chap 3 roaring into modern australia

8/20/2019 Chap 3 Roaring Into Modern Australia

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• What were the differing experiences of variousgroups during the interwar period?

• What was the contribution and signicance of atleast one Australian, one important event and onepolitical development during the interwar period?

A student:5.1 explains social, political and cultural

developments and events and evaluates theirimpact on Australian life

5.4 sequences major historical events to show anunderstanding of continuity, change andcausation

5.5 identies, comprehends and evaluateshistorical sources

5.6 uses sources appropriately in a historicalinquiry

5.7 explains different contexts, perspectives andinterpretations of the past

5.8 locates, selects and organises historicalinformation from a number of sources,including ICT, to undertake historical inquiry.

INQUIRY

The years between the two world wars wereturbulent in Australia. It was a time for new

voices to be heard in Australian public life and politics. Through science and medicine, battlesagainst disease were being won and ordinarylives improved. Political and voting systemswere established, advances in transport drew

people closer together and Australianswitnessed rapid social change. Federal politicsmoved to the new capital city of Canberra andmore women moved into the workforce.

THE 1920s —

ROARING INTOMODERNAUSTRALIA

Chapter 3

anthroposophy: a philosophy introduced by RudolfSteiner in the early twentieth century. It emphasised theview that it is important to consciously develop people’sthinking and spirituality so that their humanity is notstunted by the material world.arbitration: negotiation between parties in a disputeaviation: the act of ying by mechanical meanscommunist: a person who supports a system of socialorganisation based on the idea that the state or thecommunity as a whole should own all propertyconservative: tending to preserve what is establishedand be cautious or moderate in styledeation: a drop in the prices of goods and services notaccompanied by a drop in the cost of productiondemocratic architecture: the view put forward byLouis H. Sullivan (1856–1924) that architecture couldexpress the ideas associated with democracy. This was


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CHAPTER 3: THE 1920s — ROARING INTO MODERN AUSTRALIA

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linked to his principle ‘form follows function’ that thestyle of a building should reect its use.destitute: poor and without the means of looking afteroneself discrimination: the act of making judgements aboutpeople based on differences such as race

garden city: a term coined by social reformer EbenezerHoward (1850–1928) for cities of limited size that wouldcombine the benets of both city and country lifego-slow: situation in which workers slow down theirwork rate in order to cause problems for their employersKnitlock: a machine-made structural and wallingsystem, comprising vertical frame construction withlight concrete inll wallsleft-wing: describes people who support social, politicalor economic reform that aims to improve the welfare ofthe publiclegislation: laws written and approved by parliament

lock-out: situation in which employees are locked out ofthe workplace until they agree to employer’s termsmanual: describes work done by the hands and usinghuman energymilitant: aggressive or combativeprimary production: industries involved in thegrowing, producing and extracting of natural resourcesrecession: a decline in economic activityrepatriation: assistance given to an ex-servicemanreturning to a civilian life, in the form of pensions,medical care and allowancestheosophy: a religious philosophy that seeksunderstanding of God and the universe through personalexperiences in mysticism and meditation

Photograph of the Southern Cross on its arrivalin Sydney from the ight across the Pacic,10 June 1928


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REBUILDINGA NATION

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By 1920 the Australian soldiers who had fought inWorld War I had returned home. Some went back tothe jobs they had before the war, while othersbegan new careers. Providing jobs for returnedsoldiers was one of the most important issuesfacing government. Australians wanted to create a‘nation t for heroes’, so the Commonwealth andstate governments adopted policies to give prefer-ence to returned soldiers for employment in thepublic service. A Department of Repatriation wasalso established to assist the diggers in returning tocivilian life and coping with illness caused by theirwartime experience.

With the returned soldiers came a post-warmarriage boom and an increased demand for homes.

LIFE IN THE CITY — BUILDINGTHE AUSTRALIAN DREAM

The decade began with a building boom and the con-struction of new suburbs that sprawled along thetramlines and new railway systems of Australia’scapital cities. By the end of the decade, almost half the Australian population were city dwellers.Higher wages, more jobs and better facilitiesattracted approximately 250 000 country Austral-ians to life in the city. The ideal of owning a houseand garden in the city suburbs became part of the

Australian dream. The mass production of newinventions, designed to make life easier, becameavailable for use in Australian homes. More thanhalf the homes in Sydney were connected toelectricity by 1929. It was the age of electricgadgets, wireless aerials and the car in the garage.These spacious homes of the 1920s contrastedstarkly with the tiny terraced houses of the innercity areas. The terrace houses had been constructedat the end of the nineteenth century, without run-ning water or modern sanitation. The new suburbswere a source of national pride, standing as symbolsof the good life in a modern consumer age.

Source 3.1.2

The washing has to be done in a kerosene tin in theyard. The absolute ‘jam’ the housewife has to suffer ismade evident by the photograph: her ‘bits o’ things’hang or stand everywhere. The ground is a bog inwinter, and the loose boards laid down go ‘swish-swish’as the mother pads, pads from room to tap.

Melbourne Punch , 21 June 1923.

The living conditions in a Melbourne home in 1923clearly show that technology had not improved daily lifefor all Australians.The Western Electric Company manufactured a wide range

of electrical appliances for Australian homes.

Source 3.1.1


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71CHAPTER 3: THE 1920s — ROARING INTO MODERN AUSTRALIA

The 1920s were a decade of great contradiction so, of course, there was another side to the story of the

Australian dream. The Australian government spentnearly £50 million on the Soldier Settler Scheme and,on their return from the Great War, young city

dwellers were encouraged to build new lives andhomes in rural areas of northern Victoria andwestern New South Wales. However, the farms weretoo small to support families and with no experienceof living on the land, these city dwellers were unableto make a success of their new lives as farmers.

The 1920s brought change to the people of countrytowns. The inux of soldier settlers as well as elec-tricity, motor cars and highways broke their ruralisolation. In 1924, the gas lamps of Bathurst in NewSouth Wales were replaced by electric lights. Stategovernments were laying kilometres of railwaytracks to link new farms to centres of business.Governments were spending money on developing primary production in the hope that this wouldattract larger populations to the country towns. Thevalue of a rural way of life was gloried as neverbefore, and combined with an optimistic belief that

Australia could thrive as a nation of small farmers.The image of the outback bushman, living in a landthat bred emotionally and physically sturdy people,became the image of being ‘Australian’.

The sad plight of the soldier settler was expressed in thisfamous cartoon from the Bulletin , January 23 1919.

DOWN ON THE FARM

Source 3.1.3

The decade began with the hope that the horror of warcould be left behind, with overseas money boosting oureconomy and new migrants increasing our population.The government’s economic policies were summed upin a speech given by Prime Minister Stanley Bruce in

1924, in which he identied three things needed tomake Australia rich: men, money and markets. Toachieve his policy aims, the Prime Minister establishedschemes to bring to Australia:• men — through assisted migration from Britain.

Immigrants would help establish farms andexpand primary production.

• money — through loans from Britain. Fundswould be raised to pay for the roads, bridges,electricity schemes and factories essential to thedevelopment of rural areas.

• markets — through trade with Britain and itsempire. Australian farms and factories wouldproduce goods to be sold overseas.

Check your understanding1. Where did the Australian suburbs develop in the 1920s?2. What did these new suburbs represent to Australians?3. Why was government money spent on the Soldier

Settler Scheme?4. What were some of the changes that came to the

country towns?

5. Briey summarise the government’s aim with the ‘men,money and markets’ projects.

Using sources1. What impression of family life is conveyed in source 3.1.1?2. In one paragraph, contrast the image of Australia that is

presented in source 3.1.1 with the informationconveyed in source 3.1.2.

3. Source 3.1.3 is a cartoon that highlights the terriblesituation for so many soldier settlers. Imagine you are areturned soldier. Write a letter to your local newspaperexpressing your anger at the situation in which returnedsoldiers have been placed.

Researching and communicating1. Take a good look at the suburb in which you live.

Establish when the houses in your suburb were built andwhether there is any evidence of 1920s architecture.Working in groups, prepare a report on the main stylesof 1920s domestic architecture: Californian Bungalowand Spanish Mission. Find out how they differed fromearlier styles and why they became so popular.

2. Research the history of immigration to Australia thenhold a class debate on the topic ‘Immigration is goodfor Australia’.

MEN, MONEY AND MARKETS

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POWER AND PROTEST —THE CREATION OF THE ACTU

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Building a ‘land t for heroes’ was increasingly achallenge for governments. The idealism thatstarted the decade too often turned to discontentwhen wages did not rise and unemployment levelsrefused to fall. It became a decade of conict betweenworkers and employers, with strikes, mass protestmeetings, bombings and shootings. It was a time of trade union struggle to improve the poor working conditions and pay of many Australians. It was alsoa time of great change in Australian politics.

