Anne Summers

Born Ann Fairhurst Cooper in Deniliquin, New South Wales in 1945, the oldest of the six children of AHF and EF Cooper,Herd, Margaret (ed.), Who's Who in Australia, 2002, 38 edn, Crown Content, Melbourne, 2002 Summers grew up in a strict Catholic household in Adelaide, South Australia, and was educated at a Catholic school in Adelaide.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article167083556 |title=FIVE STARS CLUB |newspaper=Southern Cross |volume=LXIV |issue=3220 |location=South Australia |date=6 June 1952 |accessdate=12 October 2018 |page=13 |via=National Library of Australia}} In her autobiography, she writes that her father (an aviation instructor) was an alcoholic and that she had a difficult relationship with her mother.{{cite book |title=Ducks on the pond : an autobiography 1945-1976 |author=Anne Summers |isbn=978-0-670-88262-5 | publisher=Viking | pages=436 |year=1999}}

Leaving school at 17, Summers left home to take up a position in a bank in Melbourne. She then worked as a bookshop assistant until 1964 when she returned to Adelaide, enrolling at the University of Adelaide in 1965 in an arts degree in politics and history. After becoming pregnant during a brief relationship in 1965, and refused a referral for a termination by her Adelaide doctor, she arranged an expensive abortion in Melbourne but it was incomplete. She returned to her doctor in Adelaide and was referred to an Adelaide gynaecologist to complete the abortion safely. She credits this experience as a key influence on her later work on behalf of women.

While at university, Summers became a member of the Labor Club, later becoming aligned with the radical student movement and in marching against the Vietnam War. On 24 April 1967{{Cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/from-my-wedding-dress-to-a-childhood-coat-history-is-sewn-into-our-clothes-20170818-gxyw9y.html|title=From my wedding dress to a childhood coat, history is sewn into our clothes|last=Summers|first=Anne|date=18 August 2017|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|language=en|access-date=11 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180324200434/https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/from-my-wedding-dress-to-a-childhood-coat-history-is-sewn-into-our-clothes-20170818-gxyw9y.html|archive-date=24 March 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}} she married a fellow student, John Summers, and the couple moved to a remote Aboriginal reserve where he worked as a teacher. Following an incident at her wedding Summers became estranged from her father, and never returned to her maiden name despite the short life of her marriage.

In December 1969, Summers left her marriage and in 1969 became one of a group of five women to form a Women's Liberation Movement (WLM) group in Adelaide.{{cite web|url=http://www.womenaustralia.info/leaders/biogs/WLE0139b.htm|last=Magarey|first=Susan|title=Women's Liberation Movement|website=The Encyclopedia of Women & Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia|accessdate=25 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180410015801/http://www.womenaustralia.info/leaders/biogs/WLE0139b.htm|archive-date=10 April 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}{{Cite journal|last=Magarey|first=Susan|date=May 2013|title=Sisterhood and Women's Liberation in Australia|url=http://www.outskirts.arts.uwa.edu.au/volumes/volume-28/susan-magarey|journal=Outskirts|volume=28|access-date=11 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180421124545/http://www.outskirts.arts.uwa.edu.au/volumes/volume-28/susan-magarey|archive-date=21 April 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}} Other Women's Liberation Movement groups were being established around Australia: an equal pay submission in the name of the movements was submitted to the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission in Melbourne in 1969,{{Cite web|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/people/732074?c=people|title=Women's Liberation Movement|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170829080245/http://trove.nla.gov.au/people/732074?c=people|archive-date=29 August 2017|url-status=live|access-date=29 August 2017|df=dmy-all}} and a WLM meeting was held in Sydney in January 1970. The group held their first national conference in May 1970, at the University of Melbourne, with 70 feminists attending.

In 1970, having received a postgraduate scholarship to do a PhD, Summers moved to Sydney and attended the University of Sydney, from which she earned a Doctorate in Political Science and Government, awarded in 1975.{{Cite web |last=Summers |first=Anne |date=19 December 2023 |title=Anne Summers: Researcher and writer |url=https://au.linkedin.com/in/anne-summers-ba2634100 |access-date=19 December 2023 |website=LinkedIn}} Active in the Sydney Women's Liberation Movement, in 1974 Summers and other WLM members squatted in two derelict houses owned by the Anglican Diocese of Sydney, turning them into the Elsie Women's Refuge to provide shelter to women and children who were victims of domestic violence.Gilchrist, Catie, Forty years of the Elsie Refuge for Women and Children, Dictionary of Sydney, 2015, http://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/forty_years_of_the_elsie_refuge_for_women_and_children {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180705063255/https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/forty_years_of_the_elsie_refuge_for_women_and_children |date=5 July 2018 }}, viewed 11 October 2018{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article236855667 |title=Elsie: A women's shelter |newspaper=Tribune |issue=1846 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=26 March 1974 |accessdate=12 October 2018 |page=7 |via=National Library of Australia}}

