outside the Ref, she was terrified but had passed. A big achievement for her. 29:00 Describes campus: much more compact in 1963. Reid Library and Arts building under construction, old library partly in Undercroft. Psychology and the Law buildings were weatherboard shacks where Physics is now. Zoology was next to St George’s College in a building purported to have a belfry . Students old enough to drink went to Steve’s Hotel. Describes the Ref, popular place between lectures for food. 34:00 Describes typical student day in Science: three or four lectures in the morning, all notes taken in longhand, lectures non-interactive; lab classes in afternoons. All reference materials in library, more longhand note taking. Lectures not recorded so attendance mandatory. Full days spent at uni with more library time on weekends. University life very social. 40:00 Jan made friends, became part of university community. Discusses geology camp, second year. Boys and girls on separate camps. Boys camping in the bush envied by girls at Araluen on day excursions to Cardup and Boya to investigate sedimentary rock. Geology Professor Rex Prider’s metamorphic rock outside the department whitewashed in student prank. 45:00 Discusses units: Psych 10 was popular, regarded as easy, taught by Professor Ken Walker, statistics taught by Dr Wally Tauss. Professor Ron Berndt was foundation professor of Anthropology – establishment as a separate department supported by Ken Wallker. Professor Berndt studied under A.P Elkin at Sydney University. 49:30 In 1938, Elkin wrote “The Australian Aborigines, How to Understand Them” , an eye opener to Jan about indigenous culture. Jan’s uncle lived in the Pilbara and artifacts bought by him were donated to the Berndt Museum. Jan’s anthropology tutor, Mary Hodgkin, also advised overseas Asian students. Discusses Colombo Plan for Asian students to study in Australia. 55:00 Jan talks about learning to study successfully by note taking. Discusses exams: It was like going to be executed. It was terrifying. End of year exams included full year’s work with no indication of topics likely to be covered. Most held in Winthrop under strict invigilation. Later studying for a Dip Ed, Jan found exam worth fifty percent with other components included. Much less stressful. 1:15:00 End first interview Interview 2 00:10 Recognition given by UWA to Dorothy Ellen Ransom on her contribution: …When I saw people around Mum at UWA, they treated her like a queen. I found it very touching and I could see there was a genuine interest in Mum and Mum had a genuine interest in them and all that was happening at UWA… Awarded the inaugural Chancellor’s Medal, 1996, at her last Senate meeting. Citation mentioned time on the Senate; with Convocation; with the Federation of University Women [now Graduate Women] also said that she’d been: one of the university’s most assiduous ambassadors in the community. Medal was presented by acting Vice Chancellor, Michael Barber. Family were overjoyed. Also received Order of Australia, June 1998 with similar citation. 5:00 In 1976, Dorothy Ransom suggested that the university anthem be sung to the music of Gaudeamus Igitur graduation ceremonies. David Tunley arranged first piece of music played when Dorothy received Chancellor’s Medal. In 1994 she suggested to Registrar Malcolm Orr a competition for an original composition for organ in the style of Gaudeamus Igitur as a graduation processional be awarded. From Dorothy Ransom’s estate, an annual prize in composition, valued at $500, since increased to $1000, is awarded to an undergraduate. Jan and her brother invited to present prize each year. 11:00 Jan discusses debutantes’ ball: popular in 1950s and ‘60s, ‘coming out’ signified entry into society. For Jan’s generation more an opportunity to have fun and meet people. Balls very popular, each university faculty had balls as did other organisations such as Hunt Club, Cancer Crusade, Royal Commonwealth Society. 15:00 Jan ‘came out’ at Red Cross Ball. Process included being accepted by ball committee, choosing gowns, partners, attending rehearsals, pre and post ball parties and being presented to wife of the Governor, Lady Gairdner. Girls wore white gowns, boys dinner suits. 20:00 To me it meant a lot of fun; an opportunity to meet people. It was at the beginning of the university academic year so there was no pressure of exams or big assignments or anything like that. It was what all my friends were doing and being a teenager of course, that’s what you want to do. Jan met future husband, science student David Lord, at zoology camp at Rottnest research station in orientation week. David invited Jan to St George’s College Ball where he was a resident. He changed study course and continued in medicine. 25:00 Jan and David were engaged in 1967 and married 1968 . Students addressed academic staff formally: it was all reasonably respectful and a little bit distant. As undergraduates we didn’t call the lecturers by their first names. Zoology department separate from main campus, Professor Waring resisted moving citing lack of time as reason. Zoology was like its own little world really with two lecture theatres, laboratories, library, lunch room. Everyone enjoyed the atmosphere there. 30:00 Jan describes Professor Waring: Prog, as we called him, could actually be pretty intimidating. He was very tall; he’d come from Liverpool so he had a very distinctive Liverpudlian accent and also a very loud voice. He was never one to mince his words and he had quite an air of authority about him. There was no doubt whatsoever that he was head of the department. Professor Waring nurtured Zoology students and helped students, including Jan, get their first jobs. Labs were very social environments: Honours students used labs to make snacks for evening suppers. 35:00 Mainly marsupials studied, particularly Rottnest quokkas . Special research interest to Professor Waring, John Shield and Wayne Parker. Projects included studying reproduction which involved students checking on births each night. Jan recalls working with Adrienne Jones and discovering a new joey; describes techniques for checking mother’s pouch. 40:00 Third year zoology camp also at Rottnest research station. Jan understands university leased naval barracks and signal station from Department of Fisheries and Fauna. Staff and PhD students could stay at station. Describes weatherboard house and living arrangements: boys slept in tower, girls in the house with students helping cook and clean. Research undertaken daily usually marine biology but with some terrestrial biology. Lab work done at the station. Jan describes unorthodox method of catching quokkas at night using a jeep and students sitting on the bonnet poised to net quokkas. 45:00 Jan thinks captured quokkas transferred to mainland university labs. Jan reads article by Ernest Hodgkin: Professor Waring came in 1948 but it was not until 1953 that the state Departments of Fisheries and Fauna secured the lease of the naval barracks and signal station near the main lighthouse, primarily to enable research to be carried out on the marine and terrestrial fauna and flora of Rottnest Island and for the training of undergraduate and post graduate students in essential field disciplines. Fourth year and Honours students camp on Garden Island studying the tammar . Distressingly, this involved students killing tammars for study purposes. Looking back on it, well, it’s very distressing and I cannot imagine, now, how that sort of study would get past any ethics committee. Dr Mark Dixon Associate Director (Research Integrity) University of Western Australia provides this statement about ethical guidelines in 2015: There have been large steps to reduce the suffering of animals, and these are regulated via both a code of ethics and legislation. In particular, the Australian code for the care and use of animals for scientific purposes, which is now in its 8th edition, is quite prescriptive about minimising suffering in animals studied in research. The animal code of ethics requires the University of Western Australia to convene an animal ethics committee to review every research project that involves animals. Teaching classes that involve animals are also required to be reviewed. The committee must have a balance of members from each of: researchers, veterinarians, representatives from animal welfare groups, and members of the public unaffiliated with the University. Our representatives from animal welfare are leading members of the RSPCA. The committee does not work by majority vote: all members must come to consensus on each project before that project is allowed to begin. The research projects must explain why animals are essential to perform the research, how the number of animals involved is reduced to a minimum, and how the animals will be cared for to minimise suffering. 51:00 Jan discusses Prosh . Lectures were cancelled on Wednesday mornings especially for event; faculties would decorate truck with various themes, special edition of student newspaper with sales going to the charity, examples of title The Sundry Times, the Worst Australian. 54:00 Jan describes her pre Prosh stunt to publicise event to go into CBD and pretend to do a strip tease. Police notified of stunt but Jan was arrested, taken to police station, searched and put in a cell. Student Guild paid five pounds bail; Jan to attend Magistrate’s Court next day to be charged with disorderly conduct. Jan’s lawyer father not amused; actions. Family advised by John Wickham QC, not to appear in Court. Magistrate accepted that it was a stunt and the bail was estreated , no conviction recorded. 1:01:00 Editorial in The West Australian said: Bizarre though it may have been the strip stunt at a city intersection on Friday was nothing more than a stunt and the girl concerned certainly deserves to suffer no damage to her reputation for it. Jan gained notoriety; supported by Prosh including director Ralph Alexander who said police had overstepped the mark. That year’s Prosh a success raising 2,450 pounds, a record then. 1:05:00 Jan concerned about parents’ response: They were not pleased. I didn’t want to displease my parents who were of course enormously supportive of me being at university. I was a bit downcast about it but not for long particularly because of the support of fellow students. 1:06:00 End second interview. Interview 3 00:20 Jan’s first job at Princess Margaret Hospital in cytogenetics lab as medical technologist to replace Helen Trowell on long service leave. Lab tested children for chromosomal abnormality, for example Down Syndrome . Jan took blood, grew then harvested cells and checked under microscope. 05:00 Admits UWA studies had not prepared her for this role. Work interesting and rewarding, friendships made. Jan and David married 1968, Jan moved to another job at Medical School with Dr Byron Kakulas working on muscular dystrophy . 