In the 1830s Australian workers began to organisethemselves into unions based on their crafts andskills. The unions began as friendly societies,offering nancial support to their members in timesof hardship. In 1855 Australian unionists begancampaigns to bring about social change andimprove working conditions. As a result of theiractions, a standard working day was set at eighthours. In reducing the working week from 60 hoursto 48 hours, Australian unions achieved a worldrst. At the beginning of the twentieth century an Arbitration Bill was passed in the CommonwealthParliament. This gave workers the opportunity togo to court, accompanied by their lawyers, and havea judge settle disputes with employers. In settling disputes the Arbitration Court could determinewage rates and working conditions.

Political and social change was not so gradualfor other nations. In 1917 the Bolsheviks, orcommunists , began a revolution and took overgovernment in Russia. In March 1918 the newBolshevik government signed a separate peace treatywith Germany, a serious blow to Britain’s war effort.Bolshevism was regarded as a threat to Britain andher empire. Australian newspaper reports about lifein Bolshevik Russia told stories of horror and por-

trayed the Bolsheviks as bloodthirsty murderers,determined to conscate the personal property of alllaw-abiding citizens. Conservative groups in

Australia feared that left-wing radicals could spreada Bolshevik-style revolution by means of the tradeunion movement. The formation of the CommunistParty in Australia in 1920 reinforced this fear.

The Australian government believed it wasnecessary to take action against this threat tonational security. Using the War Precautions Act ,books and pamphlets spreading dangerous and

POLITICS AND RELIGION

revolutionary ideas were banned. Red was thecolour of rebellion, and a red ag became thesymbol of the worldwide workers movement. Thenew Russian government also adopted a red ag with a yellow hammer and sickle on it. Red agsown at public meetings in Australia were banned,as were any public meetings demonstrating supportfor Bolshevik ideals. The government alsoattempted to deport foreign-born Australian resi-dents believed to be encouraging industrial unrestand strikes. The Communist Party had only a smallmembership during this decade, but its leaderswere inuential in the trade union movement.

Religion combined with politics in the 1920s tocreate further divisions in Australian society. Atthis time in our history about one quarter of thepopulation was of Irish descent. They were mostlyCatholic and lived in Sydney or Melbourne. Catho-lics were more likely to be manual workersinvolved with the trade union movement and theLabor Party. Protestants were predominantlymiddle class and employed in manufacturing orfarming. Conservative Protestant groups in Aus-tralian society accused the Catholics of disloyalty.Catholic groups were accused of being behind anystrikes, because they were allegedly anti-Britishand disloyal to the king. Some Labor politicianswere identied as being controlled by Catholics,and a threat to Protestant Australia. Catholics feltdiscriminated against and socially disadvantaged.

During the 1920s there were clear signs of the dis-content of many workers with lock-outs , go-slowsand strikes. One of the most disturbing examples of industrial unrest was the police strike of MelbourneCup week in 1923. Buildings were looted and win-dows smashed when 650 Melbourne policemen wenton strike. The policemen demanded a pensionscheme to provide for retirement and for the depen-dants of police killed while serving. The police griev-ances had been discussed and negotiated over manyyears but improved working conditions and betterpay had not been gained. For two nights rioting andcrime ruled the streets of Melbourne, and the

Victorian Government was forced to recruit over1000 special constables to restore order. It wasreported that over 100 people were injured in thestreet riots and a returned soldier was murdered in

STRIKE!


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public. The citizens of Melbourne were frightenedby stories that the strike was the beginning of arevolution being led by Bolshevik forces in

Australia, who were said to be in league with Irishtroublemakers and unionists.

The 1923 police strike was a symbol of the deepdistrust between governments and many Australianworkers, and only one in a series of bitter conicts.

In 1925 seamen went on strike for better wages; in1928 timber workers protested for ve months; andin 1929 a striking coalminer was shot dead by policein a dispute lasting fteen months. Between 1925and 1929 there were 1846 strikes in Australia.

Report of the police strike

Photograph of rioting crowds in the heart of Melbourne’sRussell Street being chased into Little Collins Street by policeand special constables, 5 November 1923

Source 3.2.1

Riots unprecedented in the history of Melbourneoccurred on Saturday as a direct result of the strike ofpolice.

The hooligan element for a time took possession of thestreets, smashing shop windows and looting. They werefollowed by highly organised sections of criminals inmotor-cars.

Damage to the extent of about £30 000 was done, and jewellery, race glasses, clothing and many other articlesvalued at many thousands of pounds were stolen.

Legal police attempted to stop the looting. They wereassisted later by special constables, and were able torestore order.

Age , 5 November 1923.

Source 3.2.2

A letter to the Victorian Premier, from a concerned citizenof Melbourne, on the causes of the police strike. The unions,or ‘Trades Hall people’, were often accused of being abovethe law and undermining Australian society.

Graph showing the number of industrial disputes andworking days lost in Australia between 1913 and 1929(Australian Bureau of Statistics, Labour Reports , 1915–30)

Membership of unions increased substantiallyduring the 1920s. The unions saw their main roleas improving standards of living and working conditions for their members. A few unionistsexpressed support for communist ideals, but mostbelieved in using the Australian courts and govern-ments as the way to achieve workplace reform.Industrial relations between the unions andgovernments worsened as the Australian economyslid into difculty. The government became increas-ingly inexible in its dealings with the unions andclaimed that strikes were not the result of genuine

Source 3.2.3

. . . the class of People They mix up with . . . You will havethe Trades Hall people crawling around you to reinstatethese scoundrels but I do hope You will not allow Yourselfto be talked into it after them being all the cause of thisterrible thing there is no doubt the Trades Hall peopleare always on the side of the criminals. You have only toread the Labour Members speeches to know what sidethey are on . . . when a scoundrel is ordered a oggingthere is always a deputation from the Trades Hall to getthem off. I do hope that every one that has been arrestedwill be ogged . . . think of the respectable people andGod bless you.

Quoted in J. Templeton’s article ‘Rebel Guardians’.

Source 3.2.4

Number of working daysin 100 000

disputes

50

45

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0250

1 9 2 9

1 9 2 8

1 9 2 7

1 9 2 6

1 9 2 5

1 9 2 4

Year

Working days lost

Number of disputes

1 9 2 3

1 9 2 2

1 9 2 1

1 9 2 0

1 9 1 9

1 9 1 8

1 9 1 7

1 9 1 6

1 9 1 5

1 9 1 4

1 9 1 3

500

1000

THE ACTU

C I V I C S A N D C I T I Z E N S H I P F O C U S


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grievances, but due to the actions of stirrers andCommunist agitators within the union movement.Strike action was banned and wage decisions weretied to the ability of the economy to pay, ratherthan acceptable living standards for workers. Manyworkers and pensioners found their income did notrise to match the increase in the cost of living.

This 1929 cartoon by B. E. Minns depicts miners andemployers ‘taking aim’ at the State and CommonwealthArbitration Boards and the Wages Board.

In 1927 the Commonwealth Parliament movedfrom Melbourne to Canberra. In the same year the

Australian Council of Trade Unions, or ACTU, wasformed as ‘the supreme governing body of the tradeunion movement’. For many years the union move-ment had put forward schemes for ‘One Big Union’and tried to form a national council to coordinateand direct union activity. Early efforts had faileddue to problems of distance and the lack of afederal government. Federation in 1901 gaveunionists the chance to establish a national body.The aim of the ACTU was to protect the standardof living of all Australian workers during difculteconomic times. By 1927 the economy was nolonger booming. Prices of Australia’s two majorexports, wheat and wool, had fallen and overseasmarkets for Australian produce were dwindling.

In 1928 Australia was in recession and theunions faced harsh new industrial legislation aimedat limiting the unions’ power. Prime MinisterStanley Bruce blamed high wages and the arbi-tration system for the economic problems. TheTransport Workers Act gave the government theopportunity to impose heavy penalties on unionsand to employ non-union labour, known as ‘scab’labour, to break strikes. Many workers believed thelegislation was a government declaration of waragainst the union movement and became moremilitant in their demands. Another series of long and disruptive strikes hit Australia in 1928 and

Source 3.2.5

1929. The Arbitration Court determined wagesaccording to the state of the economy, and ruledthat lower wages would assist some industries. Theunions were being crushed by growing unemploy-ment and deation . The government of StanleyBruce was also being damaged by prolonged indus-trial disputes. In 1929 Bruce became the only

Australian Prime Minister to lose his seat at an

election. His government fell and the Labor Party,under James Scullin, took Australian politics into anew and troubled decade.

Violence broke out on the waterfront as unionists moved toprotect their jobs against volunteer labour.

Unions struggled in the 1920s to bring about improved payand working conditions. Conditions for waterside workerswere an example of the dangers faced by many Australiansin their daily jobs.

