MS 9360 Papers of Beryl Henderson (1897-1990)
Papers
1973-92
56 cm (4 boxes)
Available for reference.
The papers were received by the Library in two consignments in 1993.
They were once part of the collection of the Womens Studies Unit at the
Australian National University. They were forwarded to the Library with papers
belonging to Edna Ryan which had also been part of the Womens Archive.
The papers form an artificial series put together by Edna Ryan. They
consist mainly of personal correspondence between Beryl Henderson and Edna Ryan
over a period of thirteen years (1977-90). Edna Ryan had kept Hendersons
letters and also a carbon copy of her response to each letter. She had also
preserved other material including correspondence with others and newscuttings
relating to the translation of Abortion: the Bobigny affair from the
French. Edna Ryan acted as agent for Beryl Henderson in negotiations with the
publisher, Wild and Woolley, and also assisted in fundraising activities to
enable the book to be published in Australia.
The main correspondents are Beryl Henderson, Edna Ryan and Florence
Robinson.
The collection was arranged in envelopes and files when received by the
Library. The file and envelope titles and arrangement of the material within
them have been preserved by the Library. However, the Library has arranged the
collection into two series.
Other papers originally part of the Womens Archive and now held by
the National Library include those of Edna Ryan (MS
9140), Julia Ryan (MS 9361), and
Thelma Hunter (MS 9353).
Beryl Henderson was born in Lincoln, England, in January 1897 and died
in Jerusalem, Israel in December 1990, a month before her 94th birthday.
Although she gained entry to university, the economic circumstances in
her family did not permit her to attend. She won a scholarship to the Diocesan
Training College, Lincoln, and became a primary school teacher.
Early in life, Henderson became interested in political and social
issues, associating with Fabian Society members and the Pankhurst family. She
belonged to that generation of British women whose fiancés were killed
in World War I and who never married. A feminist activist, Beryl became a
councillor on the Extra Metropolitan London Borough Council, 1929-32, a member
of the first Committee of the Abortion Law Reform Association in England in
1936 and a member of the Progressive League.
Henderson left England to teach languages in an Israeli Kibbutz in
1960-64. Answering an advertisement in an English newspaper, she then came to
Victoria as a housekeeper in 1965. She visited Canberra on holiday and decided
to make it her home. Renting a room in Ainslie she started her first job in
Canberra, undertaking housecleaning and general domestic work.
Beryl Henderson found employment in Canberra Hospital in 1969, teaching
English to migrants. She taught classes in 1969-73, forming many friendships in
the migrant community. Volunteers from Womens Liberation helped by
minding the children to enable migrant mothers to attend classes.
Henderson was responsible for setting up the Abortion Law Reform
Association in Canberra. She also became active in the Family Planning
Association (Life Membership in 1979) and the Humanist Society. As an active
member of Canberra Womens Liberation, Henderson performed the official
opening of the first Womens Refuge in Canberra (1975), now named after
her.
In 1974 Henderson translated from the French the book on the Bobigny
Trial in France, Abortion: the Bobigny affair: law on trial, which was
published by Wild and Woolley, Sydney 1975. Gisele Halimi, the French Arab
lawyer who conducted the defence in the famous trial and wrote the book,
expressed her great satisfaction with the standard of Hendersons
translation when she launched it in Sydney during International Womens
Year, 1975. The Womens Movement in Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra
contributed to the cost of the publication.
At the end of the 1970s Henderson returned to Israel. Soon after her
ninetieth birthday, at the suggestion of her friends in Australia, she
agreed to set up the Foundation in her name. The Beryl Henderson Foundation was
established in May 1987 by eight of her friends. It offers an annual prize for
an essay of no more than 5000 words on a topic relevant to womens studies
or to the status of women. Eligible entrants must be enrolled in an
undergraduate course in a post-secondary public education institution in
Australia in the year preceding submission. The inaugural prize was presented
in 1998.
| Series |
Title |
|
|
| 1 |
Correspondence, 1977-90 |
| 2 |
Other papers, 1970-92 |
| Series 1 |
Correspondence, 1977-90 |
|
This series consists of letters, newscuttings, postcards and
photographs. The letters were written by Beryl Henderson to her close friend,
Edna Ryan over a period of thirteen years on her return to Israel in the late
1970s. Edna Ryan had kept Hendersons letters and in most cases stapled a
carbon copy of her response to each letter. The letters discuss many topics
including family and friends, gardening, literature, politics in Australia and
Israel and the continuing involvement of both women with womens issues.
