MS 9486
Papers of Meredith Stokes
Scope and Content Note
Creator: Meredith Stokes
Title: Papers
Date range: 1971-97
Extent: 1.82 m. (13 boxes) + 17 folio items
Reference number: MS 9486
Administrative Information
Access: Available for reference
Provenance: The collection was donated to the National Library by
Meredith Stokes, through the National Museum of Australia, in 1993.
A small addition was received from Meredith Stokes in January 2001.
Related materials : The records of the Womens International League
for Peace and Freedom are held at MS 7755. The papers of Vivienne Abraham are
held at MS 9152. The papers of Julia Ryan are held at
MS 9361.
The Mining at Noonkanbah radio interviews, conducted by Meredith
Petronella (Stokes) and others, are held at ORAL TRC 800/3.
The papers consist principally of secondary source material relating to
a wide range of issues relating to women, human rights and the environment.
Among the issues reflected in the collection are women in the peace movement,
the rights of indigenous Australians, energy conservation, the uranium
industry, and United States military installations in Australia. International
issues represented in the collection include the independence movements in East
Timor and Papua New Guinea, apartheid and military intervention in Central
America.
The activities and publications of several organisations, including many
Canberra groups, are documented in the collection. They include the
Womens Electoral Lobby, the Canberra and South-East Region Environment
Centre, the Canberra Programme for Peace, Canberra Women for Survival, the
Registry of Women Artists, the Womens International League for Peace and
Freedom (Australian Section) and the Committees in Solidarity with Central
America and the Caribbean (CISCAC) (folders 55-58).
The collection includes some correspondence, circular letters,
newsheets, articles and speeches, conference documents, printed ephemera,
newspaper cuttings and miscellaneous journals. There are a few pages of notes
made by Stokes on the Women and Development Network of Australia (WADNA)
(folders 28-29) and on other subjects (folder 72). Two poems by Petronella
Ardlie, entitled Two arrive and The markets, appear in
the Summer 1987 issue of WADNA newsletter (folder 29). A copy of a
typescript draft of an article by Petronella Ardlie entitled Social
defence (n.d.) may be found in folder 40.
The National Labor Womens Conference was held in Canberra from 29
January to 1 February 1982. Conference documents in the collection include
notices to delegates, copies of the Programme, papers delivered and Resolutions
carried by the Conference. There is a paper by Julia Ryan entitled
Capitalism and patriarchyand one by Edna Ryan called Labor
women since Federation (folder 30).
The material on East Timor includes a letter from Petronella Ardlie to
the Minister for Foreign Affairs, A. Street (1978) and a Statement by Jose
Ramos-Horta, Fretelin representative to the United Nations (1984) (folder
66).
Organisation: The papers have been arranged according to the subject
categories employed by Stokes in her listing of the files, with the 2001
addition being incorporated into the collection. The Museum records are not
referred to in the listing.
Biographical Note
Meredith Stokes, who lives in Canberra, has worked for peace and
womens rights over many years. She has been associated with various
networks, organisations and fora of nonviolence activists. She served as a
Committee member of the Women and Development Network of Australia, ACT Branch.
She was also involved in broadcasts for the Canberra community radio station
2XX.
Folder List
Folder
Womens Issues
1 Discrimination and opportunity, 1971-84
2 Education, 1975-87
3 Health, 1979-84
4 Literature, cinema, art, electronic media, 1978-82
5 Rape and abortion, 1978-83
6 Social issues, 1976-85
7 Women achievers, 1980-87
8 Women against nuclear energy, 1982-84
9 Womens Electoral Lobby, 1979-83
10 Womens rights and status, 1978-83
11 World Vision of Australia leaflets and worksheets
Womens Issues Publications
12 If I was a lady and other picture stories (National Youth
Council of Australia, 1975)
13 Labor women speak, Vol. 2, no. 3 (Sept. 1981) v. 3,
no. 1 (Mar. 1982) (3 issues)
14 Lobby: ACT ALP quarterly, 1984 and 1987-88 (2 issues)
15 Monitor, Vol. 4, no. 4 (23 May, 1979); Woroni, Vol.
31, no. 7 (11-25 June, 1979); National W, (5 Sept., 1978)
16 Povertys woman: a guide for teachers (World Vision of
Australia, 1984)
17 Rouge, No. 1 (June 1979) no. 3 (Sept. 1979)
18 Sister: a new direction for women, (Winter issue 1978)
19 Wilderness news, No. 4-5 (1984) (2 issues)
20 Wimminews, Vol. 1, no. 6 (n.d.) Feb. 1981 (12
issues)
21 Wimminews, July - Dec. 1984 (6 issues)
22 Wimminews, Feb. Dec. 1985 (7 issues)
23 Wimminews, Jan. Nov. 1986 (11 issues 2 issues
published in August 1986)
24 Wimminews, Jan. Dec. 1987 (12 issues)
25 Wimminews, Feb. Oct. [1988?] (6 issues)
26 Womens news service, No. 20 no. 21 (1978)
27 Womanspeak, Vol. 3, no. 4 v. 4, no. 4 (1978) (2
issues)
Women and Development Network of Australia (WADNA)
28-29 General matters, 1984-87
National Labor Womens Conference, Canberra, 29 Jan.
