Agent TypePersonActivities & OccupationsPolitical activistsTrade unionistsHistoryDick Curlewis was born in Perth, WA, and attended Guilford Grammar School and later the Kalgoorlie School of Mines. In the 1930s he became a Marxist and worked in mining for eighteen months. In 1941 he joined the Communist Party and came to Melbourne as a munition worker. He has been a trade unionist and political activist throughout his life. He has long held an interest in printing unionism and acted as voluntary librarian at the Printing and Kindred Industries Union, Vic. Br. for many years until their amalgamation in 1994 (q.v.). In this capacity he published the Wayzegoose Gazette with John Hewitt to spread knowledge of the history of the printing industry and other labour history. Most recently he has embraced syndicalism and become interested in documenting and helping worker participation in several major strikes in the 1980s: the1986 nurses' strike, the airline pilots' strike and the tramway workers' strike. His interest in oral history has led him to collect interviews and videos of these events. Dick Curlewis died 16 March 2002.
![[1996.0062] Papers of Richard Curlewis](/img/placeholder.gif?1772742076 "[1996.0062] Papers of Richard Curlewis")