Source 3.2.6

To avoid trouble the shipowners had arranged for volunteersafter they had been engaged to leave by the back entrance.Several plain clothes police were stationed in Little Bourkestreet to escort each volunteer from the scene, and except forindulging in abuse the unionists made no attempt to interfereuntil shortly after 3 o’clock. Two plain clothes constables anda young volunteer were leaving the back entrance to thebuilding when several men rushed at them and tried to attack the volunteer. He dodged away, but the next minute a crowdof men numbering 200 surrounded him, and he was tornfrom the grasp of the policemen.

After having been dragged across the roadway the youngman was thrown down. It is alleged that several men kickedhim as he fell to the ground. Police reinforcements wererushed to the scene, enabling the volunteer to escape from hisassailants. He ran into Spencer Street, and was not seenagain.

Argus , 22 September 1928.

Source 3.2.7

[on loading timber employees had] . . .No gloves, no boots. The main accident was to feet.You’re pinching up a itch of oregon, say, and the barslips. Your feet would be under it! Or you’d be steeringa sling out, and you’re standing at the tail of it . . . It might

come back on you . . . It would probably break your leg.The men on the wharf, their main danger was arms — ifa log rolled on them when they were steering it on to thelorry. Strained hearts, heart attacks, and feet were themain accidents. And hernias from lifting. And lungtrouble from the dust. I had a hernia, almost everywhare did.

W. Lowenstein and T. Hills, Under the Hook: Melbourne Waterside Workers Remember , Melbourne Bookworkers in

association with the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Melbourne, 1982, p. 49.


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For many Australians, poverty was never faraway during the 1920s. The debt-ridden soldiers inrural New South Wales were just as much afeature of life as the striking policemen, or thoselucky enough to have made their way into themiddle-class suburbs. The governments of the1920s did little to soften a worker’s constant fear of unemployment. Trade unions did provide assis-

tance to their members, while private charitiestook most of the responsibility for providing forpeople who were destitute . It was argued that if governments provided welfare it would onlyencourage laziness and the moral deterioration of the unemployed. As the decade slipped into moredifcult times, even the government recognised theneed to become more involved in helping society’spoor and disadvantaged.

Newspapers of the 1920s often ignored the legitimate claimsof Australian workers by presenting a stereotypical image ofself-interested union chiefs manipulating the members intotaking strike action.

Source 3.2.8

TWO SIDES OF THE CASE.‘Strikes, always an occasion for nancial hardshipand poverty for the rank and le, enable the Unionbosses, whose salaries still go on, to bask in thelimelight of notoriety.’

THE UNION BOSS : ‘Stick it, boy, we’re puttin’ up a grandght. Remember, you an’ me have gotter standsolid.’

THE MUG STRIKER : (as he takes up another hole in hisbelt): You look solid enough; but I’m feeling prettyhollow myself.’

( Bulletin , 22 January 1925)

Check your understanding1. How did the union movement begin in Australia?2. Explain why the War Precautions Act was used by the

Australian government in the 1920s.3. What was the signicance of the 1923 police strike to

Australian society?4. What is the ACTU and why was it formed?5. Why did Stanley Bruce lose his seat and his

government at the 1929 election?6. The 1920s have been called the ‘terrible twenties’. How

does the story of industrial relations during this periodsupport this description of post-war Australia?

Using sources1. The 1923 police strike was caused by low wages,

increased living costs and inadequate pensions for

police. Examine sources 3.2.1 to 3.2.3 and explain whateffect the strike had on the general public and how thestrike was reported in newspapers. Explain how usefulthe sources are in understanding the real causes of thestrike and suggest what limitations there are in usingnewspapers as evidence.

2. Analyse the Australian Bureau of Statistics gures forstrikes between 1913 and 1919. How are statistics auseful form of evidence, and how does this sourcesupport the claim that the 1920s was a decade of botheconomic growth and industrial unrest?

3. In source 3.2.5, how has the cartoonist used the imageof a fairground to express an opinion about the actions

of striking miners?4. In a table, summarise the attitude to waterside workersexpressed in sources 3.2.6 and 3.2.7. How do thewriters’ opinions differ? How useful do you think thesources are to historians studying industrial relations inthe 1920s?

5. Consider the image of the strikers presented in sources3.2.5 and 3.2.8. Create an alternative image of unionaction in your own cartoon. Include a caption to extendthe point of your cartoon.

Researching and communicating1. It is 1928 and you are a reader of the Bulletin and Age

newspapers. You are very concerned about the imageof unions that is being presented in the media. Usingthe source material, write a letter to the paper in whichyou explain the problems being faced by Australianworkers every day.

2. Research the history of the union movement inAustralia. To gain an overview, go towww.jaconline.com.au/retroactive/retroactive2 andclick on the ACTU weblink.

Worksheets

3.1 Trade unions — strike!


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A WOMAN’S PLACEIN 1920s AUSTRALIA

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The 1920s decade is known to history as the‘roaring twenties’. This is the image of the jazz age:a time of great cultural, social and political change.Photos from the period show women at work,engaged in leisure activities, wearing clothing freeof the restrictions imposed on their Victorianmothers. The ‘apper’ wore short dresses madefrom inexpensive fabrics sewn on newly inventedsewing machines. She may have worked in aclerical or factory job, smoked cigarettes, wornmakeup and gone dancing in the evening.

The development of modern technology andvalues is a feature of the 1920s. There are alsomany contradictions between this image of moder-nity and the real life experience of most women.Women remained largely excluded from most areasof public life, were paid less than men and, oncemarried, were compelled to give up work.

While education for boys and girls was compulsory,the direction the education took was different.Girls were educated to be wives and mothers; theywere taught basic commercial skills along withdomestic arts such as sewing and cooking. Being in the paid workforce was ‘lling in the time’between leaving school and getting married.Despite the discrimination , increasing numbersof girls did complete a secondary education andeven attended university. However, entering thepaid workforce did not entitle women to equal payor conditions with men. Although they worked thesame hours, women were paid less because menwere considered to be the family providers. Theminimum male wage, also known as the basic

WOMEN IN THE WORKFORCE

Photograph of a spinning mill, Sydney, 1922. The girls operating the looms worked in dangerous conditions amid machinerythat lacked any safety mechanisms. The girls worked a 48-hour week for half the pay of men doing the same job.

Source 3.3.1


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The widows of soldiers killed during World War I were taught millinery at a vocational training school.This was a trade regarded as appropriate for women in the 1920s. AWM P00158.011

Source 3.3.2

wage, was calculated on what was nanciallyrequired to support a wife and three children. Onaverage, women were paid half the rate that menwere paid. Wage decisions made by the ArbitrationCourt reinforced society’s view that a woman’splace was in the home. Once married, men wereexpected to be the providers because there werefew opportunities for women to nd employmentoutside home.

Despite the restrictions on the type of work theycould do, women formed an essential part of the1920s workforce. In 1921 women made up 20.3 percent of the workforce. Female employment ratesincreased in the areas of clothing and textile manu-facturing, food preparation, typing and clericalwork. Women were excluded from most professionsexcept teaching and nursing, which were tra-ditionally regarded as female occupations. Working conditions for nurses and teachers remained poor.Trained nurses worked up to 12 hours a day forvery low pay. By 1927 medical advances requiredofcial recognition for nursing as a profession. TheNurses Registration Board was established andnurses established a union to push for improvednursing standards and conditions.

Even in the professions the level of promotionopen to women was restricted. Women were com-monly said to be emotionally and physically unt tocarry the responsibility required of more seniorpositions. By the close of the decade women werestill overwhelmingly employed in domestic service,regarded as appropriate training for their futureroles as wives and mothers. Work for the majorityof women remained unpaid and unrecognised. Itwas thought that too great an increase in paid

female employment would be a serious threat to thewellbeing of society. The trade union movement,rather than seeking to overcome these workplaceinequalities, was often hostile to women. Theunions feared the threat that cheaper women’swages posed to the working conditions of men, so itsupported the argument that women did not belong in the workplace.

Women’s jobs were often insecure. This letter to the Argus newspaper reects common community attitudes in 1922.

Source 3.3.3

It is well known that a large number of these female clerksand typists have no occasion whatever to work, merely doingso in order to increase their ‘pocket money’, their entirewages being spent on dress and pleasure, since their parentsprovide board and lodging. It would be interesting to knowhow many of these female clerks and typists are occupyingpositions in the Defence and other Commonwealth Depart-ments which could be lled equally well — and in manycases more advantageously — by returned soldiers. It is timesome action was taken to prevent women and girls oodingthe clerical labour market to the almost total exclusion of themale members of the community; while leaving thoseavenues of employment — for which women only aresuitable — severely alone; thus disturbing both the social andeconomic life of the community, and indirectly increasing thedifculties of the population question so vital to Australia.

Yours,SCRIBECanterburyJan. 17.

Argus , 18 January 1922.


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Advertising of the 1920s reinforced the image of women aswives and mothers.

Source 3.3.4

The 1920s was a decade caught between the oldand the new. Changing fashions and the moreliberal attitudes of younger people were a challengeto the older generation. The character of this moremodern outdoor age was reected in recreation,

entertainment and popular fashion. This was theage of the ‘apper’. Women threw away their cor-sets, shortened their hair and their skirts, anddressed in comfort. Fashion had nally adapted tothe demands of the Australian climate.