1 Feb. 1982
30-31Conference papers
32 Administrative documents
Womens International League for Peace and Freedom
(WILPF)
33 Pax et libertas, Vol. 51, no. 4 (Dec. 1986), Vol. 52, no. 1
(Mar. 1987) no. 3 (Sept. 1987), Vol. 53, no. 1 (1988), and no. 4 (1988), Vol.
57, no. 3 (Sept. 1992) and no. 4 (Dec. 1992), Vol. 58, no. 1 (Mar. 1993)
34-35 Peace and freedom: journal of the Womens International
League for Peace and Freedom (Australian Section), Vol. 19, no. 3 (Spring
1982) v. 24, no. 3 (Dec. 1987); Vol. 29, no. 3 (Oct. 1992), no. 4 (Dec.
1992) and Vol. 30, no. 1 (Feb. 1993)
36 W.I.L.P.F bulletin, No. 193 (Oct. 1982) no. 194 (Dec.
1982) and Newsletter (W.I.L.P.F. New Zealand Section), No. 1 (Mar.
1983)
37 Miscellaneous documents, 1982-95
International Human Rights and Social Justice
Issues
38 Aboriginal issues, 1975-88
39-42 Articles and other papers, 1977-86
43 Chile Solidarity Committee (Canberra), 1978-82
44 Human Rights Council of Australia, 1980-84
45 Philippines Action Support Group (Canberra), 1981-84
46 Newspaper cuttings, 1978-87
International Human Rights and Social Justice Issues
Publications
47 Action! (Australian Freedom from Hunger), Vol. 3, no. 2
(Apr.-June 1984) v. 7, no. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1988) (9 issues)
48 Asia Pacific solidarity, No. 19 (Mar. 1985) no. 21
(Sept. 1985) and Union aid report (Australian People for Health,
Education and Development Abroad), Vol. 1, no. 1 (Aug. 1984)
49 AZANIA news, Vol. 19, no. 1 (Jan. 1983) v. 19, no. 4
(Apr. 1983) (3 issues)
50 CARPA bulletin (Committee against Repression in the Pacific
and Asia), No. 6 (Sept. 1980) no. 18 (Oct.-Nov. 1984) (8 issues)
51 Development dossier, 3 (Dec. 1980) 6 (Aug. 1981) (3
issues) and ACFOA news, No. 5-6 (June 1984)
52 Identity (Aboriginal Publications Foundation), Vol. 4, no. 6
(Jan. 1982) v. 4, no. 7 (June 1982)
53 New leaves: a grassroots magazine on social issues, No. 8
(Feb. 1987) no. 10 (Apr. 1987) (3 issues)
54 Resistance, No. 24 (Aug.-Sept. 1983)
55 Venceremos (Committees in Solidarity with Central America
and the Caribbean), No. 2 (Feb. 1981) v. 1, no. 4 (Nov. 1982 Jan.
1983) (2 issues)
56 Venceremos, Feb. 1983 v. 2, no. 7 (15 Nov., 1983) (7
issues)
57 Venceremos, Vol. 3, no. 4 (Feb.-Mar. 1984) v. 3, no.
5 (Oct.-Nov. 1984) (5 issues)
58 Venceremos, Vol. 4, no. 1 (Feb.-Mar. 1985) v. 4, no.
5 (Nov.-Dec. 1985) (5 issues)
International Human Rights and Social Justice Issues - East
Timor
59a 2 speeches by Noam Chomsky, 1978-79
59b Letter relating to Mabo from Paul Keating, 1993
60 Newspaper cuttings, 1982-86
61 East Timor and Pacific report (Campaign for an Independent
East Timor (ACT)), No. 1 (May 1979) no. 6 (Oct.-Nov. 1979) (5
issues)
62 East Timor news: bulletin of the East Timor News Agency, No.
60 (Nov. 8, 1979) no. 83-85 (Winter 1985) (5 issues)
63 East Timor report (Australian Council for Overseas Aid), No.
5 (Nov. 1983) no. 6 (Mar. 1984)
64 East Timor report (Campaign for an Independent East Timor
(ACT)), No. 1 (Jan. 1978) no. 14 (Mar. 1979)
