Opening ceremony official party for Menzies 50th anniversary

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Queen Elizabeth II (born 1926) and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born 1921) were both considerably younger than the members of the University's official party. From 18 February to 27 March 1963 they were on their second tour of Australia. On their first trip in 1954, the Duke of Edinburgh opened University House. Now, in March 1963, they arrived in Canberra for the 50th anniversary of the naming of the nation's capital. At Regatta Point, a display of the growth of the city was especially erected for the Royal visit and proved to be so popular that it was made permanent. The Queen and Prince Philip were also taken to the top of Mt Ainslie to admire the panorama of the city's development. The ANU was not the only university they visited on their trip around Australia. They had already opened the Wallace Wurth School of Medicine and Biological Sciences at the University of New South Wales and were later to join in the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the University of Western Australia.

Chancellor Sir John Douglas Cockcroft, 1897-1967

Cockcroft was the University's second Chancellor. He served from 1961 to 1965, the opening of the R. G. Menzies Building coming in the middle of his tenure of office. Cockcroft's association with the University was the kind of prestigious connection that the founders of the ANU had in mind. In 1951 Cockcroft (together with E. S. Walton) had been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for what was popularly known as 'splitting the atom'. He had met Queen Elizabeth II on earlier occasions, especially in relation to the world's first commercial nuclear power in Britain. At the time of the opening of the Menzies Building, he was turning over in his mind a lecture he was to give on 'The future of nuclear power'. By this time, another of his chief preoccupations was the creation of a healthy research establishment. The role of a director, he said, was to decide which, among many competing proposals, should be worked on; to ensure that the creative ideas of young scientists were considered quickly; that good relations between scientists and administrators were maintained; and that all levels of staff whether scientists, technicians, or draughtsmen were recognised as part of the team. He stressed that 'they should be provided with the facilities which enable good ideas to bear fruit'. The new Library was one of the physical outcomes of such a hope.

Pro-Chancellor Dr Herbert Cole Coombs, 1906-1997

In 1963, H. C. 'Nugget' Coombs was Pro-Chancellor of the ANU, a position created especially for him, acknowledging his ties with the University which stretched back into the 1940s. At the time of the opening of the Menzies Building, Coombs was also Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia and was writing a lecture entitled 'Some Ingredients for Growth'. In this, he stressed the importance of a conscious effort to increase the scale and scope of research in universities, as well as in other agencies, including the Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organisation. He had recently published Other People's Money, a readable work for the general public in which he discussed the complexities of borrowing and lending, subjects which were also vital to the development of the ANU. Demonstrating a remarkable capacity to juggle many diverse projects at the same time, on this occasion he was also preparing to deliver a talk to the Old People's Welfare Council of Victoria on 'Preparation for Retirement' in which he advocated a balance of intellectual, physical and emotional activities. In 1954, he was the first President of the Elizabethan Theatre Trust, and may have mentioned its progress to the Queen since the Trust had been named after her. From 1968 to 1976, he was the University's fourth Vice-Chancellor and extended his interest in central banking, the role of the social scientist in industry, the environment and in Aboriginal communities, but in 1963 all this lay in the future. Slightly closer was the opening of the Coombs Building by Sir John Cockcroft on 11 September 1964: Nugget could see that the hexagonal shapes were gradually emerging, and though there was a university policy to name buildings only after the deceased, the R. G. Menzies Building clearly broke this rule.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Leonard George Holden Huxley, 1902-1988

The name 'Huxley' caught the attention of Canberrans who had heard of the famous biologist and anthropologist, Thomas Huxley, a strong supporter of the work of Charles Darwin. Canberrans were intrigued to learn that the Vice-Chancellor was indeed related, his grandfather being the uncle of Thomas Huxley. 'Len' Huxley was a well-known scientist in his own right. One of his special interests was electron transportation in gases, the practical applications of which included work on atmospheric disturbances in radio transmission and radar. In Canberra he had already engaged in collaborative projects with the Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organisation, which was also represented at the Library's opening. Huxley had been appointed Vice-Chancellor on 30 September 1960. The next day Canberra University College merged with the Australian National University. In line with his interest in scientific research, he was currently supporting proposals to establish a Research School of Chemistry and a School of Biological Sciences, and applauded the growth of the Department of Mathematics in the Research School of Physical Sciences. Being on the Council of the National Library of Australia, he understood the challenges of constructing permanent library buildings (the new National Library was not opened until August 1968). It was something of a feather in the University's cap that in early 1963 it had succeeded having a library building that was worthy of being opened by the Queen. Huxley was knighted in 1964.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Arthur Dale Trendall, 1909-1995