Against the tide of rising hemlines, the clergywarned of the moral decay that was sure to hit society.Women were blamed for prostitution, venerealdisease and sexual relations outside of marriage.Respectable society declared that young unmarriedwomen who became pregnant were ‘fallen women’who were ‘ruined for life’. Despite the dire warningsfrom the church and more sensational newspapers,

the revolution in women’s fashion continued. By 1930hemlines had hit the knee, women wore simple andpractical bathing costumes to the beach, and theywere no longer forced to suffer heroically for the sakeof modesty and fashion. Australians generally werewatching and actively participating in more sport.Women beneted from this, as there was a greaterneed for less constricting sportswear, which in turninuenced everyday clothing.

FREEDOM IN FASHION

Photograph showing a day of sand and surf in the 1920s

Source 3.3.5


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Fashionable women’s clothing featured shorter skirts and amore relaxed and practical style, as this advertisement fromthe Daily Telegraph 1926, shows.

Source 3.3.6

Check your understanding1. The 1920s decade has often been characterised as a

time of great change and progress. What evidence is

there to support this view of the decade?2. What role did women have in the 1920s Australianworkforce?

3. What was the signicance of the ‘revolution’ inwomen’s fashion?

Using sources1. How did the trade union movement react to

workplace inequality for women?2. The ‘scribe’ who contributed to the 1922 Argus

newspaper (source 3.3.3) had very strong views aboutwomen in the workforce. Summarise the main pointsof the writer’s argument and then write your own

reply. You may like to consider sources 3.3.1 and3.3.2 to help you provide a strong argument whywomen needed the union movement’s support inensuring equal representation and rights in theworkplace.

3. How would advertising like source 3.3.4 havereinforced the sense of a woman’s place in 1920ssociety?

4. A scene such as that depicted in source 3.3.5 wouldhave been unthinkable before the Great War. Howdoes source 3.3.5 reect the changes that occurred inlifestyles during the 1920s?

5. The Catholic parent in source 3.3.7 was quite clearlyconcerned about the changes in lifestyle that occurredin the 1920s. List the activities that are regarded asmorally dangerous. Imagine that you are a Catholiccommunity leader of this era and have been asked todesign a poster drawing attention to what you regardas immoral and dangerous behaviour.

Researching and communicating1. The 1920s was a very important period in the history

of Australian surf lifesaving. The world’s rst femalesurf rescue team was formed in Wollongong in 1912.

Organise a visit to a surf lifesaving club or toSydney’s Maritime Museum to obtain informationabout the development of this movement. Be creativein the way you choose to present this history of surflifesaving; you may consider posters, a timeline, avideo clip or a PowerPoint presentation.

2. The advertisement shown in source 3.3.6 presents avery fashionable view of the 1920s woman. Use thelayout and visual images of the advertisement todesign your own wall display about the lives ofAustralian women during the 1920s. Consider theimpact of modern technology and entertainment ondaily life, and the appearance of more women inpublic life.

The dangers of modern living, expressed by a Catholicparent in a letter to a magazine

Source 3.3.7

MODERN DANCESModern ideas, modern ‘dress’, modern plays, modernpicture shows, modern conversation, modernadolescent freedom and many other ‘modern’ dangersare responsible for a serious canker, more insidiousthan the dreaded cancer, which seems to be sappingthe erstwhile purity of mind of our girlhood . . . The‘abandon’ of the jazz and the voluptuous, to say theleast of it, movements of our dances of today, withthe semi-nudity as a necessary female embellishment,must have an effect diametrically opposed to all thatCatholic morals . . . stand for.

Freeman’s Journal , Sydney, 19 March 1925.



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EDITH COWANPAVES THE WAY

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Source 3.4.1

A photograph of Edith Cowan(1861–1932), social worker, activistand member of parliament

Organisations such as the National Council of Womenand the Women’s Service Guild attempted to getwomen into parliament. Women were excluded fromimportant roles in political parties and trade unions.Their employment was tolerated as long as it did nottrespass into elds dominated by men. Women’sgroups believed that gaining political power was themost effective way of bringing public attention towomen’s issues and achieving real change.

In 1921, Edith Cowan, a candidate for the Legisla-tive Assembly of Western Australia, became the rstwoman elected to an Australian parliament. EdithCowan was a social activist all her life but took on thepolitical challenge in her sixties because she believedthat the rights and needs of women and children werenot represented in government. Her sad childhoodexperiences made her particularly sympathetic to theplight of the poor and disadvantaged in society.

Edith Dircksey Cowan was born on 2 August 1861at Glengarry, Western Australia. Her father,

Kenneth Brown, was a pastoralist and her mother,Mary Wittenoom, was a teacher. Edith learnt earlyin life about hardship. When Edithwas seven, her mother died inchildbirth. Eight years later herfather, suffering from mental ill-ness, murdered his second wife.Edith’s father was executed for thecrime and she was sent to aboarding school in Perth. When shewas 18, she married James Cowanand had four daughters and a sonover the following twelve years.

James Cowan worked as a policemagistrate in Perth from 1890.Edith already had personal experi-ence of the impact on families of theimprisonment of men. Her hus-band’s work gave her an evengreater insight into the problems of vulnerable women and children.She became passionately com-mitted to bringing about socialreform as the key to improvementand a more just society.

THE WOMEN’S VOTE

ACTIVIST AND REFORMER

Edith Cowan founded the Karrakatta Club in 1894as a way of promoting the discussion of women’s rights,politics, social issues and literature. She rmlybelieved that education was essential if social problemswere to be dealt with effectively. She fought for publiceducation as the means by which the poorly educatedcould break out of the cycle of poverty and disadvan-tage. Her progressive ideas could be seen through herpromotion of sex education in schools, migrant welfareservices and baby health care centres. From 1893 shealso worked to provide legal and nancial support forunmarried mothers and started nurseries for the careof the children of working women.

In 1915, Edith Cowan was appointed to serve as amagistrate on the newly formed Children’s Court,which had grown from the Children’s ProtectionSociety she had founded. She held the position forthe next 18 years and worked tirelessly to protectthe rights of those who were not able to speak outfor themselves.

In 1921, Edith Cowan, the member for westernPerth, was elected to the Western Australian Par-liament. In her maiden speech (see source 3.4.3),she expressed the goal of her life’s work. She askedthe Parliament to consider what could be done

to help pensioners, women andchildren.

In 1922, she brought aboutchanges to the law through theGuidance of Infants Act . This gavea woman the chance to apply to thecourts for help in gaining nancialsupport if her husband left herwithout income. Cowan’s aim wasto bring about reform in the divorcecourts, in regulations regarding theguardianship of children and ininheritance laws.

When Edith Cowan entered theWestern Australian Parliament,the Bulletin newspaper publisheddemeaning cartoons depicting heras a housewife interfering in theimportant affairs of government(see source 3.4.2). The enduring image of her is as a strong cam-paigner for women’s rights and asa powerful parliamentarian.

FIRST WOMAN IN PARLIAMENT


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From Leason’s cartoon ‘The New “House” Wife’, Bulletin ,31 March 1921

An extract from Edith Cowan’s maiden speech in theWestern Australian House of Assembly on 21 July 1921

Edith Cowan lost her seat in 1924. During herlong public career, she inuenced legislation andincreased public awareness of issues of social

justice. One of the milestones of women’s rights washer introduction of the Women’s Legal Status Act ,which provided women with the right to practiselaw. This legislation paved the way for modernequal opportunity legislation.

Source 3.4.2

Source 3.4.3

I stand here today in the unique position of being the rstwoman in an Australian Parliament. I know many peoplethink perhaps that it was not the wisest thing to do tosend a woman into Parliament, and perhaps I shouldremind Hon [honourable] members that one of thereasons why women and men also considered it advisableto do so, was because it was felt that men needed areminder sometimes from women beside them that willmake them realise all that can be done for the race andfor the home. I have been sent here more from thatstandpoint than from any other . . . The views of bothsides are more than ever needed in Parliament today. Ifmen and women can work for the State side by side andrepresent all the different sections of the community, andif the male members of the house would be satised toallow women to help them and would accept theirsuggestions when they are offered, I cannot doubt thatwe should do very much better work in the community

than was ever done before.Hansard , 21 July 1921, pp. 15–19

Check your understanding1. Edith Cowan gave women and children a voice in

Australian political life. Describe some of the

experiences that led Edith Cowan to champion therights of these groups in society.

2. Explain why the election of Edith Cowan to anAustralian parliament was such an importantachievement for all Australian women.

3. In 1990, Edith Cowan’s great contribution wasacknowledged when the newest university inWestern Australia was named after her. Make a list ofEdith Cowan’s range of activities, then explain whyshe should still be regarded as such a role model inmodern Australia.

