Percy Haslam

The Percy Haslam Collection, which forms the foundation of our Aboriginal research collections, arrived in 1977 when Percy had been appointed the University of Newcastle's visiting convocation scholar in residence researching Aboriginal dreaming, history, culture and language.

He had come to the University after retiring from the Newcastle Herald, where he had worked for forty four years as its industrial and political roundsman and associate editor. In May 1984, in recognition of his work in indigenous culture and language, he was presented with the Honorary degree of Master of Arts, honoris causa. Percy Haslam died on September 17th 1987.

Since Percy's death, the Collection has been of interest for people researching the First Nations culture of the region. The Collection comprises his research papers, notes, photographs, books and artefacts. They are a personal record of his investigations. He spoke to many people, Indigenous and Non-Indigenous, and recorded what he learned from them. Percy's investigations into the Indigenous languages of the region has inspired a number of independent researches into the field of study.