Marilyn Lake


Marilyn Lee Lake, is an Australian historian. She is known for her work on the effects of the military and war on Australian civil society, the political history of Australian women, and racism in Australia, including the White Australia Policy, and the movement for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander human rights.
She was awarded a personal chair in history at La Trobe University in 1994. She has been elected a Fellow, Australian Academy of the Humanities and a Fellow, Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.

Early life and education

Marilyn Lee Calvert was born on 5 January 1949 in Kettering, Tasmania.
She studied history at the University of Tasmania, where she resided at Jane Franklin Hall, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts on 10 April 1968. That year she submitted her honours thesis, W.A. Wood's and the Clipper, 1903 – 1909. A Study in Radical Journalism, and was awarded Honours which was conferred on 2 April 1969.
On 11 April 1973 she was graduated Master of Arts by the University of Tasmania. Her thesis, on Tasmanian society in World War 1, became her first book, A Divided Society, in 1975.
She was graduated a Doctor of Philosophy by Monash University in 1984. Her doctoral thesis, "The limits of hope: soldier settlement in Victoria, 1915–1938" became a book with the same title in 1987.

Career

In 1986, Lake was appointed a lecturer in History and Social Theory at The University of Melbourne.
In 1988, she was appointed senior lecturer and made foundational director of women's studies at La Trobe University. In 1991, Lake was appointed reader in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, La Trobe University. In 1994 she was elevated to professor of history in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at La Trobe, with a Personal Chair in History.
In 1997, she was visiting professorial fellow at Stockholm University.
In 2001–2002, she was the chair of Australian Studies at Harvard University.
Between 2004 and 2008 she was an Australian Research Council Australian professorial fellow at La Trobe University.
In 2008, she was a research fellow at the Australian Prime Ministers Centre in Canberra.
In 2011, Lake was awarded another Australian Research Council Professorial Research Fellowship "to investigate the international history of Australian democracy. She will research both the impact of Australian democratic innovation – manhood suffrage, the 8-hour day, the Australian ballot, women's rights – overseas, and Australian engagements with international organisations such as the ILO and United Nations, the translation of new human rights into citizenship rights, at home, in the twentieth century."
She is known for her work on the effects of the military and war on Australian civil society, the political history of Australian women, and racism in Australia, including the White Australia Policy and the movement for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander human rights.

Research interests

Lake's research interests include Australian history; nation and nationalism; gender, war and citizenship; femininity and masculinity; history of feminism; race, gender and imperialism; global and trans-national history.

Committees and voluntary work

Lake is a former president, Australian Historical Association.
Lake is a member of the reference group of the Australian Women's History Forum.
Lake is a member of the editorial boards of Labor History, Journal of Australian Studies and Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State and Society, and was a member of the editorial board of Australian Historical Studies between 2006 and 2009.
Lake was a member of the La Trobe University Council between 1995 and 1997 and of Monash University Council between 1985 and 1989.
She was a Museum Victoria councillor from 1985 to 1989 and a member of the History Council of Victoria between 2001 and 2004.
She served as a member of the Sullivan's Cove Waterfront Authority between 2005 and 2009.
She was a director and board member, Victorian Women's Trust from 2005 to 2009.

Awards and honours

Lake has received the following awards and honours:
In February 2019, Monash University Publishing released Contesting Australian History: Essays in Honour of Marilyn Lake edited by Joy Damousi and Judith Smart. The contents are papers presented at a two-day celebration of Lake's career held at the University of Melbourne in 2016.

Major works

A Divided Society Double Time: Women in Victoria 150 Years The Limits of Hope: Soldier Settlement in Victoria 1915–38 Australians at Work: Commentaries and Sources Creating a Nation Getting Equal: The History of Australian Feminism Faith Bandler Gentle Activist Connected Worlds: History in Transnational Perspective Memory, Monuments and Museums Drawing the Global Colour Line with Henry Reynolds What's Wrong with ANZAC? The Militarisation of Australian History with Henry Reynolds
  • ''Progressive New World: How Settler Colonialism and Transpacific Exchange Shaped American Reform''