J. R. (John Rodwell) Hughes - papers, 1929-1993

MLMSS 6381

fonds

1929 - 1993

Textual Records, Graphic Materials, Clippings, Photographs

152477

7 boxes - 1.19 Meters
Textual Records
Textual Records - (typescript)
Textual Records - (typescript, photocopy)
Clippings
Clippings - (photocopy)
Textual Records - (printed)
Textual Records - (printed, photocopy)
Photographs - 4 silver gelatin photoprints

J. R. (John Rodwell) Hughes was born in Sydney in 1910. He began his career in the Labor movement by joining the Australian Labor Party in 1927 and quickly advanced through the trade union ranks. He was Assistant Secretary, 1933-1941, then Secretary, 1942-1952, of the N.S.W. Branch of the Federated Clerks' Union of Australia. Between 1937-1941 he was Vice-President, then President of the Labor Council of New South Wales. During the war he was co-founder of the left-wing State Labor Party (N.S.W.), which officially amalgamated with the Communist Party of Australia (CPA). As Chairman of the CPA's Central Disputes Committee (Control Commission), he presided over Party discipline and security. In 1959 he represented the Party at the 6th National Congress of the Partai Komunis Indonesia (Indonesian Communist Party). Two years earlier he had gone on a study trip to China, returning in 1984 with a delegation of CPA veterans.