Using sources1.

From looking at source 3.4.2, explain the problemsyou think Edith Cowan would have encountered incoming into the Australian political world.

2. Read Edith Cowan’s maiden speech to the WesternAustralian Parliament (source 3.4.3). What does shebelieve that women would contribute to theParliament if men would listen to them?

Researching and communicating1. Imagine you are Edith Cowan’s campaign manager

and you need to design an election campaign. Usingsource 3.4.3 and the text, design a series ofadvertisements and posters using desktop-publishingsoftware and write the text for a series of short radiopromotions that express what Edith Cowan stood for.Urge the Australian public of the 1920s to think ofthe future and ‘give women a go’ in politics.

2. Apart from Edith Cowan, other women who madeenormous contributions to twentieth-centuryAustralian political and public life includedVida Goldstein, Isabella Golding, Catherine Dwyer,

Jessie Street, Pearl Gibbs and Enid Lyons.(a) Research the life and achievements of one of

these women and put your biographical ndingsonto a roleplay card.

(b) Using your roleplay cards, give your notablewomen the opportunity to address a publicmeeting where the topic for discussion is: ‘Whatis a woman’s place in Australian society?’

(c) Prepare roleplay cards for members of your classaudience. Your 1920s audience could includerepresentatives of the trade union movement,churches, or employer groups. Give youraudience the chance to ask questions of yourguest speakers.

Worksheets3.2 1920s crossword




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FROM SHEEP STATIONTO NATIONAL CAPITAL

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There were two major building projects in 1920s Australia — the Sydney Harbour Bridge andCanberra. By the 1920s, building Canberra hadbecome a story of compromise and carefulbudgeting rather than the realisation of a dreamborn a decade earlier.

In 1909 the Commonwealth Government chosesheep pastures in the Canberra area as the locationfor its capital and parliament, and in 1911announced an international competition to designthe city. Australian and British architects boycottedthe competition because of its low prize money,because the nal judge was an amateur (Home

Affairs Minister King O’Malley) and because theentry conditions gave the government the right touse all or part of the design.

On 23 May 1912, Chicago architect Walter BurleyGrifn won the competition out of 137 entries,gaining him £1750 in prize money. The design wasalso the work of his wife Marion Mahony Grifn,although only his name appeared on the entry.Despite the high quality of Grifn’s entry, manyarchitects believed that with different rules the

competition might have attracted better designs.Thus, Grifn began his Australian career amid abackground of resentment and disapproval withinthe architectural profession.

THE COMPETITION

Grifn’s design plan for Canberra reected manyarchitectural inuences, in particular LouisSullivan’s ‘ democratic architecture ’. A centraltriangle contained the functions of government tobring people into daily contact with buildingssymbolising democracy. The people formed the baseof the central triangle; above them was the

judiciary, followed by the legislature (the Houses of Parliament), which was to be crowned by a Capitol,which would house the national archives andcelebrate Australians’ achievements.

Function and use of the landscape were the mostimpressive ideas of the Grifn plan. The Grifnsgrouped the Commonwealth Government buildingsaround the strong visual axes formed by Mount

Ainslie, Capital Hill and Black Mountain. WalterGrifn chose the location of the city’s major func-tions — national government, civil administration,industry and commerce, residential andrecreational — according to Canberra’s naturaltopography and the importance of each functionwithin the national capital. The plan allowed roomfor future expansion without disturbance to otherareas. The Grifns wanted the lakeside, hills andmountains to remain free of building developmentso that nature would remain the dominant featuresof the cityscape. In keeping with this concept, thedominant buildings indicated on the Grifn planwere low-slung and had strong horizontal lines.

THE GRIFFIN PLAN

Marion Mahony Grifn’s 1911 watercolour image of the Capitol, a detail from her four drawings depictinga cross section of the Grifn plan for Canberra

Source 3.5.1


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Grifn was Federal Capital Director of Design andConstruction from 1913 to 1920 but never estab-lished his authority. In 1916, a royal commissioninvestigated criticisms of him. Commissioner WilfridBlackett cleared Grifn and blamed the Depart-mental Board for creating criticisms in an attemptto have its plan replace his. Opposition continued.In 1920, the government appointed the Federal Cap-

ital Advisory Committee (FCAC), chaired byrenowned architect John Sulman, to supervise Can-berra’s construction. Grifn resigned, realising hisown input was to be severely restricted.

Australia’s participation in World War I meantthere was little money available for the construc-tion of Canberra in the 1920s. The FCAC focus wason creating essential buildings (Parliament Houseand government ofces), saving money and using simplied designs. The rst casualty was Grifn’splan for grand public buildings. Sulman sought tocreate a pleasing and unpretentious garden city .He granted funds for a provisional ParliamentHouse designed to last 50 years and, to save money,relocated it to a atter site downhill from whereGrifn had intended. Few of the grand buildingsGrifn proposed along the land axis facing the lakehave been achieved.

FROM DREAM TO REALITY

John Smith Murdoch, a senior government archi-tect, designed the provisional Parliament Houseand building began in August 1923. The Duke of

York (later King George VI) opened it on 9 May1927. The opening was both grand and bizarre. A severe shortage of accommodation meant thatmany would-be spectators had had to stay in tentsthe night before and endure Canberra’s coldautumn weather. Some parliamentarians andgovernment staff camped out in Parliament Houseitself.

At the opening, Dame Nellie Melba sang thenational anthem and later complained that no-onecould hear her over the sound of aeroplanes over-head. The ofcial proceedings began when the Dukeof York unlocked the double doors that led intoKing’s Hall. Here he unveiled the statue of hisfather, King George V, and then in the Senate heopened Australia’s rst Federal Parliament. At theluncheon that followed, the guests drank non-alcoholic punch, as alcohol was still illegal inCanberra. Outside there was too much food: twotruckloads of leftovers later had to be buried.

The design of Parliament House was attractiveand functional without having any of the grandeurusually associated with legislative buildings.

A PROVISIONAL PARLIAMENTHOUSE

Photograph showing the scene at the opening of the provisional Parliament House on 9 May 1927. Fewer people attendedthan were expected and Sargent’s Ltd had 10 000 meat pies left over after the celebrations. As there were no refrigerators inwhich to keep them, they had to be buried in a trench in nearby Queanbeyan.

Source 3.5.2


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Sulman didn’t support Grifn’s general vision forCanberra. The FCAC made signicant changes toGrifn’s plans for residential areas. Instead of widestreets with terraced housing opening on to com-munal spaces at the rear, Sulman planned a variety

of street widths, cul-de-sacs and detached cottages.Oakley and Parkes, a Melbourne rm, won the1924 FCAC competition to design houses for Can-berra’s future suburbs. By the late 1920s, 500 homesbased on their designs had been built in Forrest,Grifn, Reid, Barton and Red Hill. The Red Hillproperties were very large and were intended toattract parliamentarians and wealthier residents.One of the best known of these is Calthorpe’s House,built to an Oakley and Parkes design.

Canberra housing designs of this era are called‘FCC style’ (for the Federal Capital Commissionthat replaced the FCAC in 1925). They show theinuence of the Arts and Crafts Movement (a nine-teenth century movement that celebrated gooddesign, especially in everyday objects) as well asGeorgian, Mediterranean and Spanish Missionstyles. Grifn did not plan a particular housing style in Canberra and he considered adaptation of historical styles to be ‘a caricature instead of areminiscence of its own proper grandeur’.

The 1920s saw the establishment of the basicfacilities necessary to a community. These included

RESIDENTIAL AREAS

BUILDING CANBERRA

a dam, powerhouse and brickworks; road andsewerage layouts; shopping facilities; and thebeginnings of the suburbs of Braddon, Reid, Forrestand Barton. Builders also constructed The Lodge,which is the Prime Minister’s ofcial Canberra resi-dence (1927); the government ofce buildingsknown as East and West Block (1927); CausewayHall (1926); Albert Hall (1928); and the Sydney and

Melbourne Buildings in Civic. In addition was theconstruction of the Hotel Canberra (1922–26),where many politicians lived, and hostels andhousing for 1100 public servants forcibly relocatedfrom Melbourne.

Workers’ needs were a low priority during theconstruction phase. In 1921 the FCAC upgradedthe workers’ tent accommodation by providing accommodation in the former ‘enemy aliens’barracks and by 1929 workers who could affordhigh rents had the option of housing in brickcottages.

Charles Weston, Superintendent of Parks,

Gardens and Afforestation played an important rolein the development of Canberra’s landscape from1913 to 1926. Initially he worked with Grifn on aprogram of tree planting designed to rehabilitatedenuded and eroded areas of Canberra’s landscape.Grifn liked to enhance the landscape before con-struction began so that plants could establishthemselves during the building phase. Westonundertook an extensive program of native andexotic tree planting throughout the 1920s andestablished the forest and nursery at Yarralumla.His efforts transformed the former sheep pasturesinto a densely planted urban environment.

