Diana Giese Collection

Black and white photo of an empty street in Chinatown, Darwin

Chinatown, Darwin, 1930, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136768825

Key items in the collection

This collection features a range of formats, including oral histories and personal papers, reflecting Diana Giese’s work as an interviewer, researcher and author.

Diana Giese initiated and coordinated three major oral history projects and contributed to several others:

Post-War Chinese Australians and Chinese Australian Oral History Partnership

These collections comprise 77 interviews recorded between 1992 and 2002 in Darwin, Cairns, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Innisfail, Townsville, Broome and Hobart. Interviewees include pioneers, community leaders, businesspeople, artists, intellectuals and politicians, such as:

Professor Mabel Lee
Dr John Yu
Bishop George Tung Yep
Henry Nan Hung Pan
Senator Bill O’Chee
King Moo Fong
Helen Sham-Ho
Annette Shun Wah
Marjorie Ho
Richard Lim
Helene Chung Martin
Notable family groups represented include the Kwong, Chin, Fong, Yuen and Tong families.

Khmer Community in Australia

This project comprises of 6 interviews (recorded on 19 digital audio tapes) with Cambodian refugees who became community leaders. The interviews were recorded in Sydney in 1999–2000.

Publishing in Australia

This project consists of 14 interviews (recorded on 22 digital audio tapes) from 1996 to 2003. Interviewees include:

Ian Templeman
Brian Johns
Kathy Bail
Jane Palfreyman
Diana Gribble
Laurie Muller
Peter Debus
Stephanie Dowrick

In addition to these projects, Giese contributed other interviews to the Library’s oral history collections.

The personal papers relate mainly to Giese’s book Astronauts, Lost Souls and Dragons. They include:

Correspondence and notes of conversations with informants
Interview transcripts
Biographical and genealogical research
Drafts, publisher correspondence, and reviews
Photographs and materials from book launches

Also included are:

Papers relating to her book Beyond Chinatown
A notebook belonging to Billy Lee Long
Four certificates (1920–35) recording the appointment of Liu Lung to positions in the Australian branch of the Kuomintang

About Diana Giese

Diana Giese was born in Canberra in 1947. In 1954 her family moved to Darwin where her father, Harry Giese, served the Northern Territory Administration. Diana was educated at Darwin High School and the Australian National University. She then worked in London for major book publishers and for organisations such as the Policy Studies Institute and the Commission for Racial Equality. On her return to Australia she worked as a writer, editor, oral historian and broadcaster. From 1996, she convened public programs with diverse communities for museums, libraries and educational institutions. This work produced exhibitions and archives, books and media, videos and Web material with participants across Australia.

Publications

When Giese was growing up, Darwin was one of the most multicultural places in the country, with the Chinese community a presence from the late 1860s onwards. In 1991, she published The Ancestral Village: the Top End Chinese, Ourselves and Others in the National Library of Australia quarterly journal, Voices. This led to her producing for the Library her book Beyond Chinatown (1995) now an e-book, and this was followed by Astronauts, Lost Souls & Dragons (University of Queensland Press, 1997) which used as its raw material her interviews in the Post-War Chinese Australians project, and Courage and Service: Chinese Australians and World War II (Australian Chinese Ex-Services National Reunion, 1999).

Interview projects

Giese travelled round Australia interviewing Chinese Australians and giving talks about her work to local societies, universities and conferences, about the experiences and achievements of this important group. A collaborator and fellow interviewer, Warren Lee Long, wrote that Giese ‘has become a model in fostering networks right across the country so that projects on the Chinese history of Australia are given their best chances of success’.

In 1996, she initiated a project interviewing some of Australia’s leading publishers and in 1999 she formed the Khmer Community in Australia collection. She has also interviewed for the Australians of the Year and Law in Australia projects, and produced a group of interviews with some of this country’s leading scientists.

Background to the collection

The Library acquired the oral history collections produced by Diana Giese between 1992 and 2003. In 1997, it purchased her papers relating to the research and publication of Beyond Chinatown and Astronauts, Lost Souls & Dragons. Additional papers, mostly relating to multicultural projects, were received in 2010 and 2017.

The oral history recordings have all been individually catalogued and have transcripts and/or detailed summaries. Diana Giese’s books and articles are also available through the Library’s catalogue. Her personal papers are held in the Manuscripts collection. Using the finding aid.

This guide was prepared using these references:

Diana Giese, The Top End Chinese Experience, National Library of Australia News, vol. 5 (10), July 1995, pp. 17-21.
Diana Giese, The Chinese Australian Oral History Project, National Library of Australia News, vol. 8 (10), July 1998, pp. 19-21.