1950; 'NSW Branch vs Communist Party Dissolution Act 1950', being papers concerning the legal case brought by the N.S.W. Branch of the Federated Clerks' Union of Australia and Hughes against the Communist Party Dissolution Act 1950 (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/1)
1952; Papers of the Federated Clerks Union of Australia Conference, Newcastle, N.S.W., Mar.-Apr. 1952, including photoprint of Conference members (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/1)
ca. 1950-1958; Drafts of speeches, articles and pamphlets, mostly by Hughes (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/1)
1941-198-; Pamphlets and other publications, including Review, No.4 Mar. 1951. Eurunderee, N.S.W.: Henry Lawson Press; and For Political Liberty and the Defeat of Hitlerism by J. D. Blake. Melbourne: International Bookshop Pty Ltd, 1941 (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/1)
1941-1967; Newscuttings mainly concerning the Australian Security Intelligence Organization and the Communist Party of Australia (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/1)
1962-1993; Correspondence, being mainly letters received, with Mark Cranfield, Frank Hardy and Jan Malley (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/1)
1980; Printed material concerning the English syllabus and Vertical Semester Programme at The Entrance High School, N.S.W. (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/1)
1932-1985; Documents and newscuttings concerning equal pay and trade union matters, with MS. listing (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/2)
1938-1940; Documents concerning equal pay cases compiled by the Council of Action for Equal Pay (N.S.W.), being Statement to the N.S.W. Industrial Commission for Equal Pay in support of occupational rates for men and women in the Clerks' Union case, Dec. 1938; First Interstate Conference on Equal Status and Equal Pay, Sydney, 8 Feb. 1938; and transcript notes of Clerks' Union equal pay claim before the N.S.W. Industrial Commission (2 copies) (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/2)
1949; Minutes of Central Council Meetings of the N.S.W. Branch of the Federated Clerks' Union of Australia, 9-17 July 1949, being printed transcript (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/2)
1929-1963;
'Pamphlets 1929-1963, pages 1 & 2', being pamphlets, some written by Hughes, concerning equal pay, Jack Lang and the State Labor Party (N.S.W., with MS. listing; (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/3)
1940-1991; 'Page 3', being documents concerning Australian Labor Party Federal Executive meeting regarding suspension of N.S.W. Executive, 1940; and reports of State Labor Party (N.S.W.) and ALP Conferences, 1940 and 1942; and newscuttings, with MS. listing (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/3)
1938-1942; 'Pamphlets, page 6', being mainly ALP/State Labor Party (N.S.W.) pamphlets, with MS. listing (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/3)
1940-1944; 'Pamphlets, page 8', being mainly election pamphlets and speech notes by Hughes, with MS. listing (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/3)
1931-1952; 'Documents ALP 1931-1952, pages 1-3', including lectures and talks by Hughes and correspondence, with MS. listing (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/4)
1931-1943; 'ALP 1931-1943, page 1', including correspondence, leaflets and pamphlets, with MS. listing (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/4)
1931-1932, 1971; 'ALP Socialism and Call 1931-1971, 2 pages', including newscuttings and issues of Socialisation Call, 1931-1932, with MS. listing (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/4)
1943-1944; 'Documents Amalgamation ALP & CPA Jan 44, 1 page', including minutes of meeting between State Labor Party (N.S.W.) and CPA, 1943, and speech by Hughes to Unity Conference, 1944, with MS. listing (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/4)
1954-1964; 'Petrov Commission 1954-1955 plus ACP 1963-1964, 2 pages', being mainly newscuttings, with MS. listing (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/4)
1930-1966, 1972, 1988; 'Press cuttings ALP 1930-1966, pages 1-8', including correspondence, newscuttings, printed material and photoprint of Hughes electioneering, May 1941, with MS. listing (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/4)
1936-1943; 'Press cuttings ALP 1936-1943, pages 9-16', being newscuttings and printed material, with MS. listing (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/4)
1930-1936; 'Press cuttings ALP-Lang TUs CP 1930-1936, 1-4 pages, being newscuttings and printed material, with MS. listing (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/5)
1938-1944; 'Press cuttings ALP 1938-1943, pages 4 & 5', being mainly newscuttings and talks by Hughes, with MS. listing (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/5)
1931-1986; 'Press cuttings & leaflets 1931-1981, pages 1-2, being mainly newscuttings and printed material concerning ALP, CPA, Jack Lang and secret armies, and 2 photoprints of reception in honour of J. R. Hughes, organised by the Lake Macquarie (N.S.W.). Council, 17 Mar. 1959, with MS. listing (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/5)
1931-1941, 1988; 'Press cuttings ALP 1939-1941, 1 page', being newscuttings from Sydney and Broken Hill newspapers, and scrapbook of newscuttings concerning ALP, State Labor Party (N.S.W.), Jack Lang, Federated Clerks' Union of Australia and the labour movement, 1931-1939, 1988, with MS. listing (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/5)
1958-1980; 'Documents State Committee CP of A 1958-1980, 1 page', being mainly reports and speeches by Hughes to N.S.W. State Committee of the Communist Party of Australia, with MS. listing (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/6)
1959-1988; 'CPA 1959? to 1988, 1 page', being typescript reports, correspondence and newscuttings, with MS. listing (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/6)
1938-1968; 'Documents and Leaflets ACP Nov. 38-Sept 68, 1 page', with MS. listing (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/6)
1956-1966; 'Youth 1956-1966, 1 page', being papers concerning youth issues and the Eureka Youth League, with MS. listing (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/6)
1938-1940, 1966-1967; 'Youth: Discussions on problems and the way forward', 1966-1967, with speeches by Hughes, 1938-1940, with typescript listing (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/6)
ca. 1945-1967; Speech and lecture notes, and printed material being mainly galley proofs of articles by Hughes and newscuttings, with typescript listing (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/6)
ca. 1978-1985; 'Veterans China Visit' concerning CPA veterans' 'Back to China' delegation, 23 Sep.-15 Oct. 1984, including correspondence and notes, with MS. listing (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/7)
1957; 'Speeches China 1957', being transcripts of speeches by Chinese officials, with MS. listing (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/7)
1959; Papers mainly concerning Partai Komunis Indonesia (Indonesian Communist Party), being report of speech by President Sukarno to Indonesian Communist Party Congress, 16 Sep. 1959, and letter received by Hughes from Review of Indonesia, 17 Nov. 1959, with MS. listing (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/7)
ca. 1940-1980; 'To be sorted', being mainly newscuttings and Hughes' speech to 6th National Congress of Indonesian Communist Party, 1959, with MS. listing (Call No.: MLMSS 6381/7)

This collection was transferred from the University of Western Sydney, Macarthur, to the State Library of New South Wales in 1997. Records of the Communist Party of Australia's Central Disputes Committee (CDC) (or Control Commission) which had previously formed part of the Hughes Collection have been repatriated to the Party's series of CDC records, held by the State Library and restricted without the permission of the Search Foundation.