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Retirement of Mark Cranfield

Mark Cranfield retired in December 2005 after 25 years of developing and managing the Oral History Collection of the National Library of Australia. His name will always be associated with the Oral History Collection.

A graduate in history from the Australian National University , Mark worked at the Australian Archives before joining the Library in 1981. At that time, Mark and his assistant faced the enormous task of working on ten years of oral history tapes and transcripts from the Library’s Oral History Project—all in a corner of the Manuscripts workroom.

The Library’s Oral History Project had originally aimed to record the life stories of notable Australians, complementing the personal papers held in the Library and in other collecting institutions. Building on the pioneering work of Hazel de Berg, the Library recorded interviews with many public figures. Unfortunately recording equipment was inadequate; the project stagnated in the late 1970s as interviewers lost their enthusiasm.

Oral History became a separate section—headed by Mark—in 1985. In 1989 Bill Hayden, the Governor-General, opened the new Oral History Studios, adjoining the offices, storage areas, sound preservation rooms and small reading and listening room. This was Mark’s dominion for the rest of his time at the Library.

Mark presided over the revival, rapid growth and diversification of the Oral History Collection. The collection grew from about 7900 reels in 1981 to 60 000 reels in 1998. The original program of recording interviews with notable Australians was maintained; over the years recordings have been made with former prime ministers and ministers, senior diplomats and public servants, business leaders, scientists, writers and many others. This program was unashamedly elitist, but Mark sought to balance it by building up sources on Australian social history and Australian folklore. The social history collections, often assembled by teams of interviewers and with special funding, included the Cultural Context of Unemployment (1985–86), the Australian Response to AIDS (1992–94), and Bringing Them Home (1999–2001).

The Oral History Collection also included a folklore collection that originated with the recordings of John Meredith in the 1950s. It was developed from the 1980s onwards by other collectors who travelled around rural Australia or focused on particular localities, such as mining towns or the waterfront.

Mark’s achievements in building up one of the largest oral history collections in the world were remarkable. He wrote and spoke to hundreds of potential interviewees, listening to their stories, reassuring them, and working out the logistics of interviewing. Interviewers would drop into his office at any time, needing advice or encouragement, or complaining about recording equipment or the rates of payment. They had different backgrounds, experience and temperaments, but Mark maintained good relations with all of them.

Mark brought to his work a broad knowledge of history and current affairs, an equable temperament, a great sense of humour, and an ability to match even the best interviewers in the art of story-telling. These qualities were admired by all his colleagues in the Library and they will miss his genial presence at meetings and particularly at concerts and social functions.

Graeme Powell