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Ryan, Edna Minna (1904 - 1997)

Born
15 December 1904
Pyrmont, New South Wales, Australia
Died
10 February 1997
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory
Occupation
Feminist, Trade unionist, Activist and Writer
Alternative Names
  • Nelson, Edna (maiden name)

Summary

Edna Ryan was a leading figure in three eras of feminism in the 20th century. As a feminist and labour activist she is credited with achieving equal pay for women, maternity leave and work based child care. Ryan wrote numerous articles, conference papers, submissions to government and two books, Gentle invaders (1975) and Two thirds of a man (1984).

Details

Parliamentary and Local Government Career

Local
  • Alderman, Fairfield Municipal Council, 1956-65
  • Deputy Mayor 1958
  • Member, Prospect County Council retired 1972
State
  • Candidate, Mosman, 1953
Other Highlights
  • Participated in the first International Women's Day 1928;
  • Organised the wives of the timber workers strike 1929;
  • Member of Communist Party and International Workers of the World 1920-35c;
  • Joined Australian Labor Party 1935;
  • Organised first residential Summer School for women for the Workers Educational Association;
  • First female Deputy Mayor in NSW 1958;
  • Alderman Fairfield Council 1959-65;
  • First woman president of the largest branch of the Municipal Employees' Union 1960s;
  • Campaign manager for future Prime Minister Gough Whitlam;
  • Founding member of Women's Electoral Lobby 1972;
  • Presented breakthrough submission to the Arbitration Commission to award low paid women workers the same minimum wage as men 1974;
  • Published Gentle Invaders, Australian Women and the Workforce 1788-1974 with Anne Conlon 1975.

Ryan campaigned for maternity leave and work-based child care for women workers, was an advocate of women's reproductive rights, and campaigned on the negative impacts of enterprise bargaining and compulsory superannuation on low paid women workers. In 1984 she published Two-thirds of a Man: Women and Arbitration in New South Wales 1902-08. The following year she was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Letters by the University of Sydney, and in 1995 was again awarded an honorary Doctorate of Letters, this time by Macquarie University.

Edna Ryan had three children - Julia, Lyndall and Patrick - whom she raised alone after the early death of her husband, Jack Ryan.

Sources used to compile this entry: Caine, Barbara (ed.), Australian Feminism: A Companion, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1998, 607 pp; Smith, A. Viola, Women in Australian Parliaments and Local Governments, Past and Present, Australian Local Government Women's Association; Australian National Advisory Committee on International Women's Year, Australian Local Government Women's Association, Canberra, 1975, 148 pp.

Related entries

Archival resources

Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Radio Archives

  • Interviews with Edna Ryan, 1975 - 1996; Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Radio Archives. Details

Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales

  • Edna Ryan Papers, 1965 - 1986, ML MSS 4786; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
  • Edna Ryan, Further Papers, 19611, ML MSS 4786 ADD-ON 2090; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
  • Ros Bowden - interviews conducted for radio programmes and documentaries, ca.1975 - 1989, c. 1975 - 1989, Z MLOH 304; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details

National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection

  • Papers of Beryl Henderson, 1973 - 1992, MS 9360; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details
  • Papers of Edna Ryan, 1948 - 1993, MS 9140; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details

National Library of Australia Oral History Collection

  • Interview with Edna Ryan [sound recording] Interviewer: Sara Dowse, 1991, TRC 2742; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details
  • Interview with Edna Ryan [sound recording] Interviewer : Lucy Taksa., 19 October 1987, TRC 2301 INT 156; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details

The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program

  • Jack Kavanagh Personal Papers, 1912 - 1978, P12Z400; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
  • Papers of Edna Ryan, 1981 - 1993, Z490(pt); The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details

Published resources

The Australian Women's Register Exhibitions

Articles

Books

  • Ryan, Edna, Two-thirds of a Man. Women and Arbitration in New South Wales 1902-08, Hale & Iremonger, Sydney, Australia, 1984. Details
  • Ryan, Edna and Conlon, Anne, Gentle Invaders. Australian Women and the Workforce 1788-1974, Second edn, Penguin Books, Melbourne, Australia, 1988. Details

Edited Books

  • Caine, Barbara (ed.), Australian Feminism: A Companion, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1998, 607 pp. Details
  • Hutton, Marg (ed.), Edna Ryan Remembered. Tributes from the Australian Feminist Policy Network and Union Women, First edn, New Internatational Bookshop Co-operative, Melbourne, Australia, 1997. Details

Journal Articles

  • Owen, Mary, 'Edna Minna Ryan', Australian Rationalist, no. 43 Autumn-Winter, 1997. Details
  • Ryan, Edna, 'Proving a Dispute: Laundry Workers in Sydney in 1906', Labour History, no. 40, 1981, pp. 98-106. Details

Videorecordings

Online Resources

See also

  • Bielski, Joan, 'WEL NSW 1972-1997.', WEL NSW Celebrates 25 Years, Women's Electoral Lobby, September 1997, http://www.comcen.com.au/~welnsw/welhistory.htm. Details
  • Lake, Marilyn, Getting Equal: The History of Australian Feminism, Allen & Unwin, St Leonards, New South Wales, 1999, 316 pp. Details
  • Mitchell, Susan, The matriarchs: twelve Australian women talk about their lives to Susan Mitchell., Penguin Books, Ringwood, Vic., 1987. Details
  • National Library of Australia, 'Papers of Beryl Henderson (1897-1990)', in Register of Australian Archives and Manuscripts, 2000, http://www.nla.gov.au/ms/findaids/9360.html. Details
  • Ryan, Edna, 'Women and Production in Australia', in Burns, Ailsa and Grieve, Norma (eds), Australian Women New Feminist Perspectives, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, Australia, 1986. Details
  • Ryan, Edna, 'Talking Back', in Stevens, Joyce (ed.), Taking the Revolution Home. Work Among Women in the Communist Party of Australia: 1920-1945, Syballa Cooperative Press and Publications, Melbourne, Australia, 1987. Details
  • Ryan, Edna, 'Equal Pay, Comparable Worth and the Central Wage Fixing System', Australian Feminist Studies, no. 6, 1988, pp. 7-16. Details
  • Smith, A. Viola, Women in Australian Parliaments and Local Governments, Past and Present, Australian Local Government Women's Association; Australian National Advisory Committee on International Women's Year, Australian Local Government Women's Association, Canberra, 1975, 148 pp. Details
  • Summers, Anne, 'Back to the Future: Urgent Issues for Men and Women of Australia. 1997 ACTU Whitlam Lecture Series Wednesday 25 June 1997', lun@techs, lun@techs, 1998, p. 1, http://home.vicnet.net.au/~dukest/annesumm.htm. Details
  • Waterfield, Dorothy (ed.), A decade of Mary Owen dinners, Mary Owen Dinner Committee, Sandingham, Vic., 1995, 178 pp. Details

Digital resources

Title
Edna Ryan
Type
Image

Details

Elle Morrell

Created: 4 May 2000, Last modified: 1 March 2013

Site-wide information and acknowledgements

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