Summers used her postgraduate scholarship to write the book Damned Whores and God's Police which looked at the history of women in Australia.McGrath, Ann. “Labour History.” Labour History, no. 73, 1997, pp. 236–238. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/27516514.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230432204 |title=Damned Whores and God's Police |newspaper=Tharunka |volume=40 |issue=5 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=3 May 1994 |accessdate=12 October 2018 |page=40 |via=National Library of Australia}}Shane Rowlands & Margaret Henderson (1996) Damned bores and slick sisters: The selling of blockbuster feminism in Australia, Australian Feminist Studies, 11:23, 9-16, DOI: 10.1080/08164649.1996.9994800 She was offered a position to work as a journalist on The National Times, where she wrote an investigation into NSW prisons which led to a royal commission and to Summers' being awarded a Walkley Award.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110831416 |title=Khemlani story Walkley winner |newspaper=The Canberra Times |volume=51 |issue=14,515 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=21 October 1976 |accessdate=12 October 2018 |page=22 |via=National Library of Australia}}

Summers was appointed a political adviser to Labor prime minister Bob Hawke, heading the Office of the Status of Women in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet from late 1983 to early 1986.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article116414259 |title=Journalist for PM's department |newspaper=The Canberra Times |volume=58 |issue=17,559 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=26 October 1983 |accessdate=12 October 2018 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article116392221 |title=Affirmative action: much more than a slap on the wrist |newspaper=The Canberra Times |volume=58 |issue=17,682 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=26 February 1984 |accessdate=12 October 2018 |page=9 (Sunday Edition) |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article124994418 |title=PM: Sex Discrimination Bill would be best achievement |newspaper=The Canberra Times |volume=58 |issue=17,691 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=6 March 1984 |accessdate=12 October 2018 |page=15 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article118104509 |title=Victorian to direct Office of Status of Women |newspaper=The Canberra Times |volume=60 |issue=18,415 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=3 March 1986 |accessdate=12 October 2018 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}}

From 1986 to 1992, Summers lived in New York,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article122419840 |title=IN BRIEF |newspaper=The Canberra Times |volume=60 |issue=18,362 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=9 January 1986 |accessdate=12 October 2018 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}} becoming editor-in-chief of Ms. magazine,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article111970764 |title=Management to buy Sassy, Ms |newspaper=The Canberra Times |volume=62 |issue=19,203 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=4 May 1988 |accessdate=12 October 2018 |page=29 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article101971819 |title=Steinem: Will allow feminist cross-fertilisation Fairfax owners, editor revitalise 'Ms' magazine |newspaper=The Canberra Times |volume=62 |issue=19,103 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=24 January 1988 |accessdate=12 October 2018 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}} and, following a management buyout, co-owned the magazine, which eventually succumbed to a Moral Majority campaign and went bankrupt. She then returned to Australia and was appointed editor of the "Good Weekend" magazine, in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.{{Citation | title=Wired Up Young People And The Electronic Media (Media, Education, and Culture)Library binding | date=1998 | publisher=Routledge | edition= 1st | isbn=978-1-85728-804-9 }}{{Cite news|url=http://halloffame.melbournepressclub.com/article/anne-summers|title=Anne Summers|work=MPC - Hall Of Fame|access-date=11 October 2018|publisher=Melbourne Press Club|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181011214536/http://halloffame.melbournepressclub.com/article/anne-summers|archive-date=11 October 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}{{Citation | author1=Taylor, Anthea | title=Mediating Australian feminism : re-reading the first stone media event | date=2008 | publisher=Peter Lang | isbn=978-3-03911-099-5 }} She was also an advisor on women’s issues to Labor prime minister Paul Keating prior to the 1993 federal election.ABC TV Q&A Panellist: Anne Summers. http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/txt/s2667166.htm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110308072309/http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/txt/s2667166.htm |date=8 March 2011 }} Summers joined the board of Greenpeace Australia in 1999 and from 2000 to 2006 was chair of Greenpeace International.{{Cite web|url=http://www.annesummers.com.au/about/|title=About {{!}} Anne Summers|website=www.annesummers.com.au|language=en-US|access-date=11 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180908160422/http://www.annesummers.com.au/about/|archive-date=8 September 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2002/jan/12/activists.climatechange|title=Melchett quits Greenpeace board|last=Vidal|first=John|date=12 January 2002|website=the Guardian|language=en|access-date=11 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140613003735/http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2002/jan/12/activists.climatechange|archive-date=13 June 2014|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}} Since 2017, she once again lives in New York.