09:50 Jan discusses wedding as very traditional; most planning done by parents, ceremony at St George’s College, reception at Palace Hotel with usual speeches. Honeymooned in Albany. Returning to Perth, David to university, Jan to work as breadwinner: It didn’t seem difficult at the time. It was a no frills existence. Bought small house Redfern Street, Subiaco, helped financially by family. Enjoyed work, mostly on progressive disease, Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Dr Kakulas’ project to find cause of disease, treatments, most importantly, prevention. 15:00 Again worked on tissue culture from fetal tissue. Jan junior member of team: I guess I was several steps back from the patients and the families which, because it was such a terrible thing, was a blessing. That didn’t stop me thinking about it and how terrible it would be when you thought you had a perfectly normal child to watch them deteriorate over many years. It would be terrible. David called up for National Service for service in Vietnam . Jan describes feeling dreadful: They had this ballot system with birth dates on marbles and his marble would have been pulled out at the end of 1965 just after he’d turned twenty. For people whose birthdates were pulled out of the drum were expected to present for National Service. 20:00 David’s medical studies enabled him to defer until his course and one year residency completed. Possibility of service in Vietnam made the couple delay having children: Yes, it made a huge difference to our lives. Eight medical students called up, only one went in to army, the rest, including David, failed medical. 25:00 Jan discusses children: Jenny born 1969, James 1970, Jonathan 1973. David pursued psychiatry, family moved to Dunedin, New Zealand, 1974, during his post graduate studies. Returned after three years, David now worked for UWA, couple found housing prices had jumped enormously but managed to buy home in Dalkeith. Jan returned to studies at UWA for a Dip Ed [graduate diploma education]. Hoped to work in primary or special needs education: … It was then that I understood how stressful it could be juggling study and a family. Jan describes routine during studies, friends and family helping with children, returning to university library after children in bed at night. 30:00 Took four years to complete diploma then unable to get a position in State system without taking a country position. Found work teaching an autistic child, job sharing with another newly qualified teacher: work both rewarding and fun. Second experience studying very different from undergraduate years, less focus on socialising. Jan valued her university education: loved zoology; mixed with diverse people; students had fun in 1960s; opened up work opportunities. 35:15 UWA as a campus in the community according to Jan, still makes use of UWA going to Somerville cinema, Writers’ Festival, extension courses; meets friends for lunch in gardens; visits campus with grandchildren. Has taken youngest grandchild to School of Music course, Junior Music run by Jenny Stephenson for pre-school children: …a wonderful offering of the School of Music for children to become familiar with music. Enjoyed exploring gardens en route to music school. 39.30 Jan volunteers interviewing prospective medical and dental students, a component of GAMSAT assessment procedure. Interviews tightly structured, volunteers undergo extensive training; a very responsible job: During the interview, when you ask a question, you are advised that you need to ask the question in exactly the same way for each student. Then we all write furiously because we try to write down everything that the student says. Importance of UWA to Jan: I have an enormous fondness for it and part of that fondness stems from my familiarity with it. I just feel it’s almost like my garden that I can just go down there—I’ve been going there for so long that it’s such a familiar place and that feels very nice, very nice indeed. Experience of serious illness has influenced Jan’s life: learning to accept limitations; learning greater tolerance of difference in people; understanding impact of serious illness on a family; advocating strongly for childhood vaccination programs; learning to count blessings not disappointments. 46:30 END final interview. Audio Files Links to audio files <a href="http://oralhistories.arts.uwa.edu.au/files/original/e50c0a976537adb21ed5d0efc42dc7bf.mp3">Lord_Jan, Interview 1, Track 1</a><br /><a href="http://oralhistories.arts.uwa.edu.au/files/original/49d156bd6a3fed4204c5c06b77f861f4.mp3">Lord_Jan, Interview 2, Track 1</a> <br /><a href="http://oralhistories.arts.uwa.edu.au/files/original/f58e0e5c6a5c736f8f500a1e2d7b197c.mp3">Lord_Jan, Interview 3, Track 1</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Jan Lord interview, 31 March 2015, 21 April 2015 and 6 May 2015 Subject The topic of the resource Zoology Description An account of the resource Janice Lord née Ransom was born in Perth in 1944, the eldest child of Dorothy and Aubrey Ransom. Her father was a lawyer, her mother a stay at home parent who later became very actively involved with UWA where she had studied science as an undergraduate. The family lived initially in West Perth, then later Dalkeith. Jan’s early childhood was typical of the times in that she and her brothers were free to roam and explore. West Perth was a leafy residential area and Dalkeith a new suburb emerging from the bush. Jan attended Subiaco then Dalkeith Primary Schools. Her upper primary school years were interrupted when she became a victim of the 1956 polio epidemic that saw her spend a year in the Golden Age annexe to Princess Margaret Hospital and which left her with weakened limbs. Like many young polio patients, the return to normal life was not without difficulties and Jan struggled academically both at primary school and during her high school years at St Hilda’s. This interview picks up Jan’s story as she waits to hear her matriculation results. She talks with great fondness of her studies at UWA and gives fascinating insights into the life of an undergraduate student in the 1960s. She married fellow student, David Lord, who went on to study medicine finally becoming a psychiatrist. The couple have three children and while caring for a young family, Jan returned to study at UWA and she contrasts this mature age student experience with that of her younger years. Jan’s mother, Dorothy Ransom was a committed UWA Senate member and recipient of the inaugural UWA Chancellor’s Medal in 1996. She was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for services to the community particularly through her work at UWA. Jan talks about her mother and her great dedication to UWA. The experience of suffering a serious illness had a profound effect on Jan and in recent years she became involved with the Post Polio Network and co-wrote a book Poliomyelitis in Western Australia: a History . She also provided research and inspiration for author Joan London’s fictional book The Golden Age . Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lord, Jan Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available University of Western Australia Historical Society Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright University of Western Australia Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource MP3 files Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral History https://oralhistories.arts.uwa.edu.au/files/original/1dbdb0825c43c0186a0c4235f95d8581.mp3 4a4b078a397914ca6ad29898f9e4bd9b https://oralhistories.arts.uwa.edu.au/files/original/0c535505931bab4fdec2b29a50f39a3c.mp3 d33fad9e622282667e9634a6292089ad https://oralhistories.arts.uwa.edu.au/files/original/484473f8b3e2f084db886c1b333c81c0.mp3 6a143fd83f4964c631f1248f7cb9fe2e Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource UWA ORAL HISTORIES Description An account of the resource A collection of interviews with former UWA staff, recorded by the <a href="http://www.alumni.uwa.edu.au/community/historical-society" target="_blank">UWA Historical Society</a> to mark the Centenary of the University in 2013. <br />The UWA Historical Society’s <a href="http://www.alumni.uwa.edu.au/community/historical-society/oral-histories" target="_blank">Oral History Program</a> started as a project with four oral histories funded from Society resources. It was then expanded with support from every Faculty on campus, the Guild, Convocation and through private donations. Additional funding was received through a Heritage Grant. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available University of Western Australia Historical Society Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource University of Western Australia Historical Society Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Anne Yardley Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Chris Marsh Location The location of the interview McGillivray Oval, Perth, W.A. Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) Interview 1: 1 hour, 13 seconds Interview 2: 1:hour, 44 seconds Interview 3: 1:hour, 8 minutes Total: 3:hours, 8 minutes, 57 seconds Bit Rate/Frequency Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio) 128 kbs Time Summary A summary of an interview given for different time stamps throughout the interview Interview 1 00:00 Introduction 00:30 Christopher Richard Marsh, born 16 June 1950. Parents Roy [Ernest] Marsh, merchant navy sea caption, mother Joanna Marsh [née Martin] from Donnybrook. During childhood, didn’t see father often which he likens to present experience of fly in fly out workers’ families: “ship in ship out”. Schooling, everything based around what mother did for him and his sister. Only when father retired did Chris really get to know him. Father became a master mariner. Parents met just before the war, mother involved in secret service work unbeknown to family. Father travelled the world, sailing ships and motor vessels, was involved in convoys in North Sea during war. Most seafaring career up west coast of WA, taking cargo and later cargo and passengers. Very involved with development of north-west. Ord River scheme stands out for Chris, father involved in shipping materials for project – in its pioneer days. 05:00 In 1974 Chris’s future wife, Sandra [née Mclean] joined family at Christmas when family got news of Cyclone Tracy and that Chris’s father’s ship was the first into Darwin following the cyclone – only line of communication into Darwin. School: ‘old boy’ of St Hilda’s pre-primary. Richmond then Nedlands State Schools till 1960 then Christ Church Grammar School until 1967. Sport a big part of Chris’s life: Aussie Rules and cricket especially. Mother mostly brought up Chris and sister. Father worked hard to send children to private school, thinks parents struggled financially, mostly renting homes. Father also worked in wool stores, made sacrifices to send them to private schools. “Blown away by this sacrifice, they worked really hard to give us a good education.” Chris valued his education, mostly enjoyed school, reflects on how character is molded by upbringing, environment. 