Trendall was the first Master of University House, having formerly been a professor at the University of Sydney. The Mastership of University House was one of the most senior positions in the University and carried with it the position of Deputy Vice-Chancellor. A serious academic and administrator, but also one noted for his theatrical manner, Trendall was very much at home wearing red academic robes and seated in the front row of the official party. He was able to walk over to the Library from his rooms overlooking the Fellows Garden at University House. In 1963, the ANU still required single research students to live at University House, and so the proximity of the Menzies Library, a few paces across a paddock which was now being transformed into a well-watered lawn, was a considerable asset. Until the opening of the Menzies Library, University House was the only significant venue within the ANU suitable for displaying works of art, and so Trendall appreciated that spaces in the Library had been designed to house local and travelling exhibitions. Trendall had enjoyed success with his 1942 publication The Shellal Mosaic and other Classical Antiquities in the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, and now his mind was turning to producing a second edition. The Shellal Mosaic had been found in 1917 found during the second battle of Gaza. Until he had examined these works, the Board of Management of the Australian War Memorial had no conception of their real value. He acquired Greek vases for University House and encouraged other individuals and the University itself to do the same. He may already have known of the existence of the tomb-group which he described as being 'of unusual interest and...unique in this country'. Most of the vases comprising this group were the work of a single artist, a late Apulian of the last third of the fourth century BC. In this case, the artist of the tomb group came to be called the Menzies painter, after the R.G. Menzies Building, where it was later exhibited.

Principal Professor Herbert Burton, 1900-1983

With his shock of white hair, 62-year-old 'Joe' Burton is easily identified among the dignitaries. From 1960 to 1965, he was the first and only Principal of the School of General Studies. Noted for his genial nature, he had worked hard to secure the merger in 1960 of Canberra University College with the Australian National University. A former Rhodes scholar at Oxford, and having held positions at the University of Melbourne and at Canberra University College, he was well attuned to the needs of undergraduates and was particularly interested in residential colleges. Bruce Hall was already in operation and another college was on the drawing board-to be named 'Burton Hall' after him.

Deputy Chairman Professor Percy Herbert Partridge, 1910-1988

Professor 'Perc' Partridge took his place in the official party as Deputy Chairman of the Institute of Advanced Studies. It was not far for him to walk from his home at 3 Liversidge Street, Acton, to the new R. G. Menzies Building. The timber house he and his family occupied since he took up his job at the ANU in 1955 was among the earliest built after Canberra was proclaimed the national capital. It occupied part of the site that Walter Burley Griffin had designated for a university. Now with the opening of the Menzies Library, Partridge was witness to another step turning Griffin's vision into reality. Even though the ANU was keen to embark on new constructions, it retained several old houses along Liversidge Street, and so Partridge enjoyed the heritage of the site as well as its additions. Partridge was one of the few staff in the official party to have graduated with a Master of Arts from the University of Sydney. He did not have a doctorate because this degree had not yet been introduced into Australian universities. He had, however, continued his studies in the London School of Economics and Political Science and at Oxford and had been Professor of Government and Administration at the University of Sydney. Primarily a social philosopher and equally interested in education policy, he succeeded Sir Keith Hancock in July 1961 as director of the Research School of Social Sciences. The Research School encompassed Demography, Economic History, Economics, History, Law, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology and Statistics. At the time of the opening of the Menzies Library, Partridge was intent on increasing staff numbers (he took particular pride in the appointment of a Fellow in Medieval Studies, a subject rarely taught in Australian universities) and was planning to establish urban studies and other multi-disciplinary units. Among his most recent publications was article on 'Politics, Philosophy Ideology', Political Studies, October 1961, in which he reviewed recent trends in English and American political theory and he was now working on a book to be entitled Liberty in Australia.