A photograph showing Calthorpe’s House, which wasbuilt in 1927 at 24 Mugga Way, Red Hill. The houseretains its 1920s furniture and facilities, and is opento the public.

Source 3.5.3


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In the 1920s the construction of Canberra deviatedfrom the Grifn plan. The best things in Canberratoday reect the Grifn design: the strong visualgrandeur of the parliamentary triangle and the strong visual axis between the War Memorial and the new

Parliament House. The strong visual axes createdaround Mount Ainslie, Capital Hill and Black Moun-tain are still evident. Elements of the Grifn streetpattern remain and there is now a modied version of the lake system commemorating Walter Burley Grifn.

Check your understanding1. Why were many architects unwilling to support the

results of the competition to design Canberra and howdid this affect their attitudes to Walter Burley Grifn?

2. Explain how Grifn’s design symbolised life within ademocracy.

3. How did Walter Burley Grifn use the naturalenvironment in his design for Canberra?

4. Why was Grifn’s plan partly abandoned in the 1920sand what particular aspects of it were altered?

Using sources1. What does source 3.5.1 show about the image the

Grifns wanted to create for Canberra? Walter Grifnwanted this building to show the inuences of ‘all thelongest lived civilisations’. Which civilisations do youthink might have inuenced the Capitol design?

2. Explain how source 3.5.2 would be useful to ahistorian studying Canberra in the 1920s.

3. Use source 3.5.3 to write a description of Calthorpe’sHouse. Use the Internet to nd out more about it andthe architectural styles it reected. What commentsmight Grifn have made about this house?

Photograph showing the same view today

The view from Mt Ainslie depicted by Marion MahonyGrifn in 1911

Source 3.5.4

Source 3.5.5

4. Identify the building shown in the distance at thecentre of source 3.5.4. What building can youidentify in the same place in source 3.5.5? What isthe signicance of this variation to the Grifn plan?What similarities can you nd in the layout of themain features in each of the two images?

Researching and communicatingFind more information on the construction of Canberra inthe 1920s. Create a noticeboard display of your ndingsand incorporate a variety of sources, commentary andperhaps speech balloons and thought bubbles.



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WALTER BURLEY GRIFFIN —DESIGNS FOR A NEW WAY OF LIVING

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American architect Walter Burley Grifn (1876–1937) began his architectural career in the UnitedStates and continued it in Australia and laterIndia. He graduated from the University of Illinoisin 1899 and gained experience with the famous‘Chicago School’ architect Frank Lloyd Wright, inwhose ofce he worked from 1900 to 1905. It washere that Grifn met his future wife, fellow archi-tect Marion Mahony. From 1905 until 1913, Grifnran a successful architectural practice of his own.

Grifn arrived in Australia on 13 August 1913after winning the 1911–12 international compe-tition to design Australia’s capital, Canberra. Helived here for over 20 years, working as FederalCapital Director of Design and Construction from1913 to 1920 and in private practice. In addition toworking on the Canberra project, Grifn took onother design projects including Newman College atMelbourne University, cinemas in Sydney andMelbourne, the New South Wales country towns of Grifth and Leeton, the new Sydney suburb of Castlecrag and a number of council incinerators!

Walter Burley Grifn’s most signicant contribution

in Australia was in neighbourhood design and dom-estic architecture, through which he aimed to designhomes in keeping with their natural environmentand supported and enhanced by the neighbourhood

around them. His goal was to create harmonywithin the modern, industrialised

urban environment.From 1921 to 1935, Grifn

developed his plans for thesuburb of Castlecrag, a rockypeninsula on the foreshores of Sydney Harbour betweenNorthbridge and Roseville. He

was Managing Director of theSydney Development Associationthat funded and controlled 303 hec-

tares of land there, to be called the‘Haven Estate’.

Grifn disliked the layoutand ‘sameness’ of Sydney’s

CREATING CASTLECRAG

suburbs. He aimed to provide an alternative to theusual street-facing brick houses with high-pitchedred tile roofs (pitched to at least 27.5 degrees to aidwaterproong) that dominated Sydney’s grid-patterned streetscapes. The Haven Estate designincluded curved and narrow roads that followed thenatural contours of the site. Grifn createddivisions between residential areas and heavytrafc. He set aside 20 per cent of the site for apublic reserve; a 50-metre strip along the water-front so that all residents could have access to theforeshore; and a system of walkways linking theroads and the water.

Grifn’s Castlecrag housesGrifn designed low-slung, single-storey homeswith at roofs. Some of the roofs incorporated a ter-race and a roof garden, which provided a pleasantoutlook for the houses above them. He planned tohave vines cover the trellises attached to the out-side walls. Ceiling heights varied according to thefunction of the room, and colours throughout thehome blended with the natural environment.

Sensitive site layout ensured that every housecould have a magnicent view and be positioned totake advantage of sun and light.

Grifn controlled development on the Havenestate site by restricting building heights and usage,controlling tree removals and planting hundreds of native trees, listing the building materials whichcould be used, forbidding fences and reserving theright to have nal design approval on all projects.Nowadays, local councils use developmental controlplans to address these inuences on the streetscapeand developers implement them.

Grifn was fascinated with the Middle

Ages. He named the streets within theHaven Estate after the parts of a medievalfortress — The Bastion, The Bulwark, TheRampart, The Parapet.

People who own one of Grifn’s Castle-crag homes tend to hang onto them. Forexample, the Johnson House, at 4 TheParapet, Castlecrag, was owned by thesame family for 54 years. It sold in 2002 for$460000 to someone within the family andsold again in 2004 for $1180 000.A 1912 photograph of

Walter Burley Grifn

Source 3.6.1


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Photograph showing Walter Burley Grifn’s design of Fishwick House from the same era

Photograph showinga typical 1920shouse

Source 3.6.2

Source 3.6.3


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The houses on the Haven Estate attractedmiddle- to high-income earners. The average costwas £600 — still a lot of money in the 1920s and1930s. Some cost as much as £3000. Grifn designeda number of houses as a space- and cost-efcientcentre that people could add onto later. He alsoexperimented with building methods and materialsthat would reduce costs. These included stone exca-

vated from the site, simplied roof construction andhis Knitlock invention — a system of machine-made walls using pre-cut concrete building blocksnished in crushed sandstone. The small size andlightweight nature of many of the componentsallowed for greater design exibility.

In the 1920s and 1930s, popular housing magazinessuch as the Real Property Owner , Australian Home

Builder and Home Beautiful praised the HavenEstate as an example of good design for Australianconditions. Their articles gave the impression thatGrifn hated city life and industrialisation. Theyoften depicted the Castlecrag development as

symbolically opposed to life in an industrialised city.This was not what Grifn intended. He thought thatsensitive neighbourhood planning could provide asolution to the problems associated with modern citylife and industrialisation. He believed that good townplanning should allow for the modern life to developwithin a human framework.

Castlecrag was an experiment in community living amid the natural environment. Grifn planned aneighbourhood that would include shops, a childcarecentre, a communal tennis court, an outdoor naturalamphitheatre near the foreshore, a community swim-ming area and a golf course. The Castlecrag commu-nity reected the Grifns’ political, social, spiritualand architectural philosophies on a smaller and moremanageable scale than the design for Canberra.

Walter and Marion Grifn made their own homeat Castlecrag and attracted a group of like-mindedpeople to build there too. Many, like the Grifns,were involved in theosophy , anthroposophy ,theatre, art, radical politics, bushwalking and con-servation. Residents included the Communist acti-vist Guido Baracchi, the playwright Betty Roland,the actor Oscar Asche and the writer BernardHesling. They enjoyed cultural and environmentalpursuits as a means of self-expression. Residentsformed a drama group, met for painting and dancing lessons and established a Rudolph Steiner school.

There was also a community hospital run by theradical Adelaide doctor Edward Rivett. To WalterGrifn, Castlecrag seemed to prove that the publiccould be interested in building communities andnot just houses.

THE CASTLECRAGCOMMUNITY

Ultimately the public became more interested inthe poor workability record of many of Grifn’sdesign innovations. Grifn did not appoint anyoneto supervise construction and builders skimped onmaterials and workmanship. The unpainted down-pipes ducted through the interiors of his housescorroded and burst. The wood-and-nail hinges ondoors and cupboards warped or rusted away.

Asphalt dropped from his adventurous ceiling features. A ceiling dome fell down and ‘imprisoned’the children who had been playing cards on theoor beneath. A number of roofs leaked dreadfullybecause of cracks in the concrete.

The Haven Estate was never a nancial success.While the residents generally loved their homes,only 15 of the 22 houses designed for the HavenEstate were ever built. Banks thought the designswere too different and were reluctant to lend moneyto would-be purchasers. In the following years,Castlecrag as a whole took on the characteristicsand appearance of many other Sydney suburbs.

