64077
Menu
[UMA-AC-000000062] Copies of correspondence between Australian Institute of Anatomy and George Murray Black
Description
IdentifierUMA-AC-000000062Extent1 fileLinear Meteragenot specifiedScope and ContentDigital copies of a correspondence file from the Australian Institute of Anatomy, Canberra. Labelled top edge ‘Australian Institute of Anatomy, Canberra.’ Typewritten title: 'Museums, Specimens and Medical Artistry. Collections. George Murray Black (Human Skeletons), annotated in graphite – crossed out. (Aboriginal bones) annotated in graphite.’ Inside fly of cover ‘Dept. of Health – Murray Black File.’ annotation in hand.
George Murray Black exhumed and transported Aboriginal ancestral remains from locations along the River Murray basin for the newly established Australian Institute of Anatomy (AIA), Canberra, under its inaugural director Sir Colin McKenzie. This activity occurred from 1929 until 1940.
McKenzie became ill and left the Australian Institute of Anatomy at the end of 1937, dying 29 June 1938. The Director-General of Health, Dr. JHL Cumpston, became the Acting-Director at the end of 1937, until the Directorship was taken up by Dr. Frederick Clements, at the end of 1938.
The new Director was critical of the manner in which the remains were collected. Dr. Clements corresponded with George Murray Black 17 October 1940, … ‘I feel that the time has come to consider very intimately where the gathering of aboriginal remains, such that you are engaged upon, is leading’ and is emphatic ‘that as this fieldwork - lacks adequate method or documentation – that it has entirely compromised any potential research possibilities.’
This criticism led to a breakdown in relations between the AIA and George Murray Black who subsequently offered his services to the University of Melbourne writing to the University Registrar, 03 November 1940, ‘During many visits to the Murray Valley collecting aboriginal specimens for the Institute of Anatomy, Canberra I obtain(sic) a large number of fractured skulls & incomplete skeletons the Director informs me that the Institute does not require…. Are they of an interest or value to the University’. The Registrar forwarded the correspondence to Sydney Sunderland Department of Anatomy, University of Melbourne who responded positively to George Murray Black’s offer. So began the relationship between The Department of Anatomy and George Murray Black who excavated and collected for, and with them (1940-1964). See: 2018.0080
This record set (1929-1977) is a full copy of the AIA original file, comprising George Murray Black’s correspondence from the field, referring to place names, quantities of remains collected and aspects of logistics and transportation. Many of George Murray Black’s original handwritten letters have been transcribed by the AIA. It is unclear at this time if all original letters, for which there are transcripts, were retained. Record types include, correspondence (typewritten and handwritten), typescripts, memos., telegrams, notes, newspaper cuttings, hand drawn maps.
Correspondents include (but are not limited to):
*George Murray Black, Tarwin Meadows, South Gippsland
*Colin MacKenzie, Director, Australian Institute of Anatomy
*Robert Stone, Curator, Australian Institute of Anatomy
*Dr. Eben H. Hipsley, Officer-In-Charge Australian Institute of Anatomy
*AJ Metcalfe, Director-General of Health
*Dr. H. E. Downes, Department of Health
*Mrs Grose, Robinvale, Victoria
*Charles Anderson, Director, Australian Museum
*Fred DW Carthy, Australian Museum
*Herbert L Ralph
*J. McEwen, MP. Minister for Commerce and Agriculture.
*Earle Page, MP. Minister for Health
*Kenneth Russell, Associate Professor of Anatomy, University of Melbourne
*Dr George Bedbrook, University of Melbourne
*Dr. LJ Ray, Senior Lecturer in Anatomy, University of Melbourne
*H. Logan, worked with George Murray Black on field trips
This record set also includes correspondence from Dr E Hipsley, Officer in Charge AIA, who in 1949 loaned the George Murray Black collection to the University of Melbourne Department of Anatomy, for cataloguing and indexing without first seeking consent from Dr A J Metcalf, Director-General of Health. On learning of the loan, Metcalf rescinded the loan and the George Murray Black collection was returned to the AIA, Canberra.
There are large parts of this file which retain the characteristics of a continuous file, for example, earliest records compiled at the back of the file, leading to recent dated letters at the front. However, there are significant inconsistencies – as the date order is at times disrupted, which may be where it is speculated that other files were ‘carried over’ into this file. There are a number of pages which separate/demarcate what appear to be different record sets, one of which has annotated “Joins from old files”, so it is most likely a compendium of different original files. The majority of the correspondence is marked ‘Ref.160/4’ but there are also records marked 50/2/4 annotated in red pencil or graphite. It is observed that the beginning of the file appears to have significant disruption in sequence as correspondence from George Murray Black (1929), sits alongside correspondence between Robert Stone, Curator Australian Institute of Anatomy, and Professor Stephen Molner, Charman Department of Anthropology, Washington University, Missouri, USA (1977). Access StatusAccess restrictions applyRequest Access to RecordsRequest access to records
George Murray Black exhumed and transported Aboriginal ancestral remains from locations along the River Murray basin for the newly established Australian Institute of Anatomy (AIA), Canberra, under its inaugural director Sir Colin McKenzie. This activity occurred from 1929 until 1940.
McKenzie became ill and left the Australian Institute of Anatomy at the end of 1937, dying 29 June 1938. The Director-General of Health, Dr. JHL Cumpston, became the Acting-Director at the end of 1937, until the Directorship was taken up by Dr. Frederick Clements, at the end of 1938.
The new Director was critical of the manner in which the remains were collected. Dr. Clements corresponded with George Murray Black 17 October 1940, … ‘I feel that the time has come to consider very intimately where the gathering of aboriginal remains, such that you are engaged upon, is leading’ and is emphatic ‘that as this fieldwork - lacks adequate method or documentation – that it has entirely compromised any potential research possibilities.’
This criticism led to a breakdown in relations between the AIA and George Murray Black who subsequently offered his services to the University of Melbourne writing to the University Registrar, 03 November 1940, ‘During many visits to the Murray Valley collecting aboriginal specimens for the Institute of Anatomy, Canberra I obtain(sic) a large number of fractured skulls & incomplete skeletons the Director informs me that the Institute does not require…. Are they of an interest or value to the University’. The Registrar forwarded the correspondence to Sydney Sunderland Department of Anatomy, University of Melbourne who responded positively to George Murray Black’s offer. So began the relationship between The Department of Anatomy and George Murray Black who excavated and collected for, and with them (1940-1964). See: 2018.0080
This record set (1929-1977) is a full copy of the AIA original file, comprising George Murray Black’s correspondence from the field, referring to place names, quantities of remains collected and aspects of logistics and transportation. Many of George Murray Black’s original handwritten letters have been transcribed by the AIA. It is unclear at this time if all original letters, for which there are transcripts, were retained. Record types include, correspondence (typewritten and handwritten), typescripts, memos., telegrams, notes, newspaper cuttings, hand drawn maps.
Correspondents include (but are not limited to):
*George Murray Black, Tarwin Meadows, South Gippsland
*Colin MacKenzie, Director, Australian Institute of Anatomy
*Robert Stone, Curator, Australian Institute of Anatomy
*Dr. Eben H. Hipsley, Officer-In-Charge Australian Institute of Anatomy
*AJ Metcalfe, Director-General of Health
*Dr. H. E. Downes, Department of Health
*Mrs Grose, Robinvale, Victoria
*Charles Anderson, Director, Australian Museum
*Fred DW Carthy, Australian Museum
*Herbert L Ralph
*J. McEwen, MP. Minister for Commerce and Agriculture.
*Earle Page, MP. Minister for Health
*Kenneth Russell, Associate Professor of Anatomy, University of Melbourne
*Dr George Bedbrook, University of Melbourne
*Dr. LJ Ray, Senior Lecturer in Anatomy, University of Melbourne
*H. Logan, worked with George Murray Black on field trips
This record set also includes correspondence from Dr E Hipsley, Officer in Charge AIA, who in 1949 loaned the George Murray Black collection to the University of Melbourne Department of Anatomy, for cataloguing and indexing without first seeking consent from Dr A J Metcalf, Director-General of Health. On learning of the loan, Metcalf rescinded the loan and the George Murray Black collection was returned to the AIA, Canberra.
There are large parts of this file which retain the characteristics of a continuous file, for example, earliest records compiled at the back of the file, leading to recent dated letters at the front. However, there are significant inconsistencies – as the date order is at times disrupted, which may be where it is speculated that other files were ‘carried over’ into this file. There are a number of pages which separate/demarcate what appear to be different record sets, one of which has annotated “Joins from old files”, so it is most likely a compendium of different original files. The majority of the correspondence is marked ‘Ref.160/4’ but there are also records marked 50/2/4 annotated in red pencil or graphite. It is observed that the beginning of the file appears to have significant disruption in sequence as correspondence from George Murray Black (1929), sits alongside correspondence between Robert Stone, Curator Australian Institute of Anatomy, and Professor Stephen Molner, Charman Department of Anthropology, Washington University, Missouri, USA (1977). Access StatusAccess restrictions applyRequest Access to RecordsRequest access to records
Provenance
CreatorAustralian Instititute of Anatomy (AIA)
Provenance
CreatorMurray Black, George
Dates
Date1929-1977
Description Control
State of ListUnlisted
Murray Black, George, [UMA-AC-000000062] Copies of correspondence between Australian Institute of Anatomy and George Murray Black (1929-1977), [UMA-AC-000000062]. University of Melbourne Archives, accessed 13/02/2026, https://archives.library.unimelb.edu.au/nodes/view/64077