10:00 But a disinterested teacher adversely influenced his academic performance, took Chris time to reach university standard. Loved humanities, biology, botany – loved tending mother’s garden, mowing, a very practical person. Quite good at art and drawing hence architecture but he worried about maths proficiency. Accepted into WAIT studying architecture and later joined architectural firm. Wasn’t a Chair in landscape architecture at the time, only course in Canberra. “If there had been, I would have done landscape architecture, no doubt about it.” Gained associate degree architecture, six years, industry based course at WAIT. First work at 1974 Forbes and Fitzhardinge during last two and a half years of course, found it extremely energising – much activity late 60s and early 70s architectural firms doing well in boom times. Learnt from Perth’s best designers. 15:00 Assisted with work on AMP tower, Commonwealth Bank, Palace Hotel and issues with demolition. Historic buildings unfortunately removed in name of progress. Exciting time, one of bigger firms in Perth at 1 Ord St East Perth. “We had the time of our lives.” Got to know Gus Ferguson at UWA, much work on uni campus. Discusses similarities between architecture and turf management – the mindset doesn’t change. More hands on being turf manager, but still have same thought processes to plan for major sporting events: logical thinking. Skills cross over – Chris still uses drawing board to plan sports events. Presentation important. 1974, downturn in economy, construction declined, experienced architects were retrenched. Defining moment, geared up for architecture career, but had doubts about security. 20:00 Out of work, he waited by the phone, went to beach, the pub which led to work at Chelsea Tavern, became bar manager and met future wife Sandy there, married in 1978. Had great fun enjoyed night clubbing but not getting anywhere professionally. 22:15 1976 applied for UWA job in landscape architect’s office, Jean Verschuer , stayed 6 / 7 months. During 1968 holidays, summer Chris had worked at UWA for George Munns and his foreman, John Davey, very knowledgeable. Office work didn’t suit Chris, glad to be offered work as groundsman. 25:00 New Year’s Eve 2016 will mark 40 years working for grounds department UWA. Office work for Jean Verschuer was drafting and although enjoyed architectural studies, preferred grounds work despite modest pay. Parents not pleased about move. Work involved mowing programs for sporting ovals. Athletes like Dennis Lillee, Raylene Boyle involved in testing with human movement department. Love of botany came to the fore. Doesn’t recall learning on the job, most people self taught then. Turf management a science but common sense also needed. UWA then had very good rose gardens, but today more maintenance free grounds needed. 30:00 Formal studies came later. Moved from campus grounds to McGillivray Oval – then a wide open space and akin to being sent to Siberia, not well thought of position. Known by horticulturists then as ‘green desert’. Still aspects of ‘them’ and ‘us’ between main campus gardens and McGillivray sports grounds: I was basically banished but that was the best thing that happened to me. Expectation he’d leave to return to architecture but he preferred horticulture. Was given termination papers but with help from foreman and curator of McGillivray pleaded his case, that he understood sport and wanted him to work on cricket wickets. Must appreciate sport and athletes’ needs to manage sporting facilities, especially cricket, where ground can affect outcome of a game. Chris finds it common sense, but not everyone does. 35:00 In late 1977 the then curator left, Chris thrown in at the deep end to provide cricket wickets, Chris’s son, Thomas, studied history of McGillivray. Chris took on curator’s job and cottage 1981 until 2013. Thomas grew up at McGillivray. State government bequeathed land to university in 1908, about 60 acres of virgin bush, market gardens at south end, pig farm, west Subiaco rubbish tip, Aboriginal people living on land. 1929 to 1933 German entrepreneur selling tractors, Herman Ittershagen, leased land for airport. Local car club built race track around airfield, named it Brooklands. Usage waxed and waned over the years. 40:00 Air pageants with cars around the track, a marshal was injured. Car club folded. Subiaco and Nedlands libraries have some historical stories on record. During Second World War, airstrip bulldozed to prevent Japanese landing. Post war – motor cycle scrambles, gliding – people showing interest in using the land. Increasingly difficult for Ittershagen to get civil aviation licenses and gave it away. Chris’s first recollections were of 1962 Commonwealth Games, used for bus parking to get to Perry Lakes Stadium. 43:00 Late 1950s and early 1960s, UWA considered the area for sporting rounds, notably Prof Allan Fels . 1963 UWA began to develop grounds for sport, clear land. Dr McGillivray donated 10,000 pounds to UWA towards cost. Chris doesn’t know actual cost. Land cleared and grass planted. 1964 change rooms western side of grounds built. Opened in May 1965 (50th year 2015). Race track still visible northern boundary Cambridge and Nedlands Council boundaries. 45:00 To acknowledge 50 years, a plaque or information board about history suggested, but not happened so far. Chris would like to see– both for 50 years of sports grounds and even earlier history. Noongyar community had to be consulted about moving native vegetation for clay tennis courts, discussed with anthropologists. Because Chris had knowledge of history and knew it to be re-growth so not actually virgin bush. Most of sports grounds originally part of coastal Tuart forests. Footprint of sports grounds grass playing fields not changed, other facilities built eg clay courts and synthetic hockey grounds. McGillivray Road follows lie of the land. Parts of CSIRO area (UWA land) still has old Tuart trees. Chris found part of race track on sports grounds when digging about half metre down. Early 1970s, concerns about tree stumps just under surface. 50:00 April 1981 Chris and family moved into the caretaker’s cottage. Tony Morgan replaced Jean Verscheur as landscape architect. Subsidised rent attractive to young family but house run down and wife, Sandy horrified. With clean up and modifications became livable. House became a farm in the western suburbs. Son, Thomas, had plenty to do, Chris tells story of Thomas playing with lambs and ducks in Perry Lakes – free range child. Closest residential neighbours in Floreat. 55:00 We looked out on a vast greenness from the front door - fabulous time in the early days, changed after Challenge Stadium built 1986 with more people coming in. No security concerns, felt safe, doing rounds occasionally came across unfortunate things – suicide in change rooms quite difficult to deal with at the time. Living on site meant always on duty, very protective of facility, kept on top of any problems that arose. Occasional undesirable behaviour with increase in clubs activity. UWA Football Club at AJ Williams pavilion hockey, tennis and baseball clubs for instance. Chris believes still needs to be a presence on site on regular basis. It’s an asset that’s worth billions in land value, but it’s also an asset that is worth so much more to the population. 1:13:00 END First interview Interview 2 00:00 Introduction 00:30 Value of the asset at McGillivray Sports Oval and main campus for recreation, pleasure and sport. UWA fortunate to have space for multi sport venue, receive many requests for large carnivals, for instance Australian University Games (every five years). Facilities benefit economy by bringing people to Perth for carnivals. In early 2000s, the Golden Oldies Rugby international competition, brought approximately $20 million to the economy; July 2002 held World Lacrosse Championships with 20 countries, USA, Canada, Iroquois native Americans, competing at elite level – challenging event for Chris and staff. Overseas visitors in awe of space in Perth for sports facilities. Hard to put a figure on financial value of sports grounds to economy. Draw card for sport, for instance UWA the only host of Australian University Games able to hold all sports within radius of two kilometres. 05:00 Most cities bus from venue to venue. UWA facilities unique though Loughborough University, UK and Sydney University also place high value on sport. Building towards carnivals is challenging and interesting part of job for Chris. Qualifications: as grounds man, gardeners were self taught, usually passionate gardeners. Nature part of process. Through 1970s and 1980s qualifications became more important. Horticulture certificate, diplomas studies at Tafe at Bentley. Turf management not thought of until mid 1980s. Chris took two year industry based turf management certificate 1989-90 partly to encourage UWA to recognise occupation as a trade. Course consisted two evenings, two hours each for two years; included site visits for instance WACA to learn about wickets. 10:00 Small industry with little opportunity to meet others in industry; friendly, enjoyable industry. Chris won best student in his year, won an award – C H Bailey Shield. UWA supportive of studies. Turf management a growing medium. Grass has different needs at different times of year, good surface must be sustained. Some sports, much hockey now played on synthetic surfaces, some tennis on clay. Most ball sports played on turf, with different preferences. Chris says McGillivray has best grass hockey grounds in Southern Hemisphere. 1977 Australia played New Zealand in hockey test match, turf quality very good. Spring is renovation time for grass, most growth in summer to be ready for non growing period in winter when most ball sports played. 15:00 Other turf types introduced, for example over sowing rye into couch, particularly for heavy sports like rugby, AFL. In spring, rye sprayed out and couch strengthened. Waste water irrigation introduced 2004 from sewage treatment works, Subiaco – bonus for grounds with extra nutrients. First big city to use treated sewage waste water on sports grounds. Most treated waste sewage water goes into sea at Swanbourne. McGillivray now uses 1.5 megalitres (1.5 million millimetres) per night, five nights per week in summer. Fifty-four million litres wasted into the sea. Water also chlorine treated before use at McGillivray, two year trial period through Water Corporation through Tafe. Water sampling and CSIRO pathogen survival test done, so very safe for sporting ground, better than earlier times with sheep grazing on grounds. 