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While undertaking voluntary work for the Blind Book Society in 1957,<ref name=":0" /> de Berg was asked by historian [[Frank Clune]] to record a book for a blind friend.<ref name=":2">{{cite news|date=11 February 1984|title=Oral historian dies suddenly|volume=58|page=12|newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]]|issue=17,667|location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article116389519|accessdate=28 August 2020|via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Using a reel-to-reel tape machine she recorded [[Mary Gilmore|Dame Mary Gilmour's]] ''Old Day, Old Ways''. She subsequently recorded an interview with Dame Mary for background information and the recording became the first of the de Berg oral history collection, held at the [[National Library of Australia]] in Canberra.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=de Berg, Hazel Estelle|url=http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/IMP0185b.htm|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-08-28|website=The Australian Women's Register|language=en-gb}}</ref> By 1961 she had tapes of all sixty-eight living recognised Australian poets reading their own verse.<ref name=":3" />
While undertaking voluntary work for the Blind Book Society in 1957,<ref name=":0" /> de Berg was asked by historian [[Frank Clune]] to record a book for a blind friend.<ref name=":2">{{cite news|date=11 February 1984|title=Oral historian dies suddenly|volume=58|page=12|newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]]|issue=17,667|location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article116389519|accessdate=28 August 2020|via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Using a reel-to-reel tape machine she recorded [[Mary Gilmore|Dame Mary Gilmour's]] ''Old Day, Old Ways''. She subsequently recorded an interview with Dame Mary for background information and the recording became the first of the de Berg oral history collection, held at the [[National Library of Australia]] in Canberra.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=de Berg, Hazel Estelle|url=http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/IMP0185b.htm|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-08-28|website=The Australian Women's Register|language=en-gb}}</ref> By 1961 she had tapes of all sixty-eight living recognised Australian poets reading their own verse.<ref name=":3" />


De Berg also photographed each of her interviewees,<ref>{{Cite web |last=de Berg |first=Hazel |title=Hazel de Berg collection of photographs |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-146133111 |access-date=2023-01-06 |website=National LIbrary of Australia |language=en}}</ref> funding that and the recording out of her own pocket until in 1960 was granted £100 from the Commonwealth Literary Fund after presenting her work at the [[Adelaide Festival]],<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |date=1961-10-17 |title=Poetic Hobby |pages=2 |work=The Canberra Times |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article105899546 |access-date=2023-01-06}}</ref> and for donating the tapes to the National Library of Australia was provided a further Commonwealth Grant by Sir [[Harold Leslie White|Harold White]], the Federal Parliamentary Librarian and National Librarian. The library funded the transcriptions and from 1972 paid her an annual grant.<ref name=":0" /> By 1973 she had made 750 recordings and the tapes were being converted to phonograph records for preservation.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |date=1973-09-20 |title=GANG GANG : Saying a few words on history |pages=3 |work=The Canberra Times |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110748466 |access-date=2023-01-07}}</ref>
De Berg also photographed each of her interviewees,<ref>{{Cite web |last=de Berg |first=Hazel |title=Hazel de Berg collection of photographs |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-146133111 |access-date=2023-01-06 |website=National LIbrary of Australia |language=en}}</ref> funding that and the recording out of her own pocket until in 1960 was granted £100 from the Commonwealth Literary Fund after presenting her work at the [[Adelaide Festival]],<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |date=1961-10-17 |title=Poetic Hobby |pages=2 |work=The Canberra Times |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article105899546 |access-date=2023-01-06}}</ref> and for donating the tapes to the National Library of Australia was provided a further Commonwealth Literary Grant by Sir [[Harold Leslie White|Harold White]], the Federal Parliamentary Librarian and National Librarian.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news |last=Bures |first=Susan |date=1984-03-08 |title=Hazel recorded immortal past |pages=4 |work=Australian Jewish Times |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article263265583 |access-date=2023-01-07}}</ref> The library funded the transcriptions and from 1972 paid her an annual grant.<ref name=":0" /> By 1973 she had made 750 recordings and the tapes were being converted to phonograph records for preservation.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |date=1973-09-20 |title=GANG GANG : Saying a few words on history |pages=3 |work=The Canberra Times |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110748466 |access-date=2023-01-07}}</ref>


In the 1968 New Year's Honours de Berg was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for "service to the collection of archival material".<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Hazel Estelle de Berg|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1085328|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-08-28|website=Australian Honours Search Facility, Dept of the Prime Minister and Cabinet}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1968-01-01 |title=Diplomat who defied Red Guards knighted |pages=7 |work=The Canberra Times |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article106989652 |access-date=2023-01-06}}</ref>
In the 1968 New Year's Honours de Berg was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for "service to the collection of archival material".<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Hazel Estelle de Berg|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1085328|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-08-28|website=Australian Honours Search Facility, Dept of the Prime Minister and Cabinet}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1968-01-01 |title=Diplomat who defied Red Guards knighted |pages=7 |work=The Canberra Times |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article106989652 |access-date=2023-01-06}}</ref>


