Award of ADB Medal to Webdy Birman for long and distinguished service (2004)
Citation
Wendy Birman has given unstinting service to the Australian Dictionary of Biography, having been a member of the Western Australian Working Party since 1968 and having chaired it from 1982 to 1996. For nearly forty years she has acted as the ADB’s researcher in Western Australia, building up an unrivalled knowledge of source materials. She has written 56 articles in her own right, including eight in the forthcoming Supplementary Volume to which she has also contributed many hours of research. Her other publications include several works on the history of exploration in Northern Australia during the 19th century, including the standard biography of Augustus Gregory, explorer. Having worked with Professor Michael White in the School of Education at Murdoch University she has written on the establishment of the modern State education system in Western Australia, including studies of two influential educational administrators, Cyril Jackson and Cecil Andrews.
Wendy Birman was a member of the Library Board of Western Australia from 1982 to 1992, the last four years as its chair, and in that capacity did much to promote the development of the State's major archival repositories, the State Record Office and the J S Battye Library. Since 1983 she has also been a prominent member of the PEN society, serving as State president and delegate to international conferences. Her breadth of experience, calm common sense, and capacity for commitment have made her a valued member of all the bodies on which she has served. She is a working historian who has dedicated herself to the discipline in many roles, and an honoured contributor at both the State and national level to the ongoing quality of the Australian Dictionary of Biography.