20:00 UWA rugby club were concerned about staph infections but turned out to be off ground hygiene at fault. I think it’s [waste water] an accepted thing. Hopefully, one of these days we’ll be drinking treated waste water. Regulations require signage to say These grounds are irrigated with waste water between the hours of nine and one. No drinking fountains on grounds. Now have different types of grasses for over sowing, worked with PGG Wrightson, New Zealand seed producers to work on over seeding so there is winter grass growing. Turf technicians beholden to usage and weather – if they all align, then we’re really doing well, …It’s one of those jobs where it’s not finite. It’s to do with a lot of luck. Management of ground, with usage. We’re victims of our own success and I think we succeed reasonably well within the constraints of budget… that we can produce sports grounds that people want to play on. Elite sports teams want to train at McGillivray. 25:00 Western Force uses grounds for training as well as UWA Rugby and third tier rugby – city based, Perth Spirit, hence now able to sustain rugby over full 12 months except for two or three weeks over Christmas. Big challenge to maintain grounds. Elite sportspeople need to be safe on the sports grounds. For instance, shin splint injuries if turf too hard. Injuries inevitable, try to provide best surface for particular sport. Important for turf managers to understand different sports from a player’s viewpoint, eg, baseball has specific dimensions for pitcher’s mound. 30:00 Aim for weekend sport is for freshly mown, beautiful looking ground – Chris finds joy in this. In Chris’s 40 years, worked under seven vice chancellors. Some passionate VCs – Alan Robson – very keen on sport. Fantastic people to have around. Prof John Boomfield , Human Movement also passionate – provide grounds for testing eg fast bowlers, Shoaib Akhtar , came to WA to have bowling action checked. Had to prepare wicket to specific standard. John Bloomfield instrumental in development of Challenge Stadium. 35:00 Elite teams, for instance AFL teams, West Coast Eagles and Dockers, train at McGillivray and requested testing and remedial action of surface to suit requirements. Climate important factor: in 2000, eight clay tennis courts put in, 2004 another six added, now not really playable. Clay courts new to WA and experienced problems with dry summer winds. European designed courts deteriorated quickly in WA but turf can be rehabilitated or re-laid. Challenges come with local conditions, eg water, now have good irrigation for uniformity of grass. Eventually grounds suffer too much use. 40:00 McGillivray has ability to move sports to different grounds to prevent over use. When Chris played sport was two nights per week for limited time with no lights on ground. Now grounds used every day and evenings. Schools use grounds 3.30 – 5.30 pm, then UWA seniors continue to 9pm. Intensive use of grounds especially during practice sessions. Chris worked 10 years on James Oval, UWA campus on cricket wickets. Different from McGillivray as built on alluvial flood plain, hence drainage and watering different. James Oval has different uses, good planning necessary.. 45:00 Silver Chair Concert at McGillivray with one week ‘bump in’ trucks bringing in infrastructure for seven thousand people on ground. Weeks and months before event the important part. All campus space well used, for instance Writers Festival, social sport, O Days on James Oval and others, compromise needed. Chris believes UWA cricket may need to move as it grows. Suffers from only having one ground on campus. 50:00 Staff at McGillivray when Chris started work were down to earth, hard working – didn’t have in ground irrigation, grounds mown with small mowers – back breaking work. People now wouldn’t put up with such conditions. Chris learnt from these older workers. In 2005 supported an English worker on 457 visa , problems trying to get sponsorship. Within hours of visa expiring, Chris visited Julie Bishop’s office and had visa approved through sponsorship by UWA. Another worker similar problems, now both have permanent residency and enjoying life in Australia: Rob Thompson and Simon Tipple. Rob won same award Chris had [C H Bailey]. 55:00 Other staff member Thomas Marsh, Chris’s son, started 2000 works skills situation, now permanent staff member particular interest in athletics track, passionate about work and weather. Cinder based grass athletics track arguably best in Australia if not worldwide. Grass good for young athletes and for rehabilitation, very forgiving unlike synthetic tracks. Many WAIS athletes train on grass — pole vaulters, Kim Mickle , javelin champion. Grass tracks labour intensive, needs continual maintenance. Cinders come from coal fire power stations, few remaining, cinders now scarce. Hard work to shovel cinders into truck for grounds. Very dirty, dusty, no masks, ear muffs or protective clothing then. Proud that track is still used. 1:00:44 END second interview Interview 3 00:00 Introduction 00:30 University sports people have priority in usage of multi sport facility. McGillivray initially an adjunct to Perry Lakes, now even closer to new athletic stadium for athletes training and rehabilitation. Successful athletes who used facility include high jumpers Alison Inverarity and Christine Stanton. Alex Parnov trains daughters [Elizabeth and Vicky]; Steve Hooker world champion pole vaulter—privilege to work with them, to be appreciated for efforts. Kim Mickle javelin thrower training for next Olympics – refreshing to see athletes humble. Once athletes appeared more aloof. Athletes now more community minded, friendly. 5:00 Late 1980s early 90s athletics track used for ultra marathons, recalls Cliff Young: These guys were just a little bit crazy in the way they would run 24 hours non stop round our athletics track. Mentions Joe Record who came to caretaker’s door looking for Vaseline for a chaffing problem from running. Different kinds of activities held on oval not usually associated with sport: weddings, funerals. Previously, held gay olympics with traditional sports as well as handbag throwing. Several held before AIDS epidemic, imaginative floats—even a mock Pope-mobile. But AIDS stopped games and though now re-instated not as joyous as before. Made life at the oval interesting. 10:00 In late 1980s, recalls wedding on sports ground. Funeral was rugby club well known identity. FESA [now DFAS] used oval for helicopter training – water placed in bath for helicopters to load from. Fire and hose drill generally done here. Chris had discretion on what events were held on oval, now OH & S concerns means closer scrutiny. Usage of grounds tightened because of its popularity. Major events include: World Golden Oldies, early 2000s, World Club Ultimate Championships, 2004, World Lacrosse, Indian Rim Asian University Games. 15:00 Chris understands Noonygar camped around Lake Claremont, Herdsman area with movement of people from one watering hole to another. Aboriginal community had curfew placed on them by City of Perth, had to return to camps by certain time in evening. Chris’s aunt, a nurse, worked infectious diseases hospital, Lemnos St , and went to camps to assist. Aboriginal people made clothes line wooden props from cut down trees and sold to households. Chris thinks this was pre Second World War. Living at McGillivray, before HBF, Challenge, stadium, nothing around area except CSIRO, Brockway tip and sewerage treatment works. Had issues with facilities – winds brought unpleasant smells. Professor Bloomfield lobbied gov to build purpose built stadium for gymnastics, basketball and others. 1991 and 1998 world swimming championships held at Superdome [HBF Stadium], Chris very involved with facilities. 20:00 University became involved with DSR [Department of Sport and Recreation] about location of new Perry Lakes and basketball stadium. Rugby WA was looking for new home. UWA Sports Grounds to provide facilities for these sports as well as centre of health and sporting excellence – original vision. Global financial crises delayed projects. Human Movement department keen to move to McGillivray. Development of clay courts, needs progressing. Seen AJ Williams pavilion built 1981, Uni hockey club building, now rugby club. University hockey club built first sand filled turf in 1989, first synthetic wet surface in early 1990s, then two more turfs laid and new clubhouse built. 2014 another second wet surface – hockey well catered for. Tennis has own club rooms, more work to be done with lighting and clay courts. With 14 clay courts able to put on major tournaments – national clay court championships for juniors, State championships and others. Sporting surfaces need replacing over time. Turf can be renovated, synthetic need replacing. Footprint of grass turf area hasn’t changed, development of synthetic surfaces changed area. 25:00 Challenge to provide top sports grounds and facilities to service sports people. Original change rooms built 1964, need improving. Chris would like to see facilities upgraded, club rooms have great potential overlooking sports grounds and towards city. Wonderful facility, opportunity for smart buildings in future. In excess of 500,000 people through grounds each year. They come for recreation, health, competitive sport, camaraderie – social interaction. Need to balance optimum use against over use. Better equipment helps, can always improve methods, still more scope to partner with elite sports clubs, with extra funds to put back into facility. Have been times when specific sports have wanted to connect with university to use facility, politics sometimes intervened. 30:00 Different university personnel has meant different emphasis. On site management during operational hours is best practice. University clubs volunteer based. Important to have customer service on site to solve problems as they happen. Sporting association used to have people working from sports park, tennis or hockey centres – worked well. Chris believes should be someone on site from 2 or 3pm to 10.30 or 11pm. Ground staff available during day with trades people available for back up. Expects bookings will go online; disadvantage is inability to pay on the day. Weekends should have someone with sports knowledge and ground management on site. 35:00 Ability to check grounds and speak to users an advantage when living on site. Still has meetings with clubs pre season to set out ground rules, clubs are also ground managers when playing – all work together to get best out of facility. 