65 Report (Australia East Timor Association (ACT)), No. 8 (Nov.
1977); Dateline Darwin, Vol. 1, no. 1 (June 1977); Timor
Information Service (journal), No. 24 and no. 26 (1978)
66 Miscellaneous documents, 1979-85
Environmental, Conservation and Anti-Nuclear Issues
67 Correspondence, 1980-87
68 Articles (photocopies)
69-70 Articles and miscellaneous papers, 1977-85
71 Canberra and South-East Region Environment Centre, 1980-85
72 Environmental and peace issues in Canberra, 1979-85
73 Nuclear Free Pacific, 1976-86
74 World Assembly for Peace and Life against Nuclear War, Prague,
1983
75 Miscellaneous publications, 1977-82
76 Miscellaneous publications, 1983-87
77a Newspaper cuttings, 1973-87
77b Peace research information, 1995-97
77c 10 postcards with message Women demance peace for the
world, 1987
Environmental, Conservation and Anti-Nuclear Issues
Publications
78 Chain reaction (Friends of the Earth Australia), Vol. 2, no.
1 (Autumn 1976) v. 2, no. 2 (1976)
79 Chain reaction, Vol. 2, no. 4 (1977) v. 3, no. 3
(1977) (3 issues)
80 Chain reaction, Vol. 3, no. 4 (1978) v. 4, no. 2-3
(1978) (3 issues)
81 Chain reaction, Vol. 4, no. 4 (1979)
82 Chain reaction, Vol. 5, no. 4 (Aug.-Sept. 1980) no.
22 (Summer 1980-81) (4 issues)
83 Chain reaction, No. 23 (Autumn 1981) no. 26 (Summer
1981)
84 Chain reaction, No. 27 (Autumn 1982) no. 30 (Summer
1982-83)
85 Chain reaction, No. 31 (Autumn 1983) no. 35 (Dec.
1983 Jan. 1984) (4 issues)
86 Chain reaction, No. 36 (Feb.-Mar. 1984) no. 40 (Dec.
1984)
87 Chain reaction, No. 41 (Apr.-May 1985) no. 44 (Summer
1985)
88 Chain reaction, No. 45 (Autumn 1986) no. 46 (Winter
1986); No. 58 (Winter 1989)
89 Groundswell, Vol. 1, no. 1 (Oct. 1982) and v. 1, no. 3 (Mar.
1983)
90 Novosti Press Agency Publishing House, Moscow, 4 publications:
Political declaration of the Warsaw Treaty member states
(1983)
Gerasimov, Gennadi, Keep space weapon-free (1984)
Gromyko, A.A., To avert the war danger and stop the arms race
(1984)
Kuznetsov, Vladlen, A nuclear age peace code is needed
(1984)
91 Peace paper (Canberra Programme for Peace), No. 5/1983
no. 2/1984 (4 issues)
92 Peace paper, Jan. 1985 Nov.-Dec. 1985 (8 issues)
93 Peace paper, Jan.-Feb. 1986 Oct. 1986 (5 issues
2 different issues for Oct. 1986)
94 Peace paper, Feb. 1987 July 1987 (2 issues and 4
undated issues)
95 Social alternatives, Vol. 1, no. 6-7 (June 1980) v.
3, no. 1 (Oct. 1982) (3 issues)
Environmental, Conservation and Anti-Nuclear Issues Folio
Items
96 Save the future in 1986: International Year of Peace
calendar
97 Scandinavian wildlife: SAS calendar 1975
98 The New Song Movement and Chilean Solidarity Committee present
Los Parras & Jeannie Lewis in concert poster
99 March to Commonwealth Park for Peace Festival poster
100 Perspectives Works by Carol Ambrus, Gwen van Leeuwen,
29 February 2 March 1980 poster
101 Voices for harmony, Bitumen River Gallery, 1983,
poster
102 Nelson Mandela: The struggle is my life International
Defence & Aid Fund for Southern Africa poster
103 Leave uranium in the ground poster
104 National Aborigines Day poster
105 Return elected Bavadra: restore democracy poster (hand
drawn)
106 Art of noise: 2XX radiothon poster
107 Land rights, not uranium! poster
108 Land rights before games, Newsletter (Black
Protest Committee), Vol. 1, no. 2, poster
109 Papua New Guinea Independence souvenir issue, Papua
New Guinea Post courier (Sept. 16, 1975) poster
110 And one day my child, this will be all yours (Inquiry
into the State of Pollution and Environmental Conservation by Thoughtful
People) poster
111 The Mapoon people demand their land back!, 1975,
poster
112 Nuclear-free Pacific Forum, Public Meeting, Teachers
Federation, poster
Apartheid
113 Miscellaneous documents, 1985-96
Box List
| Box
|
Folder/Item |
| 1 |
1-7 |
| 2 |
8-15 |
| 3 |
16-22 |
| 4 |
23-29 |
| 5 |
30-37 |
| 6 |
38-44 |
| 7 |
45-51 |
| 8 |
52-58 |
| 9 |
59-66 |
| 10 |
67-73 |
| 11 |
74-80 |
| 12 |
81-88 |
| 13 |
89-95 |
| |
113 |
Folio List
|
Location |
Item
|
| Hyatt Wing map cabinet
drawer no. 19 |
96-112 |
November 2000 Amended April 2001 |