The Grifns’ architectural and design practice suf-fered badly during the Depression years from 1929onwards. In 1932, with two partners, they estab-lished the Reverbatory Incinerator and Engineering Company and set about designing a number of grandlooking incinerators. These projects helped sustainthe Grifns nancially during the Depression andalso allowed them to put into practice their commit-ment to good design in all buildings. The incin-erators reected Grifn’s desire to show thatindustrial buildings need not be ugly, and they stim-ulated concern for the aesthetics of industrial build-ings. Grifn went to India in 1935 to design 60buildings for the United Provinces Exhibition atLucknow. He died there of peritonitis in 1937.

A photograph of Grifn’s Willoughby incinerator

THE IMPACT OF THEDEPRESSION

Source 3.6.4


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In the eyes of the average Australian, Walter BurleyGrifn is best known as the American architect/townplanner who designed Canberra and gave his nameto its ornamental lake. His work, along with that of his wife, Marion Mahony Grifn, deserves greater

recognition. Their architectural and design workwas the most innovative of their era. His projectsintegrated all the environmental arts — architec-ture, landscape design and town planning — andraised public awareness that architectural designcould involve the ordinary home and suburb ratherthan just grand buildings and capital cities. WalterBurley Grifn came to terms with city life andindustrialisation at a time when many of his fellowarchitects displayed hostility to urban life.

THE GRIFFIN LEGACYWalter Burley Grifn’s Castlecrag community did

not have a huge impact on the design of Australiansuburbs in the 1920s and 1930s. Even at the end of the twentieth century, Australian suburbs con-tinued to be dominated by pitched roofs (no longerall red), fenced-in blocks of land and houses thatfaced the street. At the same time, Grifn’s workhas had an inuence in other ways.

In the early twenty-rst century, town planning faculties throughout Australia value the philosophyof designing in harmony with nature. The trend in

neighbourhood design today is towards narrowroadways that reduce trafc speed; roads that followthe contours of the land; and designs that preserveas much of the natural landscape as possible. Manyof Grifn’s design concepts are evident in medium-density housing developments that incorporatehousing designs in harmony with one another, thatintegrate driveway design and landscaping and thatprovide communal recreational facilities.

Check your understanding1. Design a full-page advertisement for the Haven Estate

c.1926. Your advertisement should highlight the positivefeatures associated with the architect, location and designof this development and how it differs from the ‘norm’ of1920s domestic architecture. Do some additionalresearch from books and/or the Internet to nd one ormore images suitable for illustrating your advertisement.

2. What aspects of the Haven Estate indicate that Grifnwanted not just to design housing but to build acommunity?

3. What were the strengths and weaknesses of Grifn’sHaven Estate?

Using sources1. Write a brief biography, to accompany the photograph

in source 3.6.1, for a dictionary of twentieth-centuryarchitects.

2. What do the photographs in sources 3.6.2 and 3.6.3show about how a Grifn home differed from theaverage Australian home of the era?

3. What do you think Grifn wanted to achieve in theincinerator shown in source 3.6.4?

Marion Mahony was the second woman tograduate in architecture from the Massa-chusetts Institute of Technology, and therst ever female to be licensed to practisearchitecture.

Photograph of Marion Mahony Grifn and Walter BurleyGrifn gardening in the backyard of ‘Pholiota’ in Heidelberg,Victoria, 1918

Source 3.6.5



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PIONEERS OF THE SKIES: CHARLESKINGSFORD SMITH AND JOHN FLYNN

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Photograph of Charles Ulm, left, and Charles KingsfordSmith, right

Charles Kingsford Smith was born in Queenslandin 1897. On his eighteenth birthday he joined thearmy so that he could go to ght in the Great War.He was sent to serve as a motorcycle dispatch riderin the Australian Imperial Forces stationed in

SIR CHARLES KINGSFORDSMITH

Egypt, Gallipoli and France. In 1916 the govern-ment called for 200 volunteers to train as pilots inthe Royal Flying Corps. The following year Kings-ford Smith served for three months in France, shotdown two planes, was wounded and awarded theMilitary Cross. At 19 years of age he established areputation as a daring aviator, and went to Buck-ingham Palace to receive his medal for wartimebravery from King George V.

Thousands of planes had been built as ghting machines during World War I. Immediately afterthe war, aviation was still regarded as a noveltyand there were few opportunities for pilots. Kings-ford Smith believed that in aviation he had foundthe purpose of his life and was determined to earn aliving by ying. He stayed in England where hepurchased a De Havilland DH6 plane, then offered

joy rides and performed hazardous aeronauticalmovie stunts. In 1921 Kingsford Smith returned to

Australia and worked again as a joy ride pilot forthe Diggers’ Aviation Company.

The 1920s was the decade in which the useful-ness of aviation was realised. Lieutenants Rossand Keith Smith had became heroes in Australia inDecember 1919 after ying from England to Aus-tralia in just 27 days. Without radio or navigationalaids they endured the snow and storms of Europeand a gale in Iraq, before nally landing safely inDarwin. Planes were the fastest form of transportthat modern technology offered. In Australia, acountry of vast distances, ying provided the oppor-tunity to move passengers, mail and suppliesquickly. In 1920 a company known as Queenslandand Northern Territory Aerial Services, or Qantas,began operating an airmail service in westernQueensland. Western Australian Airways Limitedwas set up in 1921 with Kingsford Smith hired asone of the ve pilots. Australians enthusiasticallyfollowed the progress of these early aviators andregarded them as pioneers, conquering the isolationof Australia.

Kingsford Smith made the rst commercial ightacross Australia when he took three paying pas-sengers on a trip to Sydney. The journey madenewspaper headlines and brought him into contactwith another returned soldier from Gallipoli andthe elds of France, Charles Ulm. After the war,Ulm had qualied as a pilot and started his com-pany, Interstate Flying Services, which had themotto ‘Aeroplane ights arranged to any part of theworld’.

Source 3.7.1


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A ight across the Pacic Ocean was Charles Kings-ford Smith’s dream. Ulm and Kingsford Smithneeded nancial backing to achieve their goal. In1927 they broke the round-Australia record by com-pleting the ight in 10 days, and gained valuable

publicity. Jack Lang, the Labor Premier of NewSouth Wales, began fundraising for the Pacic ightwith the promise of a donation of £3500 towards thecost. The challenge and exhilaration of aviation wasaccompanied by the frustration of battling fornance. Jack Lang was sacked and the new govern-ment failed to honour the pledge of funds. Finally,Captain Allan Hancock organised the money for pur-chase of a Fokker tri-motor which they named theSouthern Cross. The Pacic ight began on 31 May1928, with Ulm as co-pilot and two Americans,Harry H. Lyon and Jim Warner, as navigators. TheSouthern Cross took off from Oakland, California,and landed 83 ying hours later in Brisbane. Theyhad beaten erce storms and turbulent ying con-ditions that threatened to plummet the SouthernCross into the ocean. Despite suffering physicalexhaustion from their epic journey, ‘Smithy’ and thecrew ew on to Sydney the following morning, wherethey were welcomed by a crowd of 300000.

THE SOUTHERN CROSSSixteen historic ights followed. In June 1929

Kingsford Smith ew to London in 12 days, 18 hours.The following year he completed a circumnavigationof the world and the rst westward crossing of the

Atlantic Ocean as well as establishing the FirstNational Airways.

Despite legendary status, Ulm and KingsfordSmith were constantly frustrated by a lack of nan-

cial support and government recognition. Making the record books brought nancial backing but alsoencouraged risk. In 1934, on a ight between Cali-fornia and Hawaii, Charles Ulm disappeared. In1935 Kingsford Smith and co-pilot Tommy Pethy-bridge left London to y the Lady Southern Crossback to Australia in another record attempt. OnNovember 8 1935 they took off from Allahabad forSingapore and were never heard of again.

The image of the 1920s as a time of great opti-mism is largely due to the impact of modern trans-port. The motor car and aeroplane provided anopportunity to open up our vast continent and gavea sense of freedom unknown to earlier generations.Pioneer aviators like Kingsford Smith captured theimagination of Australians, showing us that thebest way to get anywhere was to y. In their smallplanes, these aviators were triumphing over the‘tyranny of distance’.

Photograph of the Southern Cross in ight near Canberra, 1928

Source 3.7.2


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An Australian commemorative stamp, issued in 1931,marking Kingsford Smith’s record-breaking ights

Along with the destruction of life that World War Ihad caused came the chance to improve the quality

of life. Technological advances gave the post-wargeneration the mass-produced motor car and theaeroplane. Improved medical procedures and newvaccines gave wounded soldiers a better chance of survival. Nursing, considered a lowly occupationbefore the war, took on a level of respectabilitywhen the importance of this work became soobvious in wartime. After 1925, nurses in NewSouth Wales had to pass exams and be registeredbefore they could be employed. By the 1920s,

Australian cities were becoming safer places to live,with cleaner supplies of water and milk andimproved education, health and dental services.

Australians dwelling in the more remote areas of Australia were now demanding improved educationand health facilities.