2015 is 50th anniversary of McGillivray. So far no commemoration planned. Celebration matches one suggestion. Chris believes it’s important to record and learn from history. Remembers that everything was manual in early days, important to pass on knowledge to future staff. 40:00 Personal achievements – ability to put on major events. Likes the variety at McGillivray, unlike single sport venue such as the WACA. Enjoys interaction with people. Recalls Japanese baseball team came to play WA side, were amazed to see spacious facility. Advantage of large space to be able to hold events like Uni Games. My joys have been successful events. And to have efforts acknowledged by sporting clubs. We walk away every Friday hoping we can show ourselves we have achieved something in a week. 45:00 Enjoyment from work. I feel quite privileged being in this situation. Disappointments: put everything into something but outside factors prevent completion, minor setbacks but still disappointing. Need to rise above, need resilience. Recalls meeting Jean Verscheur after many years and suggested tour of McGillivray with Friends of Grounds. 50:00 Organised morning tea in tractor shed, displayed history, toured facility. People appreciated meeting grounds staff and learning about sports facilities. Glenn Sproule, former curator of grounds was passionate, like George Munns, and had great insight into grounds, an ecologist. Would like see more education of staff about McGillivray – never been staff induction that includes McGillivray. Crawley campus academia quite insular. Chris worked 10 years on James Oval, chemistry lecturer regularly traversed Oval without noticing Chris or Oval. Many immersed in own world, don’t see anything else around. James Oval interesting time for Chris – Elton John played there 1980s. Food fights between competing faculties. Cricket Club 100 years old – Chris put together scrap book about Oval. 55:00 Hard work going from McGillivray to main campus daily. Personnel change enabled Chris to stay at McGillivray. Believes University cricket will struggle if it stays on main campus, like rugby would benefit from moving to McGillivray. 57:00 During early caretaking days, bushland setting, enjoyed walking through bush; had a resident tramp living there. Riding for the Disabled (RDA) used area for riding. Mounted police did training on grounds. Unfortunately some people escaped from Graylands Hospital and would need to be returned. Quite sad. Recently a patient ended up on shed roof, police had to coax him down. During building of Challenge Stadium discovered underground room big enough to stand full height. Walls tiled (from swimming pool tiles), had cooking utensils. Some concern from RDA people, never discovered who lived there. 1:00:00 Found marijuana growing, the odd stolen vehicle. Problems with foxes taking chickens. Their friends enjoyed visiting and being in bush setting. By 2013 area was well populated. Sporting clubs had celebrations on site. Chris continues to enjoy working, still engaged. Since leaving as caretaker, realises there is more to life than work but has also given him renewed enthusiasm. Still finds challenges. Seasonal routines though needs can change quickly—that maintains interest. Enjoys interaction with sportspeople and other users of grounds. Saw Ben Cousins work on rehabilitation, became friendly with family, helped to keep media away. McGillivray now very much media central as far as sport is concerned. 1:05:00 Good for reporters that it’s one stop shop: can find Eagles, Western Force and Perth Glory training on same day. Fun for staff. Chris thinks university could get free publicity out of regular television coverage. Still has much to offer new people coming in, would like to be involved with UWA Sport re-structuring. Doesn’t think he’s slowed down much. 1:08:00 ENDS Audio Files Links to audio files <a href="http://oralhistories.arts.uwa.edu.au/files/original/1dbdb0825c43c0186a0c4235f95d8581.mp3">Marsh_Chris, Interview 1, Track 1</a> <br /><a href="http://oralhistories.arts.uwa.edu.au/files/original/0c535505931bab4fdec2b29a50f39a3c.mp3">Marsh_Chris, Interview 2, Track 1</a> <br /><a href="http://oralhistories.arts.uwa.edu.au/files/original/484473f8b3e2f084db886c1b333c81c0.mp3">Marsh_Chris, Interview 3, Track 1</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Chris Marsh interview, 15 July 2015, 28 July 2015, 05 August 2015 Subject The topic of the resource Other - UWA Sports Grounds Description An account of the resource McGillivray Oval in Mount Claremont, now known as UWA Sports Park , celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2015. Turf Manager Chris Marsh has worked at the grounds for 40 of those years as grounds man, curator and senior turf technician. Chris talks knowledgeably about the history of the grounds from the early twentieth century when the State government endowed the university with a a parcel of land, to the world class multi sport facility it is in 2015. The Park has sporting facilities for athletics, Australian rules football, baseball, cricket, football, hockey, rugby and tennis. It hosts national and international championships and sports carnivals as well as being home to local sporting clubs and schools. Chris talks about the improvements in turf management during his working life and the challenges of providing good playing surfaces for the increasing number of sports played year round on the oval. He provides anecdotes about the odd, unusual and amusing incidents he and his family witnessed during their years on site in the caretaker’s house. At 65 years of age, Chris still finds enjoyment and challenges in his work and appears in no hurry to retire. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Marsh, Chris Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available University of Western Australia Historical Society Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright University of Western Australia Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource MP3 files Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral History https://oralhistories.arts.uwa.edu.au/files/original/728c484f40297f0d703e34824f087d5c.mp3 2d54948908c153fdabc2617c958771f5 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Brodie-Hall session 1 https://oralhistories.arts.uwa.edu.au/files/original/80122fd339b3a81ac76678f24ffbdb95.mp3 93ae654d1a20fcbb8569638512aed9e8 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Brodie-Hall session 2a https://oralhistories.arts.uwa.edu.au/files/original/5c395ea383b7625eda4d85e554ffe8ce.mp3 b43cd8410f1e2acc38c18aa5123549ac Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Brodie-Hall session 2b Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource UWA ORAL HISTORIES Description An account of the resource A collection of interviews with former UWA staff, recorded by the <a href="http://www.alumni.uwa.edu.au/community/historical-society" target="_blank">UWA Historical Society</a> to mark the Centenary of the University in 2013. <br />The UWA Historical Society’s <a href="http://www.alumni.uwa.edu.au/community/historical-society/oral-histories" target="_blank">Oral History Program</a> started as a project with four oral histories funded from Society resources. It was then expanded with support from every Faculty on campus, the Guild, Convocation and through private donations. Additional funding was received through a Heritage Grant. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available University of Western Australia Historical Society Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource University of Western Australia Historical Society Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Anne Yardley Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Lady Jean Brodie-Hall Location The location of the interview West Perth, W.A. Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) Session 1: 00:35:10 Session 2: 01:22:50 Bit Rate/Frequency Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio) 128 kbps Time Summary A summary of an interview given for different time stamps throughout the interview 00:30 Jean Brodie-Hall, maiden name Slatyer, married Ivan Barnes Verschuer in the 1950s. He passed away young and in 1980 she re-married Laurence Charles Brodie-Hall. Born in Rockhampton, 1925. Jean’s father [Thomas Henry Slatyer] was a banker from a Queensland farming family. Jean is the middle child with two older brothers and two younger. Eldest brother Ken studied dentistry, joined the air force during the war and was killed in action. Brother Bob studied engineering at UWA and joined the navy. 04:30 Family moved to Western Australia and built a house at 1 Hillway Nedlands. Jean recalls spending time in the UWA grounds, which were largely bush. The memorial buildings were completed in 1932 and engineering was in the Shenton House building. Jean even then was interested in plants and disliked seeing people take away big bunches of leschenaultia from campus grounds. As a young child in Rockhampton, Jean remembers following the Kanaka gardener around. In the Nedlands home, Jean had her own garden plot. 09:20 Jean recalls going to a very good kindergarten, Miss McQuie’s kindergarten, Nedlands before going to PLC at age seven. In her last year of school, Jean as house captain for Stewart, won the prize for best school garden plot. Jean loved school but had no ambitions for post-school. At 18, she followed a friend into nursing at the Children’s Hospital [now Princess Margaret Hospital]. She loved nursing children and continued nursing in Melbourne before leaving for London in 1949 and work at Great Ormond Street Hospital, the main children’s hospital. 16:30 She loved the experience but felt her parents needed her in Perth. She continued nursing at the Mount Hospital on her return and renewed a friendship with Barnes Verschuer. They married in 1951 and moved to Gooseberry Hill nearer Barnes’ dental practice in Guildford and Jean’s parents who had re-located to the hills. In Gooseberry Hill she pursued her interest in plants while her three children were young. 20:00 Landscape architecture was generally unrecognised in Australia: “I can’t believe I knew nothing about it, but I didn’t.” There were “outstanding” women in the field in London. She began reading widely and enrolled in a Melbourne based course with a friend; they frequented local nurseries together with their children. Only specialist nurseries then stocked native plants. Later George Lulfitz set up the wildflower nursery [1975]. Jean enrolled in Perth Technical College horticulture course run by Lionel Steenbolm and jointly topped the course. 