== Personal ==
== Personal ==
De Berg converted to [[Judaism]] and in 1941 married Woolf (William) de Berg, a [[Lithuanians|Lithuanian]]-born businessman and later presented her work to the [[Women's International Zionist Organization|Women's International Zionist Organisation]] (WIZO) state council.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1960-06-03 |title=WIZO State Council |pages=14 |work=Australian Jewish Times |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article263137830 |access-date=2023-01-06}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1960-07-29 |title=Socially Yours |work=Australian Jewish Times |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article263138655 |access-date=2023-01-06}}</ref> For more than ten years she dedicated herself to raising their children.<ref name=":0" /> De Berg died at home in Sydney on 3 February 1984.<ref name=":2" /> She was survived by her twin daughters and son. Her husband William predeceased her in 1981.<ref name=":0" />
De Berg converted to [[Judaism]] and in 1941 married Woolf (William) de Berg, a [[Lithuanians|Lithuanian]]-born businessman and later presented her work to the [[Women's International Zionist Organization|Women's International Zionist Organisation]] (WIZO) state council.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1960-06-03 |title=WIZO State Council |pages=14 |work=Australian Jewish Times |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article263137830 |access-date=2023-01-06}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1960-07-29 |title=Socially Yours |work=Australian Jewish Times |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article263138655 |access-date=2023-01-06}}</ref> For more than ten years she dedicated herself to raising their children.<ref name=":0" /> During the last months of her life daughter Diana Ritch assisted with the recordings before De Berg died at home in Sydney on 3 February 1984.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":5" /> Her twin daughters and son, and several grandchildren, survived her. Her husband William had predeceased her in 1981.<ref name=":0" />


== Legacy ==
== Legacy ==

Revision as of 01:41, 7 January 2023

Hazel de Berg
MBE
Born
Hazel Estelle de Berg

21 March 1913
Deniliquin, New South Wales, Australia
Died3 February 1984 (aged 70)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
EducationMethodist Ladies College
OccupationOral Historian
Known forInterviews with writers, historians, artist, musicians and scientists.

Hazel Estelle de Berg MBE (21 March 1913 – 3 February 1984) was a pioneer of oral history in Australia. Between 1957 and 1983 she produced 1291 hour-long sound tape reels of interviews with writers, historians, artists, musicians and scientists.

Biography

Hazel Estelle de Berg was born on 21 March 1913 in Deniliquin, New South Wales to George Robert Holland and Ann Holland (née McIntosh).[1] Her father was a Methodist minister, whose pastoral work led to the family moving around country New South Wales during de Berg's childhood, living in Cessnock[2] Cobar[2] Orange[3] and Kempsey[4] In 1928 the family moved to Sydney, where de Berg enrolled at Methodist Ladies’ College, Burwood and completed her Leaving certificate in 1932.[1] She then trained as a photographer trained as a photographer at Paramount Studios and later worked in the studio of Noel Rubie,[5] while continuing to live at home with her parents.[1]

Career

While undertaking voluntary work for the Blind Book Society in 1957,[1] de Berg was asked by historian Frank Clune to record a book for a blind friend.[6] Using a reel-to-reel tape machine she recorded Dame Mary Gilmour's Old Day, Old Ways. She subsequently recorded an interview with Dame Mary for background information and the recording became the first of the de Berg oral history collection, held at the National Library of Australia in Canberra.[7] By 1961 she had tapes of all sixty-eight living recognised Australian poets reading their own verse.[8]

De Berg also photographed each of her interviewees,[9] funding that and the recording out of her own pocket until in 1960 was granted £100 from the Commonwealth Literary Fund after presenting her work at the Adelaide Festival,[8] and for donating the tapes to the National Library of Australia was provided a further Commonwealth Literary Grant by Sir Harold White, the Federal Parliamentary Librarian and National Librarian.[10] The library funded the transcriptions and from 1972 paid her an annual grant.[1] By 1973 she had made 750 recordings and the tapes were being converted to phonograph records for preservation.[11]

In the 1968 New Year's Honours de Berg was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for "service to the collection of archival material".[12][13]