In 1928 the Reverend Dr John Flynn, a Presbyte-rian minister from Victoria, thought of combining the new technology of the aeroplane with the wire-less to create a ying ambulance and hospital. Hehad travelled through the Northern Territorybefore the war and had become concerned about thehard and hazardous lives of people in isolated com-munities scattered across the huge landscape.Flynn’s life work was devoted to spreading thegospel and setting up bush hospitals and edu-cational facilities in remote areas. With an aero-plane from the newly formed Qantas, ‘Flynn of theinland’ began the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Flynn’s rst ying doctor was based at Cloncurryin Queensland. A transmitter installed in thechurch, combined with an existing aerodrome and a40-bed hospital, provided a lifesaving medical ser-vice to 255 patients in the rst year. The ying doctor also provided medical advice over the radioin emergency situations such as snakebites orburns. By the close of the 1920s the Flying DoctorService had become a part of Australian life.

Source 3.7.3

FLYNN OF THE INLAND

1928 photograph of the Reverend Dr John Flynn

John Flynn’s dream had been to create a ‘mantleof safety’ throughout the outback. When he died in1951, the rural population living across two-thirdsof the Australian continent were entirely dependenton the Flying Doctor Service for health care. JohnFlynn’s nal resting place is in the shade of Mt Gillen, near Alice Springs. A small nationalreserve and granite monument mark the site. In1953 a commemorative stone was created nearTennant Creek. His importance to rural Australiais summed up in source 3.7.5.

The words written on Flynn’s commemorative stone nearTennant Creek

Source 3.7.4

Source 3.7.5

His vision encompassed the continent.He established the Australian inland missionAnd founded theFlying Doctor service.He brought to lonely placesA spiritual ministryAnd spread a mantle of safety over themBy medicine, aviation and radio.


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Check your understanding1. Create a timeline of the main events in Charles

Kingsford Smith’s life and the developments in aviation.2. Why do you think aviation was regarded as

particularly signicant to Australians?3. War meant great suffering but also brought

technological advances. What were some of theseadvances and how do you think the war could beregarded as providing a chance to improve the qualityof life of the post-war generation?

4. It was said that John Flynn ‘spread a mantle of safety’.Explain what this means and the signicance of Flynn’swork.

Using sources1. What image of aviation and aviators is communicated

by source 3.7.1?2. At the end of World War I, the general public regarded

aeroplanes as either suicide machines or something ofnovelty value. Examine source 3.7.2. Use thephotograph as the basis for an aviation promotion.Design poster advertisements pointing out the benetsaeroplanes offer Australia.

3. How do source 3.7.3 and the photograph onpages 68–9 indicate that the Australian public’sattitude towards aviation has changed?

4. Source 3.7.6 shows the challenge faced in takinghealth care to remote communities. Design a

postage stamp commemorating the achievements of John Flynn and his Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Researching and communicating1. The story of Reverend Dr John Flynn is inspirational.

Research his life and his achievements. Prepare aspeech you could deliver as a tribute to his place inAustralian history. You can begin your research bygoing to www.jaconline.com.au/retroactive/ retroactive2 and clicking on the John Flynn weblinks.

2. Cars and planes had become a feature of Australianlife by 1929. Draw a mind map of ideas on how youthink living in Australia would have changed as aresult of the changes in transport during this decade.

3. There were many names in the history of Australianaviation. Research the record-breaking ights ofAustralian pioneers of the air such as Bert Hinkler,Harry Hawker, and Ross and Keith Macpherson Smith.On a large class map, plot the routes these aviatorstook and provide some background facts in cartoonform.

Worksheets

3.3 Write a children’s story3.4 ‘History of aviation’ display

Photograph of John Flynn and his wife, Jean Baird, on one of alifetime of long journeys spent visiting Australians in remotecommunities

Source 3.7.6

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Review & exam practice

S C H O O L C E RT I F I C AT E

P R A C T I C E

Multiple choiceChoose the letter that provides the most correct answer.

1. One of the most important jobs for the Australiangovernment in 1920 was to:(A) produce electrical appliances for Australian

homes(B) provide jobs for returned soldiers(C) continue the ght against communism(D) legislate for better employment conditions for

workers.2. Australian workers are able to settle disputes with

employers through:(A) arbitration

(B) demonstration(C) revolution(D) confrontation.

3. Consider the following statements about the tradeunions.Statement X: Membership of the unions increased

during the 1920s.Statement Y: Most unionists believed in using the

courts to achieve workplace reform.(A) Both statements are false.(B) Both statements are true.(C) Statement X is false and statement Y is true.(D) Statement X is true and statement Y is false.

4. The Australian Council of Trade Unions, or ACTU,was formed in:(A) 1920(B) 1927(C) 1930(D) 1937.

5. The police strike of 1923 was caused by:(A) low wages, increased living costs and inadequate

pensions(B) high wages, increased living costs and no pensions(C) low wages, decreased living costs and no pensions(D) low wages, increased living costs and high

pensions.

6. The rst woman to be elected to any Australianparliament was:(A) Vida Goldstein(B) Enid Lyons(C) Edith Cowan(D) Jessie Street.

7. During the 1920s, women’s pay was on average:(A) equal to men’s(B) more than men’s(C) half of men’s(D) nearly equivalent to men’s.

8. Which of the following statements is NOT true ofWalter Burley Grifn?(A) His wife was an architect and artist.(B) He won the competition to design Canberra.(C) He was part of the group of architects known as

‘the San Francisco school’.(D) He believed in ‘democratic architecture’.

9. Consider the following statements about Grifn’svision for Castlecrag.Statement X: Grifn envisaged a housing estate that

encouraged people to live in isolation from oneanother.

Statement Y: Grifn envisaged a housing estate thatfacilitated the development of a community.

(A) Both statements are true.(B) Both statements are false.(C) Statement X is true and statement Y is false.

(D) Statement X is false and statement Y is true.10. The phrase that best summarises the character ofthe 1920s is:(A) a decade of progress for women(B) a decade of social change and economic

uncertainty(C) a decade of social change and industrial

harmony(D) a decade of social change and economic

prosperity.

Extended response

(Answers should be about one and a half pages inlength.)

1. Discuss the following statement. ‘During the 1920sAustralia experienced rapid social change.’ Supportyour answer by using your knowledge of post-warreconstruction, political and trade uniondevelopments, experiences of women andachievements of signicant personalities.

2. Explain what the industrial disputes of the 1920sshowed about the problems facing Australian societyduring this decade.

3. How could the 1920s be regarded as the beginningof the modern era in Australia? Discuss two of thefollowing:

fashionpoliticstrade unionsarchitecturetechnology.

4. Describe the achievements and experiences of asignicant Australian woman during the 1920s.

5. Explain why Walter Burley Grifn was a signicantindividual in 1920s Australia.

The 1920s

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D E V E L O P Y O U R

H I S TO R I C A L S K I L L S

1. Refer to source 3.8.1. Imagine you are adocumentary maker and have produced a lm aboutlives of workers and the growth of trade unions inthe 1920s. Research the working conditions that

miners have had to endure and the role trade unionshave had in improving their jobs. Use desktoppublishing software to turn your ndings intopromotional material for your documentary.

Photograph showing three miners working on a seweragetunnel in 1925

2. Think about the social issues that people could havefaced in the 1920s. Have a class discussion on thesocial issues facing the Australian community today.Go through the daily newspapers to locate articles

Source 3.8.1

or look in the Australian news indexes onwww.anzwers.com.au. Write a letter to the editor ofa newspaper to express your opinion on a currentsocial issue. You might like to consider issuesrelating particularly to young people, such asunemployment, homelessness and dealing with drugabuse.

3. As at the end of World War I, great technologicalchange came to post–World War II generations. Inclass groups, research one area of technology thathas changed the lives of Australians during the last50 years. Consider the losses and gains to oursociety as a result of modern technology. Presentyour ndings orally to the class.

4. Imagine you are the fashion editor of a 1920smagazine. Design your own 1920s fashion spread ofclothes, makeup and hairstyles.

5. The following two sources provide additionalinformation on the Grifns and their work. Look atone of them and identify how it has extended yourunderstanding of the Grifns.(a) City of Dreams (a Film Australia documentary

2001)(b) www.pbs.org/wbgrifn/index.htm — a website to

support the 1998 American TV documentary onthe Grifns entitled Walter Burley Grifn: In hisown right .

6. Use source 3.8.2 to answer the following questions:(a) What aspects of Grifn’s plan exist in Canberra

today?(b) What important part of the Grifn plan is not

evident in Canberra?(c) What is Weirick’s conclusion about Canberra?(d) What questions would you ask in order to fully

understand Weirick’s opinion of Canberra?

A comment on Canberra by James Weirick, Professor ofLandscape Architecture at the University of New SouthWales

7. The 1920s have been the subject of movies andliterature. Finish your unit of work on the 1920s witha literature or lm appreciation

chap 3 roaring into modern australia

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