24:00 Jean was advised that landscape architecture would suit her and she took classes in architecture to give her a dual background in horticulture and architecture. She found she was in demand, more so as there was only one woman active at that time, and she was retiring. Mervyn Davies, from a Federal department, was looking at the Perth Airport development and asked Jean for local help with selecting plants. 27:15: Jean could have studied further overseas but with a young family that wasn’t possible. It was the combination of design and horticulture that appealed. She recalls coming home from a successful undertaking in Montreal to have Australia accepted into the International Federation of Landscape Architects through Japan. She loved the broad view of landscape and the subtle, practical pruning of trees to withstand the local storms and snow. “There was very little understanding of fitting with the climate here, in Australia. It was starting to be recognised, but really people just gardened and planned their local maintenance pro adapt to the garden.” 30:20 George Campbell was the first person employed by UWA to assist with garden planning. He designed the layout of the Great Court when Hackett Memorial buildings were planned. He had toured with the Government botanist and introduced 180 new species of indigenous plants to the Government Gardens of Perth. He was one of the leaders in establishing native vegetation. When he died in 1930 his assistant, Oliver Dowell, took over and under the direction of the Vice-Chancellor, the university gardens were gradually developed. Oliver Dowell and his assistant George Munns hybridized species and had Geraldton wax species named for them: Chamelaucium Dowelli, and C.Munnsi also there was one they propagated called University White. 35:10 end first interview session. Second interview session recorded 24/10/14 00:00 Jean defines a landscape architect, as described in the International Standard Classification of Occupations: Landscape Architects research, plan, design and advise on the stewardship, conservation and sustainability of development of the environment and spaces, both within and beyond the built environment. To become a recognised professional landscape architect in Australia, the first requirement is a degree in landscape architecture at a school accredited by the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects. (AILA) After two years of recognised professional practice, graduates can apply for full professional recognition by the AILA. 01:35 Jean’s early projects which were mainly through Forbes and Fitzhardinge, Geoff Summerhayes and Associates and as a consultant to Western Mining. Domestic projects didn’t appeal to Jean. She describes the redesign of Mason Gardens, Nedlands: “The space had held two hockey grounds, a rubbish tip and jungle under the weeping willows which collected the storm water runoff from the surrounding road system. We researched its history and cleaned out under the willows to make a safe fun play space for children to climb the trees, and put in a lake at the higher level which recycled water. Unfortunately I used a strong plastic sheeting, with Council approval, but over time the pool became very attractive to dogs and their claws ripped the sheeting. The City concreted the base but altered the shape of the pond at the same time.” A great team of Kalamunda based workers implemented all Jean’s projects. Predominantly Italian, they followed plans faithfully under supervision. 04:00 The Kambalda project followed her earlier work for WMC which was Belmont Office and Kwinana Nickel Refinery, and later the Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter and Agricola College for the School of Mines. WMC (Western Mining Corporation) provided funds for Murdoch University to establish an environmental science department in lieu of an opening event for the Smelter. Jean’s office in Kalamunda was established after the Institute had been incorporated, but they were always too busy and after several years she accepted an offer from WMC to take her drawing staff and work from their offices to continue the Kambalda Project and commence planning for the Alcoa Pinjarra project chaired by Prof Stephenson. 05:20 Jean’s aim at Kambalda, was to establish a company town and operation in the indigenous setting of the arid woodland of the eastern goldfields. Planning started in the early 1960’s. There was considerable financial pressure to complete the project in the shortest possible time. Helen Whitbread included this project in her Master thesis and thought Jean’s plan was ‘before its time’ but to her was the logical solution for a remote town dependent on the life of an ore body. After the opening, circa 1965, her team received acclaim for the result. 06:40 The houses were all company owned and predominantly prefabricated. Fences enclosed the ‘back yards’ and returned at the house level to provide safe green space but Jean kept the land forward of the houses as part of the verge which prevented the denudation of the existing vegetation and enabled areas to be maintained by the workforce if necessary. She collected seeds and established a nursery for local species not available from government nurseries for both vegetation work and to be available to residents. There was an embargo on removal of existing vegetation and as the contractors moved out, Jean vegetated the many hectares denuded by their holding yards. Jean brought over the first wood chipper to WA and chipped the vegetation from the planned roads for mulch on other areas, to the horror of the Forest department, but it was very successful. In a report by for Melbourne University, Professsor Oscar Ozar said that one of the main reasons residents enjoyed living in Kambalda was because of the established vegetation 09:50 A second town, Kambalda West, was planned west of the known ore body as an open town in the Shire of Coolgardie, on the principles established at Kambalda East. Jean believes landscape architects were the early environmental scientists. 12:25 Melbourne based landscape architect, Mervyn Davies, mentioned earlier, was a member of the British Institute of Landscape Architects and worked on the Perth airport development. John Oldham was also a member of the British Institute and a very good promoter of the profession from his position as Government Landscape Architect. Gordon Stephenson organised the West Australians and arranged for the first informal meeting under the umbrella of the Royal Australian Planning Institute meeting in Adelaide in 1963. The meeting discussed guidelines for a professional body for the Institute. Jean was the West Australian on that group. The first Council was elected in 1966 with Dick Clough as President and incorporated in Queensland. Membership was by a recognised degree, or by a grandfather clause, which is how Jean became a founding member. 15:00 In 1969 Jean was elected to the Federal Council where she served for 10 years, during which time she was international delegate to the International Federation of Landscape Architects for three or four years, the last two as President of the AILA. Being the International delegate was a great experience. At Mervyn Davies’ request Jean successfully put the case for Australia to join the International Federation to the Montreal AGM in 1975. In 1977, the AGM was held at UWA, with Dame Sylvia Crowe as guest speaker. It was run by Michael Tooby, Vicki Metcalf who was assistant Landscape Architect at UWA and Jean. 16:40 Late 1960s Kambalda East was completed and there was talk about making Kambalda West an open town which became the responsibility of Coolgardie shire. Jean was working for Western Mining and due to start work on the Alcoa project. Jean was approached by Arthur Bunbury about a new position at UWA. The Building and Grounds committee had recommended to Senate that a new approach was needed to campus planning and the committee was apparently looking overseas for a suitable Landscape Architect, when George Seddon recommended that Jean be considered. It was decided Jean would go to UWA once free of other tasks. The establishment of the Alcoa facilities at Pinjarra, with an associated town, was at planning stage with Gordon Stephenson chairing a planning committee including Don Fraser and Associates, Gil Nichol as Architect and Jean as Landscape Architect. At that time engineers designed the V ditches, designed to carry storm water by a designed creek bed and required fencing. Jean considered the ditches unsuitable and instead made them similar to a creek bed which enhanced adjacent space and eliminated the need for security fencing. The Country Water Supply engineer commented that he’d never thought of handling storm water in such a way. 19:25 In 1970, Jean began working at UWA just one day a week, tasked with preparing a report on changes required to accommodate pedestrian and vehicular traffic following the completion of the Stirling Highway underpasses. Jean believes she was selected for the job because of her strong horticultural base, her design skills and local knowledge. Jean’s responsibility was for the design and implementation of new landscape projects predominantly necessitated by the current extensive building program. Following the recommendations in Jean’s report on vehicle and pedestrian movement, plans for the eastern walkway were prepared and the first project received approval in 1971. 24:00 Working with the University Architect, Jean’s aim for the eastern walkway was that the Memorial Buildings would become the perimeter of the Court by designing a paving to become an integral part of those surrounding buildings. Whitfield Court was surrounded by roadway and reinforced by the pencil pine trees, the buildings were isolated from the court. Red bricks were used to link the existing bricks in the underpass and in Saw Promenade with the new walkways and provide the surround for the poured concrete. The final design for the walkway evolved during a discussion when they realised that the Canaletto print of the Piazza San Marco in Venice, which hung on the wall in UA’s office, had a similar character to the one they were seeking. It took about 20 samples before the best compatible colour for the paving. Compatibility is important through all the walkways to link the campus together. 27:10 In 1971 the Vice Chancellor advised that the Whitfeld Court Walkway project would start and be carried out in stages. Stage 1 was the eastern walkway. [The details, which Jean considered important, were to: • emphasise the stone edge of the covered way, which had been concealed by the bitumen footpath and • introduce a drainage channel to allow the walkway to grade to the east. • remove unsightly wing walls from the entrance to the underpass and • construct limestone retaining walls to extend past the bookshop.] 