As her health deteriorated Beryl Henderson was unable to write her own letters
anymore. Most of the 1989-90 letters were dictated by Beryl and written by her
close friend and carer, Nurit. There is also a file of letters written by
Henderson to another close friend, Florence Robinson, and a file of
correspondence belonging to Edna Ryan. |
|
|
|
Folder |
|
|
| 1-2 |
Correspondence with Edna Ryan, 1977-79. There are also five
letters written by Edna Ryan relating to the Bonnie Womens Refuge in
Cabramatta, New South Wales |
| 3 |
Correspondence with Edna Ryan, 1980 |
| 4-5 |
Correspondence with Edna Ryan, 1980-83. There is also
correspondence (8 letters) between Edna Ryan and Pat Woolley of Wild and
Woolley relating to the purchase of the remaindered stock of Abortion: the
Bobigny Affair by the Womens Electoral Lobby (WEL). |
| 6 |
Correspondence with Edna Ryan, 1984-85 |
| 7-8 |
Correspondence with Edna Ryan, 1986-87 |
| 9-10 |
Correspondence with Edna Ryan, 1986-89 |
| 11 |
Correspondence with Edna Ryan, 1990 |
| 12 |
Correspondence, 1981-86, between Beryl Henderson and Florence
Robinson. (The 10 letters were forwarded to Edna Ryan by Florence Robinson in
1993) |
| 13-14 |
Correspondence, 1979-80, belonging to Edna Ryan. It consists
mainly of in and out letters generated by her on personal matters and
womens issues |
| Series 2 |
Other Papers, 1970-92 |
|
This series consists mainly of material relating to the Bobigny
Trial, a famous abortion case in France in 1972. The book Abortion : the
Bobigny affair: a law on trial was translated into English by Beryl
Henderson and published by Wild and Woolley in Sydney in 1975. There is a
folder of material relating to the publication of this work. Another folder
contains material relating to the establishment of the Beryl Henderson
Foundation. There are also photocopies of four bibliographies relating to
womens studies. |
|
|
|
Folder |
|
|
| 1-3 |
Correspondence, 1975, relating to the publication of
Abortion: the Bobigny affair. The main correspondents are Beryl
Henderson, Edna Ryan and Pat Woolley. Edna Ryan undertook most of the
negotiations with the publishers on behalf of Beryl Henderson and established
an appeal to raise funds for the publication of the book. There is also a
ledger containing contributions to the publishing fund, letters seeking
donations and newscuttings of book reviews |
| 4 |
Two copies of Abortion: the Bobigny affair. One copy
contains the signatures of Gisele Halimi, Edna Ryan and Beryl Henderson. A
second copy has been signed by Beryl Henderson. |
| 5 |
Newscuttings from French newspapers relating to abortion issues,
1974 |
| 6 |
Newscuttings from English and French newspapers relating to
abortion issues, 1973-78 |
| 7-9 |
Correspondence, 1988-92, relating to the establishment of the
Beryl Henderson Foundation, agenda and minutes of meetings, a brochure about
the Foundation, photocopies of an obituary notice from the Canberra Times,
December 1990, and transcripts of messages read at a memorial gathering held in
Canberra, 22 December 1990 |
| 10-11 |
Female studies 1-IV: photocopies of four publications
listing bibliographies and syllabi on womens studies. The first volume
was produced by Sheila Tobias in 1970. It lists courses taught in various
American colleges and universities on womens studies. The other three
volumes (1970-71) by various authors were produced for the Modern Language
Association on the Status of Women which also began to operate as a clearing
house for information on new curricular developments in feminist
studies |
|
Box |
Series |
Folder/Piece |
|
1 |
1 |
1-7 |
|
2 |
1 |
8-14 |
|
3 |
2 |
1-6 |
|
4 |
2 |
7-11 |
August 1999 |