Document Studies: John Curtin's Life & Character
Discover John Curtin, one of Australia's most remarkable prime ministers - a revolutionary young socialist turned political pragmatist, an idealist forced to compromise with the realities of party political life, and a man who led his country in World War Two but who campaigned against conscription in World War One.
This resource features the ABC Radio National Hindsight documentary Prime Minister John Curtin, produced by Bill Bunbury in 2000. Background information for the document studies is based on a summary of the documentary and the final activity involves listening to the program online. The documentary traces Curtin's life from his birth in rural Victoria to his death in July 1945 on the eve of Allied victory. Historian David Day, author of John Curtin, A Life, comments on the influence of Curtin's parents, his idealism and the nature of his leadership. Curtin's daughter, Elsie Macleod, and others who knew Curtin personally, recall incidents that reveal his personality, his concern for those who worked with him and the tensions that beset his life.
10 document studies provide a variety of fascinating documents which illuminate Curtin's life and character - personal and political letters, parliamentary speeches, a radio broadcast, newspaper articles, oral histories, Caucus minutes and a radio documentary. Each document study can be a self contained activity or the whole set can be worked through in sequence. Answer keys are provided for each document study.