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Donations

Do you have:

  • photos or videos of UNSW activities or the UNSW campus?
  • UNSW produced publications such as annual reports, newsletters, posters or yearbooks?
  • personal papers or other records relating to your time at UNSW?

UNSW Archives would like to hear from you!

Today’s records are tomorrow’s archives. The material does not have to be old to qualify for transfer to the Archives – current items are very welcome as they will be of great value in future years.

Material can be received in either print or digital form.

UNSW Archives only holds material that should be retained permanently, so we are not able to keep items of more temporary value, such as financial records. If you are a UNSW staff member, please also see Records Disposal for further information on the appropriate process to follow for destroying records created in the course of your work.

Family members of those who have been in any way associated with the university may also like to contact the Archives about depositing private records, photographs and other memorabilia they have inherited. 

See our Acquisition Guideline or Transfer of UNSW Clubs and Societies' Records for more information about the type of material we seek to collect in the Archives.

  • Can you help us identify two caricatures?

    From the 1950s until 1973 C. S. (Jim) Smith worked as a custodian/electrician at the university.  During this time he drew a large number of sketches of university employees, mainly men who were employed in the various sections of the Property Department, but also some who worked in the university administration.  The sketches were all drawn before his retirement, so they generally consist of men who were employed at the university in the 1950s and 1960s.

    The caricatures are all on display in the C. S. (Jim) Smith Caricatures Exhibition.  Unfortunately, two of the caricatures, displayed below, have not been fully identified.  

    Can you help us by providing the names of the men depicted in the caricatures?  The gardener on the left is known only as Luis, while we do not have any details about the carpenter on the right.

    Unknown caricature 1
    Unknown caricature 2
  • Can you help us identify the 1960 School of Accountancy graduates?

    On Wednesday 27th April, 1960 the Faculties of Commerce and Engineering held a joint graduation ceremony. At the ceremony, six men graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce from the School of Accountancy - Raymond George Bell, Reginald Joseph Berntsen, Barry John Farrell, Donald Maurice Middleton, Graham Leslie Phillis and Phillip Steven Rowe. 

    The following photograph was taken of the six graduates with their testamurs.  Phillip Steven Rowe is the second from the left. Can you help us match any of the other graduates' names to their faces? 

    School of Accountancy graduates, 27th April 1960 (Photographer: Unknown, UNSW Archives CN486/2/15)
  • Update: The Archives have been informed that Cobden Parkes is located second from the left in the back row of the photograph.

    "Cob & mates"

    Dr Cobden Parkes (1892 - 1978) was a former mace-bearer of the university and, as the NSW Government Architect from 1935 - 1958, assisted in the design of the early Kensington campus.  He was awarded an honorary doctorate of science by the university on 19 April, 1958.

    Dr Parkes is pictured below during his time as a soldier in World War I.  He enlisted on 27 August, 1914 and left Australia on 18 October, 1914, where he served overseas in the 1st Battalion AIF for 14 months and was part of the 25 April, 1915 advance on Gallipoli.  Initially a Private, in June 19

    Cobden Parkes & Friends (Photographer: Unknown, UNSW Archives 05/86)
  • A Noteworthy Occasion

    In June, 2004 it has been 40 years since the U Committee arranged its first major fund raising event: the U Ball. The Committee, a group of friends of the University, was originally established in 1963 to organise the U Ball to raise money to contribute to a fund for two International Houses to be built, one at the University of New South Wales and the other at the University of Sydney. Now over 40 years later the U Committee is still going strong and since its inception has raised over $2,000,000 for many projects and activities on campus that otherwise may not have been funded.

    The aim of the first U Ball was not only to raise money but also to attract favourable attention to the university. Altogether nine balls were held over thirteen years. Throughout the sixties the balls were held with some pomp and ceremony. They began with a guard of honour and ceremonial music before the official guests arrived and debutantes were presented.

    The University Archives holds a photograph taken at the ball in 1967. On the right is the Chancellor Sir John Clancy with Lady Clancy to his right greeting an official guest. Can you help us identify the remaining guests?

    U Ball, 1967 (Photographer: Allan West, UNSW Archives CN486/1/2A)
  • Can you help us identify who is who in this photograph of the first meeting of the Faculty of Technology in the Conference Room, Main Building Kensington, in 1956?

    Seated in the front row of the photograph we have identified from left to right F. H. Reuter, M. Chaikin, J. P. Baxter, C. J. Milner, G. L. Macauley(?), D. W. Phillips, ?, R. H. Myers; but who are the others?

    First meeting of the Faculty of Technology June 29, 1956 (Photographer: Unknown, UNSW Archives CN944/102)

Have a question?

Contact the Records Team on 02 9385 2861 or email records@unsw.edu.au / Contact the Archives Team on 02 9385 2906 or email archives@unsw.edu.au