27:30 Later the building linking the bookshop and Hackett Hall Refectory, which opened only to the east, was altered to provide a chemist and then travel shop opening to the west at an intermediate level. The design which linked the four levels, allowed for a northern entrance to the Refectory below a new planting of Gleditsia var ‘Sunburst’. The eastern walkway was completed by the end of 1972 and the Vice Chancellor advised that stage 2 would encompass the western and southern sections. He wrote: “the completion of these two additional areas will at last do justice to the dignity of Winthrop Hall and its approaches, and will add further to the attractiveness of the Undercroft.” Work began on Whitfeld Court paving stage 2: the Western and southern sections. In late 1973 it was reported that: “Work on the new paving on the west side of Whitfeld court began in November ’73 and will be completed by the end of February. The total area involved in the paving contract will be all the existing roadway from north of Administration to south of the archway at the Winthrop Hall entrance, and east to meet the new paving at the north end of Saw Promenade.” 30:38 It was a very complex project and the design of the second stage of the Whitfeld Court paving included establishing a new level to be parallel to the covered way which involved: • excavating to a depth of 500 mm at the northern end and a new entrance to what is now, in 2015 the Visitors Centre, • replacement of underground services (installed by the Design Engineer). • two new Donnybrook stone steps at new level at the northern end of the covered way, • two new flights of steps from the paving to the reflection pond level, • a redesign of the north western corner of Winthrop Hall (now again redesigned) and • reducing the road level south of the archway to avoid impinging on the vista through the arch and allowing the redesign on the southern levels to be below the floor level of the undercroft. • a change of level to the south western corner of Winthrop Hall, which enabled an unsightly Spiraea Thunbergia hedge surrounding the Howea Forsteriana (Kentia palms) to be removed and show the tracery of their trunks to advantage. 34:30 Jean wishes she had been brave enough to push the pencil pines out because they prevented the building being the perimeter. Many of the poplars were removed. Jean was delighted when a visiting University planner asked if the walkways had been part of the original design. Jean decided that this was a great commendation. 36:40 The project was complex and on Jean’s recommendation, the project was implemented by letting a series of small contracts, under her control. The excavated soil was used at other campus sites to complete several project. Vice Chancellor, Professor Whelan would walk round the campus with Jean to discuss progress. She had several letters though from a member of the Bursar’s Office complaining that he could no longer cross the newly paved areas without wearing his sun glasses. 40:20 Jean was officially appointed as inaugural landscape architect in 1974 with this duty statement: 1.1 Responsible to the University Architect for all matters in connection with planning and maintenance of grounds and sports fields, and for specific developmental work associated therewith as directed by the University Architect. 1.2 Responsible for the operation of the University grounds staff and its administration. 1.3 Responsible for the management of, and expenditure in accordance with University procedures, of funds within the annual Premises and Grounds section of the budget which relate to landscape development and maintenance, and the allocations for landscaping made from within Government grants for particular projects. This includes responsibility for recruitment, industrial relations and training of a staff of 28, including the Foreman Gardener, and a formal training program for student or apprentice gardeners. 1.4 Advise the University Architect and when required other senior members of the University Architect’s office on the landscaping implications of building and site works projects. 1.5 Assist in preparing briefs for commissioned architects and other consultants appointed for new developments and assist the University Architect in evaluating the landscaping implications of their design. 1.6 Prepare designs and specifications for all landscaping work as required, including roads and car parks in collaboration with the Officer of Works. Jean says her approach to her work is a practical one, bringing in projects under budget and utilising discarded soil on other projects, for instance on the Reid Library steps. 44:05 Changes were made to the grounds staff to provide training for both specific skills such as automatically controlled irrigation installation and to enable appropriate staff to undertake the two year course in Horticulture at Bentley Technical School on weekly day release and our skill base was increased by adding a stone mason and a bricklayer to enable most work to be undertaken in house. Jean was comfortable being in charge of a team of men. She relates the story of introducing a new apprentice, on his knees weeding, to the Vice Chancellor and moved on. Afterwards she went back to this boy and told him that when she stopped to speak to him with a guest, he should stand up, wipe his hands on his pants and shake hands. His response was: “I don’t know whether you are my boss or my Mum”. Andrew Gwynne who had come from Dawson’s Nursery became an outstanding foreman of grounds 47:30 Friends of the Grounds helped provide funds for the book Landscape for Learning, by George Seddon. In the Foreword to ‘Landscape for Learning’ Geoffrey Kennedy wrote: “Some of the most attractive areas within the grounds of the University are Whitfeld Court, for the improvement of which Jean Verschuer was responsible, the Sunken Garden, Somerville Auditorium, the Great Court, the Tropical Grove, the Oak Lawn, Jackson Court, Prescott Court and Whelan Court.” The changes to Prescott Court were designed after Jean’s time at UWA and the original layout of the Great Court was part of the Wilkinson plan with the Hackett Memorial Buildings in 1927 but finally not implemented due to the graduate development of the ‘Grove’ which had developed from plantings to screen a gardener’s shed and the initial plantings for the Great Court, carried out in 1930 by George Campbell, with his assistant Oliver Dowell. 50:00 The other projects, large and small, were all part of our campus development between 1970 and 1980 to achieve a character which was appropriate for an important tertiary institution, that is, a tranquil park like setting for our beautiful buildings yet allowing for maximum future building space, covered ways and quiet internal courtyards. Their aim was; to achieve a place with a special relationship between buildings, spaces and vegetation, a place of higher learning with an uncluttered and tranquil park like setting, peopled predominantly by the University community.’ 51:30 In 1973 there was pressure to use the Somerville Auditorium’s rather unattractive and largely unused space as a car park for University House. Jean was asked to report on this, she considered it was of vital importance to the University to keep this private space, to retain the cathedral of trees and restore it to an attractive grove, reinforcing the hedge of clipped Agonis flexuosa rather than have the present appearance of an unattractive outdoor picture theatre. The stage had deteriorated and was no longer safe. Jean undertook to provide work experience for the REDS work experience scheme. She set the participants to progressively work on 20 projects including the demolition of the stage. Initially not keen on the scheme, Jean says it was in fact very successful. The entrance to Botany was the last project worked on by REDS participants. The area was mulched but Jean was no longer there when the vegetation grew and could be selectively reduced. Somerville Auditorium: The paving at the entrance, under the jarrah beams, Jean says, was dreadful. It was a combination of different coloured octagonal pavers which Somerville had considered should become standard paving. The entrance was repaved with terracotta brick bands set in the lawn and re-graded the auditorium site to provide a raised mound to replace the stage for use by guest speakers or events and by inserting sleeves to hold temporary support for the summer film screen. The bio box at the eastern end was demolished to provide temporary access for a caravan with the necessary film equipment. Jean designed the ‘jousting tents’ for the ticket box which was removed at the end of the film festival leaving the cathedral of trees. 59:00 Jean is most proud of Whitfield Court, although she does regret not completing the final stage. When Music was relocated and constructed to the east of the Auditorium, Jean formed spaces for Professor Calloway to use for outdoor music events. The architect wanted to remove the hedge on the north east side. Jean objected as it would have ruined the containment of Somerville. Jean solved the problems and thereafter she was given the job of preparing areas for new buildings. She wrote a standard that included that tree roots were to be treated as an underground service and not disturbed. 1:07:00 Whelan Court had been occupied by the telephone exchange building, shielded by a row of hibiscus species and adjacent to a through road above the Sunken Garden, which linked the western side of the Administration Building south to the entrance to the Bursars Office. There were several beautiful, mature trees of Celtis mississippiensis adjacent to the Prescott Room all at a level approximately 450 mm below the floor level of the Vice Chancellery. When the telephone exchange was relocated to the Reid Library extension the space was redesigned to: • Improve visual and physical access to the Sunken Garden and provide an outdoor, reasonably private entertaining space for the Vice Chancellor at a level compatible with the floor level of the Prescott Room.. • The road was shown to be unnecessary and was removed, the hibiscus species were removed, soil levels were adjusted to build up the level around the Celtis species and east to the building. • Improved access both physical and visual, into the Sunken Garden above the Shann Memorial, was achieved by replacing the original steps with a longer graded walk. The existing vegetation band east of the Sunken Garden, predominantly Rottnest Island Pines, was widened and other West Australian indigenous species, including several Xanthorrhoea preissii in a mature size and one Agonis flexuosa, ‘fairy foliage’, planted to the northern end of this group. • A limestone wall was constructed to the north of the entertaining area to provide privacy from the footpath adjacent to the southern face of the northern extension, a brick paved terrace installed beside the western face of the building and additional privacy provided by increasing the level of the soil to the south and dense planting running to the entrance to the Bursars office. Professor Whelan used the new space for entertaining. At a conference in Brisbane, Jean discovered a South African grass which would thrive under trees and which was subsequently used in the Great Court and Whelan Court. 