University Librarian Mr Jacob Jack Graneek, 1912-1980

As University Librarian since 7 March 1961, white-haired J. J. Graneek took centre stage at the opening of the R. G. Menzies Building. Even with his experience of being Librarian at Queen's University Belfast, developments at the ANU had significantly tested his philosophy on the purpose and structure of library services. What kind of organisation was most appropriate for the new University? Should there be one central library? Should undergraduates and researchers share the same facilities? After much discussion, it was resolved that 'unity with diversity' should be the guiding principle. There should be one library service but with libraries in different buildings serving different purposes. As for collecting policies, he felt that these must evolve: 'That we can by rationalization achieve, in ten years, national self-sufficiency in terms of book resources and become quite independent of libraries overseas is arrogant, dangerous nonsense ... it would be a mixed blessing for Australian scholarship ... to make it unnecessary for individual scholars to visit libraries and research centres overseas. In place of self-sufficiency, I suggest elegant insufficiency as a goal at which to aim.' On the subject of the collection, he considered that was unrealistic to lay down hard and fast rules: 'I too believe in planning but not if it inhibits the exercise of individual judgement'. Born in England before World War I, the son of Russian refugees, and having as his main academic interest a study of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Graneek exuded an air of the exotic in what was still a fairly insular Canberra community. Institutions such as the Menzies Library were soon to help broaden horizons.

Emeritus Librarian Mr Arthur Leopold Gladstone McDonald, 1898-1981

McDonald, now aged 65, was among the official party as the Emeritus Librarian, having retired in 1960. He had been appointed to the ANU in May 1948, earlier than any of the professors, reflecting the importance given to the Library and the time it would take to amass suitable collections. Hundreds of volumes soon to be moved into the Menzies Library had been collected by McDonald on a trip to booksellers in Britain and the United States. Rather than using the Dewey system of classification, McDonald chose one that was still fairly new, the American Bliss system. Henry E. Bliss advocated a classification system with distinct rules yet adaptable to whatever kind of collection a library might have. His concept was that of 'alternative location', in which a particular subject could be put in more than one place, so long as the library made a specific choice and used it consistently. The Bliss system was to prove popular in educational institutions and at the opening of the R. G. Menzies Building, McDonald was pleased to discuss its merits, not knowing then that in later decades it was to fall out of favour. Although building up the Library had been supported by a substantial budget, McDonald and his staff had worked in the cramped conditions of the old wooden hospital buildings. Now he was satisfied that his successors would be based in substantially more comfortable and appropriate surroundings and was flattered that the McDonald Room in the R. G. Menzies Building was named after him.

Associate Registrar Mr Thomas Miles Owen, 1905-2005

Owen joined Canberra University College in 1939 as its first full-time Registrar and also lectured in Accounting. For a time after the merger of the ANU and the CUC, he was Registrar of the School of General Studies, and from 1962, as the enterprise grew, assumed the position of Associate Registrar (the Registrar was Ross Hohnen). Owen was responsible for the first teaching building, the Haydon-Allen building and the first residential building, Bruce Hall. Not long before the opening of the Menzies Library, he had assumed responsibility for building and grounds, future planning and maintenance of the site. With a background in umpiring hockey at international level, he was an effective adjudicator of many competing demands. At the time of the opening he was almost certainly reflecting on the aesthetic improvements to Sullivans Creek arising from work on the creation of Lake Burley Griffin which was to be officially opened in 1964.

Architects Scarborough and Collard

John Scarborough was formerly President of the Royal Victorian Institute of Architects and had, in 1946, adjudicated a competition for the design of Wesley College Memorial Library in Melbourne. In 1938, architect Max Collard was a founding member of the Contemporary Arts Society of Victoria. The R. G. Menzies Building, the first purpose-built library on campus, was not only to be functional but also decorative. At the time of the opening, this Melbourne firm of architects was also working on a building for the Research School of Earth Sciences.