Personal

De Berg converted to Judaism and in 1941 married Woolf (William) de Berg, a Lithuanian-born businessman and later presented her work to the Women's International Zionist Organisation (WIZO) state council.[14][15] For more than ten years she dedicated herself to raising their children.[1] During the last months of her life daughter Diana Ritch assisted with the recordings before De Berg died at home in Sydney on 3 February 1984.[6][10] Her twin daughters and son, and several grandchildren, survived her. Her husband William had predeceased her in 1981.[1]

Legacy

De Berg's collection of sound tape reels of interviews with writers, historians, artists, musicians and scientists such as Peter Sculthorpe, A. P. Elkin, Manning Clark, H. C. Coombs, Howard Florey, Jack Lang and Cardinal Norman Gilroy,[11] is held by the National Library of Australia.[16] Subjects include numbers of Australian women, among them being Anne Summers, Barbara Blackman who also recorded interviews, with artists in her case, Bronwyn Yeates, Cheryl Adamson, Clair Isbister, Dulcie Deamer, Dulcie Holland, Elizabeth Durack, Elizabeth Guy, Elizabeth Harrower, Elizabeth Riddell, Enid Conley, Essie Coffey, Esther Paterson, Gwen Harwood, H. F. Brinsmead, Heather George, Helen Garner, Hilda Abbott, Irene Greenwood, Jean Skuse, Jessie Scotford, Jessie Street, Jill Hellyer, Dorothea Mackellar,[17] Joan Phipson, Judy Cassab, Kath Walker, Kathleen O'Connor, Kylie Tennant, Lorna Hayter, Maie Casey, Margaret Curtis-Otter, Marjorie Pizer, Miriam Hyde, Nancy Cato, Nancy Keesing, Nancy Robinson, Nerida Goodman, Ninette Dutton, Patsy Adam-Smith, Ruby Rich, Stroma Buttrose, Thelma Bate, Thelma Clune, Vicki Viidikas, and Vida Lahey.

In 1989 a directory of her work, The Hazel de Berg Recordings: From the Oral History Collection of the National Library of Australia, was published.[18] In reviewing it, Barry York called it a "unique and invaluable oral history source" for "Australian researchers, librarians, broadcasters, teachers, students and writers."[19]

The biannual Hazel de Berg Award for oral history was established in her memory by the De Berg family for Oral History Australia and was first presented in 2006.[20]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Powell, Graeme, "De Berg, Hazel Estelle (1913–1984)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 28 August 2020
  2. ^ a b ""Far West" Circuit". Northern Times. No. 135. New South Wales, Australia. 17 March 1917. p. 4. Retrieved 28 August 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ "METHODIST ANNIVERSARY SERVICES". Western Champion. No. 1, 542. New South Wales, Australia. 22 March 1923. p. 12. Retrieved 28 August 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "TELEGRAMS". The Macleay Chronicle. No. 2462. New South Wales, Australia. 24 February 1926. p. 4. Retrieved 28 August 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "De Berg Collection". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Oral historian dies suddenly". The Canberra Times. Vol. 58, no. 17, 667. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 11 February 1984. p. 12. Retrieved 28 August 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ "de Berg, Hazel Estelle". The Australian Women's Register. Retrieved 28 August 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ^ a b "Poetic Hobby". The Canberra Times. 17 October 1961. p. 2. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  9. ^ de Berg, Hazel. "Hazel de Berg collection of photographs". National LIbrary of Australia. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  10. ^ a b Bures, Susan (8 March 1984). "Hazel recorded immortal past". Australian Jewish Times. p. 4. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  11. ^ a b "GANG GANG : Saying a few words on history". The Canberra Times. 20 September 1973. p. 3. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  12. ^ "Hazel Estelle de Berg". Australian Honours Search Facility, Dept of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved 28 August 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. ^ "Diplomat who defied Red Guards knighted". The Canberra Times. 1 January 1968. p. 7. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  14. ^ "WIZO State Council". Australian Jewish Times. 3 June 1960. p. 14. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  15. ^ "Socially Yours". Australian Jewish Times. 29 July 1960. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  16. ^ "De Berg Collection | National Library of Australia". www.nla.gov.au. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  17. ^ "Hazel de Berg on ASO - Australia's audio and visual heritage online". aso.gov.au. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  18. ^ National Library of Australia; Bowden, Tim, 1937-, (writer of introduction.); Horton, Warren, 1938-2003, (writer of foreword.); National Library of Australia (1989), The Hazel de Berg recordings from the oral history collection of the National Library of Australia, National Library of Australia, ISBN 978-0-642-10485-4{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ "An ear to history". The Canberra Times. Vol. 64, no. 20, 130. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 24 May 1990. p. 12 (GOOD TIMES). Retrieved 28 August 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  20. ^ "Hazel de Berg Award". Oral History Australia. Retrieved 6 January 2023.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hazel_de_Berg&oldid=1132055259"