Happy 100th Birthday to Margaret Medcalf OAM

Margaret Medcalf first joined the State Library of Western Australia’s Archives Branch in 1955.In 1971, she was appointed to the dual role of State Archivist and Principal Librarian of the Battye Library, becoming Western Australia’s second State Archivist. 

During her time at the State Library, Medcalf instigated many invaluable developments, perhaps the most notable of which was her WA Oral History Project in 1974, which is considered a major development of national significance. She was also actively involved in many organisations, receiving numerous awards for her service, including the Medal of the Order of Australia for services to history in 1999.  

She retired from the State Library in 1989, and in the same year she was granted Honorary Life Membership to the Australian Society of Archivists. Medcalf was appointed as the Library Board's Visiting Scholar and named as a Board Fellow in 1991.

Medcalf has continued to contribute significantly to the community. She served as President of the Royal WA Historical Society, was a founding member of the Perth chapter of the Zonta Club and is the Patron of the Friends of Battye Library. 

A quote from her oral history recorded in 2000, where she was asked, “Do you ever have any regrets about being an Archivist?” 

“No, I’m very grateful that I fell into that profession and I think I’ve been very fortunate to have had that experience and to have come into it at a time when it was in its early stages and to develop along with it. I’ve been very fortunate in having Mollie Lukis and Ali Sharr as mentors and good staff and a very pleasant working life so I’ve been very grateful. And of course since I retired in ’89 I’ve still been involved in all these sorts of things so I’ve been very happy to have had such a career.”