Builder John Ernest Simmie

'Jock' Simmie and his building company had a long history with the construction of Canberra. The company's buildings included the Capitol Theatre Manuka (1927), Albert Hall (1928), the Institute of Anatomy (1931) bordering the ANU site, and the completion of the Australian War Memorial (1941). Three months after the official opening of the R. G. Menzies Building, Simmie and Company handed it over to the University. Not long after, the first stage of the School of General Studies Library (later named the J. B. Chifley Building) was in use.

University Marshal Professor Alexander George Ogston, 1911-1996

On ceremonial occasions, Professor 'Sandy' Ogston helped organise the timing of events among much else. He was the foundation Professor of Physical Biochemistry, a field which was the precursor of modern molecular biology. He was a pioneer of the study of large molecules, especially those making up the natural lubricant of joints. Based in the John Curtin School of Medical Research, he had been Head of Department for five years. A prolific author, at the time of the opening he was reflecting on his recent publications, including the applications of technology, having written an article entitled 'A survey of the uses of the ultracentrifuge in biological research'. Already a Fellow of the Royal Society in Britain, in 1962 he was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science (the 'dome' opened in 1959 on the edge of the ANU site).

Esquire Bedell Professor Lindsay Douglas Pryor, 1915-1998

Pryor was appointed to the Foundation Chair of Botany at Canberra University College in 1958 but by 1963 was Head of the Department of Botany, Faculty of Science in the School of General Studies. The main interests of his department were in the fields of ecology, experimental taxonomy, physiology of photosynthesis, flowering and growth, mycology and genetics. As he looked across at the gum trees on the lawns around the R. G. Menzies Building, he may have reflected that much of the research he had initiated had sprung from a study of eucalyptus. As Esquire Bedell, he carried the silver mace which was the symbol of the Vice-Chancellor's authority. In the presence of the Chancellor the larger end of the mace was carried uppermost. The mace, presented to the ANU by the University of Oxford in 1950, would have had special significance for those Oxford graduates among the official party, although Pryor himself was educated at the University of Adelaide and at the Australian Forestry School in Canberra.

Prime Minister Mr Robert Gordon Menzies, 1894-1978

The building was called the R. G. Menzies Building, rather than the Sir Robert Menzies Building, because he was not knighted until the Queen's visit in 1963. Menzies was already at home in the University. On 11 May 1961, during his second term as prime minister and leader of the Liberal-Country Party coalition, he had laid the foundation stone of the building and later, on 22 October 1962, that of the large H. C. Coombs building which, as he looked across the heads of the crowd, he could see under construction. The development of universities in Australia was one of his great missions, not only because he advocated equality of opportunity for those aspiring to an undergraduate degree, but also because he was anxious to see Australians producing their own professors. Much has been written about Menzies' admiration of Queen Elizabeth II, but less has been observed about her regard for him. The award to him of the Most Noble Order of the Thistle was a personal award rather than one recommended by the government. He is on record as saying that it would be improper for a serving prime minister to accept such an award, which was second only to the Order of the Garter. He was not consulted before the award was announced. In view of the good relationship between the Queen and Menzies, it is reasonable to assume that the opening of the Library was an especially cordial event.

Opposition Leader Mr Arthur Augustus Calwell, 1896-1973

Calwell was the well-known leader of the Australian Labor Party. The establishment and development of the ANU was non-partisan, as is evidenced by the naming of buildings: John Curtin School of Medical Science, after the Labor Prime Minister and the R. G. Menzies Library, after the current Liberal Prime Minister. In the 1961 federal election, Calwell's party had almost defeated Menzies coalition, and at the time of the opening of the Library Calwell was producing, as a manifesto, Labor's Role in Modern Society. Although Menzies and Calwell disagreed over many issues-state aid to private schools being one Menzies (for), Calwell (against)-the two were personal friends.

Content provided by Jill Waterhouse, Research School of Humanities and the Arts