• 1976: Walkley Award (Print) for the Best Newspaper Feature Story, The National Times, Sydney
• 1989: Australia Day honour of an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for service to journalism and to women's affairs.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article240710523 |title=THE QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY 1989 HONOURS |newspaper=Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. Special |issue=S192 |location=Australia |date=12 June 1989 |accessdate=12 October 2018 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}
• 1994: Honorary doctorate from Flinders University, South Australia
• 2000: Honorary doctorate from the University of New South Wales
• 2001: Victorian Honour Roll of Women{{Cite web |date= |title=Dr Anne Summers AO |url=https://www.vic.gov.au/dr-anne-summers-ao |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=State Government of Victoria |language=en-au}}
• 2014: Honorary doctorate from the University of South AustraliaUniversity of South Australia Citation for Dr Anne Summers AO, PhD. https://www.unisa.edu.au/Documents/About%20UniSA/Summers-Citation.docx {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150411173218/http://unisa.edu.au/Documents/About%20UniSA/Summers-Citation.docx |date=11 April 2015 }}
• 2015: Honorary doctorate from the University of Adelaide
• 2017: Honorary doctorate from the University of Sydney{{Cite web|url=https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2017/05/03/honour-for-acclaimed-author-and-alumna-anne-summers.html|title=Honour for acclaimed author and alumna Anne Summers|website=The University of Sydney|language=en-AU|access-date=11 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170724180139/http://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2017/05/03/honour-for-acclaimed-author-and-alumna-anne-summers.html|archive-date=24 July 2017|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}

Summers’s husband is Chip Rolley, American/ Australian the 2010 creative director of the Sydney Writers' Festival, former editor of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's opinion program The Drum,{{Citation | last = Schmidt | first = Lucinda | title = Profile: Anne Summers | newspaper = The Age | date = 10 June 2009 | url = http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/money/planning/profile-anne-summers/2009/06/08/1244313084246.html?page=2 | accessdate = 23 April 2012 }}{{Cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/chip-rolley/5115212|title=Chip Rolley|website=ABC News|access-date=21 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160709005629/http://www.abc.net.au/news/chip-rolley/5115212|archive-date=9 July 2016|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}} who has been Senior Director of Literary Programs at PEN America since May 2017.{{Cite web|url=https://pen.org/user/chip-rolley/|title=Chip Rolley - PEN America|website=pen.org|access-date=2018-11-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180423041938/https://pen.org/user/chip-rolley/|archive-date=23 April 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}} Currently he is Head of Talks and Ideas at Sydney Opera House.

Summers was on the program for three events at the 2017 Brisbane Writers Festival in Brisbane, Queensland.{{Cite web|url=http://uplit.com.au|title=Uplit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170904112511/http://uplit.com.au/|archive-date=4 September 2017|url-status=live|access-date=4 September 2017|df=dmy-all}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.mup.com.au/blog/mup-authors-appearing-at-the-brisbane-writers-festival|title=Melbourne University Publishing|date=27 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170904111320/https://www.mup.com.au/blog/mup-authors-appearing-at-the-brisbane-writers-festival|archive-date=4 September 2017|url-status=live|access-date=4 September 2017|df=dmy-all}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.mustdobrisbane.com/whats-on/brisbane-writers-festival-slq|title=Must Do Brisbane|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170904105551/http://www.mustdobrisbane.com/whats-on/brisbane-writers-festival-slq|archive-date=4 September 2017|url-status=dead|access-date=4 September 2017|df=dmy-all}}

• {{cite book|author=Summers, Anne|title=Damned whores and God's police : the colonisation of women in Australia|publisher=Penguin Books|location=Ringwood, Victoria|date=1975}} 2nd ed 1985, 3rd ed 2002
• {{cite book|author1=Bettison, Margaret|author2=Summers, Anne|title=Her Story, Australian Women in Print 1788-1975|publisher=Hale & Iremonger|location=Sydney|year=1980}}'Untold History of Women', in {{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article46459216 |title=PEOPLE |newspaper=The Australian Women's Weekly |volume=48 |issue=5 |location=Australia |date=2 July 1980 |accessdate=12 October 2018 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}
• {{cite book|author=Summers, Anne Gamble|title=Gamble for power : how Bob Hawke beat Malcolm Fraser : the 1983 federal election|publisher=T Nelson Australia|location=Melbourne|year=1983}}
• {{cite book|author=Summers, Anne|title=Ducks on the pond : an autobiography 1945-1976|publisher=Viking|location=Ringwood, Victoria|year=1999|isbn=9780670882625}}
• {{cite book|author=Summers, Anne|title=The end of equality : work, babies and women's choices in 21st century Australia|publisher=Random House|location=Sydney|year=2003}}
• {{cite book | author=Summers, Anne | title=On luck | year=2008 | publisher=Melbourne University Publishing | location=Melbourne | isbn=978-0-522-85586-9 }}
• {{cite book|author=Summers, Anne|title=The lost mother : a story of art and love|publisher=Melbourne University Press|location=Melbourne|year=2009}}
• {{cite book|author=Summers, Anne|title=The misogyny factor | year=2013 | publisher=NewSouth Publishing | location=Sydney| isbn=978-1-74223-384-0 }}
• {{cite book|author=Summers, Anne|title=Unfettered and Alive: A Memoir|publisher=Allen & Unwin|year=2018|location=Crows Nest, NSW|isbn=978-1-74331-841-6}}

{{reflist}}

• {{official website|http://www.annesummers.com.au/}}
• {{Australian Women and Leadership|WLE0762b|Summers, Anne Fairhurst}}

{{Feminism}}

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Category:1945 births

Category:Living people

Category:Australian freelance journalists

Category:Australian women's rights activists

Category:Australian public servants

Category:Australian feminist writers

Category:Australian women historians

Category:Officers of the Order of Australia