1:14:25 Recognition of the changes made during the 1970s decade was received by The Royal Australian Institute of Architects’ Western Australian Chapter in 1979. The citation was: In recognition of the contribution made by the University of Western Australia to a consistently good standard of architecture. The last ten years have seen a major building expansion program at the campus which has enhanced the total environment by sympathetic relationship of buildings old and new and sensitively related spaces. UWA was awarded the inaugural Western Australian Civic Design Award in 1986 for excellence in civic design. The submission was prepared using Jean’s work. I was unaware of the submission until the afternoon of the award when the Chancellor. When he accepted the Award he made it clear that it was Jean’s work on the panels which were on display. 1:16:35 After taking early retirement, she was later asked to sit on advisory committees and worked closely with Geoff Kennedy and a team to establish Friends of the Grounds. Jean is Patron of the Centenary Trust for Women She received the Chancellor’s Medal saying it was a great honour. 1:19:00 Jean took early retirement in 1980 as her husband wanted her to be able to spend more time with him. They found a small 100 ac property in the hills east of Harvey which they developed together. Jean says it was very hard to retire in 1981 and has been very fortunate to maintain links with the University. Jean has been an honorary worker for nearly 40 years during which time she re-designed the area around the Kalgoorlie School of Mines as a pedestrian precinct. 1:21:10 In 2001, Jean was awarded an Order of Australia for conservation and the environment. Jean says this is principally for her work in Kambalda. She also holds the 1990 biennial award from her Institute. She feels fortunate to have lived till nearly 90: “what more could you ask for?” ENDS 1:22:50 Audio Files Links to audio files <a href="http://oralhistories.arts.uwa.edu.au/files/original/728c484f40297f0d703e34824f087d5c.mp3" target="_blank">Brodie-Hall_session1<br /></a><a href="https://oralhistories.arts.uwa.edu.au/files/original/80122fd339b3a81ac76678f24ffbdb95.mp3">Brodie-Hall_session2A</a><br /><a href="http://oralhistories.arts.uwa.edu.au/files/original/5c395ea383b7625eda4d85e554ffe8ce.mp3" target="_blank">Brodie-Hall_session2B</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Jean Brodie-Hall interview, 13 August and 24 October 2014 Subject The topic of the resource Landscape architecture Description An account of the resource Lady Jean Brodie-Hall (Verschuer), AM, is a West Australian with a long and distinguished career as a landscape architect. In the 1960s, she was a founding member of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) at a time when the profession was in its infancy in Australia. Jean served on the Institute’s federal council for 10 years, during which time she was the delegate to the International Federation of Landscape Architects and in her final two years was President of the AILA. In private practice, as Jean Verschuer, she worked extensively for Western Mining Corporation on their Kambalda project, at the Kwinana Nickel Refinery, the Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter and the Agricola College for the School of Mine, amongst others. Jean was appointed UWA’s first landscape architect in 1974. She was initially engaged to report on requirements for pedestrian and vehicular traffic following the completion of the Stirling Highway underpasses. As landscape architect Jean was responsible for the planning, design and maintenance of the campus in the office of the University Architect until her retirement in 1981. Her major achievements and challenges are discussed in the interview. In 1979 Jean became a Fellow of the AILWA and was awarded the AILA Award in Landscape Architecture in 1990. In 2001, she was awarded Member of the Order of Australia for her contribution to conservation and the environment. Jean Brodie-Hall has maintained strong connections with UWA, helping to establish the UWA Friends of the Grounds, becoming Patron of the UWA Centenary Trust for Women and serving tirelessly on numerous committees. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Brodie-Hall, Jean Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available University of Western Australia Historical Society Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright holder University of Western Australia Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource MP3 files Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral History https://oralhistories.arts.uwa.edu.au/files/original/7b100784145002ad62709142c4fba83a.mp3 9425034f06f16674f63aec77c84af5e4 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource UWA ORAL HISTORIES Description An account of the resource A collection of interviews with former UWA staff, recorded by the <a href="http://www.alumni.uwa.edu.au/community/historical-society" target="_blank">UWA Historical Society</a> to mark the Centenary of the University in 2013. <br />The UWA Historical Society’s <a href="http://www.alumni.uwa.edu.au/community/historical-society/oral-histories" target="_blank">Oral History Program</a> started as a project with four oral histories funded from Society resources. It was then expanded with support from every Faculty on campus, the Guild, Convocation and through private donations. Additional funding was received through a Heritage Grant. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available University of Western Australia Historical Society Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource University of Western Australia Historical Society Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Julia Wallis Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Wing Chung (Michael) FOK Location The location of the interview Arts Building in the University of Western Australia. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data MP3 files Bit Rate/Frequency Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio) 128 kbs Time Summary A summary of an interview given for different time stamps throughout the interview 00:00 Introduction by Julia Wallis 00:49 Michael was born in Singapore to a family of Chinese background. He has an older and a younger brother and a younger sister. Michael’s family lived in a housing estate that was owned by the Keppel Shipyard where Michael’s father worked. Michael’s grandfather and uncle also worked here. Initially the family lived in a flat. When Michael’s father was promoted, the family moved to a house in the Telok Blangah area. The area is now very high-rise and part of the entertainment area of Singapore and the family home has since been demolished. The British were still running Singapore when Michael was growing up. They had established a naval base there as well as commercial shipping. From time to time, Michael’s father would entertain the British senior management at home. One manager, Kevin Rodney, became a very close family friend. 05:12 Michael studied English from Primary School. He was considered one of the top students in Secondary School and took ‘O’ and ‘A’ level examinations and then gained a scholarship. Both Michael’s brothers studied engineering. Michael did vacation work at Keppel Shipyard when he was studying at the University of Western Australia. There was no exam involved in the scholarship but there was an interview process and luckily he had good grades as the scholarship was very competitive. He was very happy to be able to travel overseas and expand his horizons. 10:18 Michael knew nothing about Australia apart from the fact that there were kangaroos. Singapore was bustling and crowded. Perth seemed very quiet by comparison. When Michael arrived in Perth in 1967, people did not seem to know much about Asia. Michael did not encounter any problems with people and tried hard to fit in. He had travelled to Perth on a Comet jet plane. The flight took about 8 hours and there was a stop in Jakarta. Five Colombo plan students arrived from Singapore. The university and the Combo Plan organisation looked after them very well. There were only two Chinese restaurants in Perth. It took some time for him to become accustomed to Western food. 15:26 Michael was accommodated in a house in Loftus Street, Nedlands. The landlady was Singaporean. Michael shared a room with another student. It was nice to have companionship in order to find your feet in the early months. There were two other Asian students in the house and an Australian known as “Wallaby”. He was a real Aussie. Michael was impressed with the university grounds – the size, the setting, the gardens and the beautiful buildings. Transport was a bugbear as buses were infrequent. First year of Engineering was a general course. Second year was harder. 20:37 Michael had already decided to specialise in mechanical engineering. By the second year, he felt much more comfortable. He recalled the Dean, Professor Allen-Williams, Dr John Wager and Dr Lutz who used the same lecture notes year and year. There were other Asian students in Michael’s class from Sarawak, Vietnam and Cambodia. Caroline Clarke was the only female student. 23:30 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wing Chung (Michael) Fok interviews, 2 and 8 July 2020 Subject The topic of the resource Michael FOK's Family background and as a Columbo Student in UWA back in 1967 Description An account of the resource Family background, early life and education in Singapore. Keppel Shipyard. Columbo Scholarship. Impressions of Perth on arrival in Perth in 1967. Student house in Loftus Street, Nedlands. The Engineering Faculty at UWA. Settling into college life. Student activities and social life. Move to Kingswood College. The sausage protest. Greasy’s Hamburger Shop in Hampden Road. Rivalry between the Engineering and Law Students. Tug of war. Pranks. College life. Vietnam War protest on Stirling Highway. Mixing with students from other faculties. Meeting his future wife. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource FOK, Wing Chung (Michael) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available University of Western Australia Historical Society Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright University of Western Australia Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource MP3 files Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral History