Study and Research
Scope and Contents
The papers in this collection cover McAra’s years of study and research into Marxist-Leninist ideology and the problems of the working class. They document his membership of the Communist Party of New Zealand and expulsion from the Party; his activities as a pamphleteer; and aspects of his personal and family life. From the early 1960s the papers and records of Diana Miriam Wilsie, are inextricably mixed with those of McAra.
The papers were received by the Library in twenty four cardboard cartons in poor condition and only minimally sorted. Despite in-depth work on the papers, the contents of some files remain obscure and difficult to describe from an archival perspective. What order there was among the papers reflected the couple’s various spheres of interest. This order was preserved and the material was sorted as precisely as possible into nine series.
Four of the cartons received by the Library were originally marked embargoed to 1999
. While still under embargo these papers were arranged into similar categories as the main body of the collection but in a separate run at the end of the collection. In general the embargoed material was received in better order than the unrestricted portion.
Items in this collection were first listed by Kay Stead in 1994, at this time items in the collection were assigned single consecutive item numbers from 1- 321. As part of work on a guide to the McAra papers held by the University of Auckland in 2009, the arrangement and description of this collection was reviewed. As a result many item descriptions were enhanced and some items were split into smaller units due to their unwieldy size or because contents of the folder varied considerably. Where items were split they were assigned a new two part number to reflect this. However, Kay Stead’s overall arrangement of the collection into series was not changed.
Dates
- 1929 - 1988
Creator
- From the Collection: Lawrence, W. E. (Bill) (Person)
- From the Collection: Ley, Mike (Person)
- From the Collection: Gould, Nat (Person)
- From the Collection: Hogarth, George (Person)
- From the Collection: Glass, W. I. (William Ivan) (Person)
- From the Collection: Gordon, Carl B. (Person)
- From the Collection: Roth, Bert (Person)
- From the Collection: Durning, Bill (Person)
- From the Collection: Anderson, G.H. (Gordon Harold) (Person)
- From the Collection: Ayo, Dick (Person)
- From the Collection: Campbell, Rob (Person)
- From the Collection: Carroll, George (Person)
- From the Collection: Consedine, Jim (Person)
- From the Collection: Corney, Kevin (Person)
- From the Collection: Cowie, J. (Person)
- From the Collection: Devereux, Selwyn (Person)
- From the Collection: New Zealand-China Society (Organization)
- From the Collection: New Zealand Labour Party. Thames Labour Representation Committee (Organization)
- From the Collection: New Zealand Federation of Labour. Conference (Organization)
- From the Collection: New Zealand Democratic People's Republic of Korea Society (Organization)
- From the Collection: Peace for Vietnam Committee (Organization)
- From the Collection: New Zealand Socialist Publishing and Distribution Company (Organization)
- From the Collection: W.I.S.E. (Auckland, N.Z.) (Organization)
- From the Collection: Waihi Strike Commemoration Committee (Organization)
- From the Collection: Thames-Coromandel District (N.Z.). District Council (Organization)
- From the Collection: South Auckland Marxist-Leninist Group (Organization)
- From the Collection: New Zealand. Department of Labour (Title of a work--Our Maori population and the labour force) (Organization)
- From the Collection: Youth Carnival of Peace and Friendship ((1952 : Sydney)) (Organization)
- From the Collection: Pioneer Publishers (Organization)
- From the Collection: New Zealand Federation of Labour (Organization)
- From the Collection: New Zealand Carpenters and Related Trades' Industrial Union of Workers (Organization)
- From the Collection: Northern (except Gisborne) Road Transport and Motor and Horse Drivers and their Assistants' Industrial Union of Workers (N.Z.). Auckland Branch (Organization)
- From the Collection: E.S.P.A.L. Society (Organization)
- From the Collection: McAra, W (Wilfred) (Person)
- From the Collection: Wilsie, Diana Mariam (Person)
- From the Collection: Wilsie, Maurice J. (Person)
- From the Collection: Wilcox, V. G. (Title of a work--On the pamphlet "Class struggle in New Zealand".; ) (Person)
- From the Collection: Woods, Leo (Person)
- From the Collection: Communist Party of Aotearoa (Organization)
- From the Collection: New Zealand Building Trades Federation (Organization)
- From the Collection: New Zealand. Army. Home Guard (Organization)
- From the Collection: Owens, Robert (Person)
- From the Collection: Locke, J. (Person)
- From the Collection: Rosenberg, Wolfgang (Person)
- From the Collection: Richmond, N. M. (Person)
- From the Collection: Wall, Maurice (Person)
- From the Collection: Waring, Marilyn (Person)
- From the Collection: Ware, Alan (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Not restricted
Extent
From the Collection: 5.5 metres (49 boxes + outsized)
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections, University of Auckland Repository
5 Alfred Street
Private Bag 92019
Auckland 1142 New Zealand
specialcollections@auckland.ac.nz