Allen Strom, 1915-97
Lecturer in art and craft
Balmain Teachers College, 1946-57
Allen Axel Strom was born in Sydney on 15 February 1915. The Axel in his name came from his father, Henry Axel Strom, who may have come from Sweden or Finland.
Allen attended Sydney Technical College where he undertook the 5-year trade-related diploma course in science, becoming an Associate of the Sydney Technical College, ASTC (Sc.). In 1934, when he was 19, he entered the teaching service in New South Wales. He taught at Enmore Activity School and at Broken Bay National Fitness Camp, where in 1945 he formed the Caloola Club, a bushwalking organisation aimed at developing an awareness of the natural environment. He may have taught at other places before his appointment to Balmain Teachers College as one of its foundation lecturers in 1946. In the following years he was described as 'a friendly and energetic teacher of Arts and Crafts'.
Allen attended Sydney Technical College where he undertook the 5-year trade-related diploma course in science, becoming an Associate of the Sydney Technical College, ASTC (Sc.). In 1934, when he was 19, he entered the teaching service in New South Wales. He taught at Enmore Activity School and at Broken Bay National Fitness Camp, where in 1945 he formed the Caloola Club, a bushwalking organisation aimed at developing an awareness of the natural environment. He may have taught at other places before his appointment to Balmain Teachers College as one of its foundation lecturers in 1946. In the following years he was described as 'a friendly and energetic teacher of Arts and Crafts'.
Staff of Balmain Teachers College, c.1947
Back Row: 1. Mr. Gillings, Maths lecturer 1950, replaced by Mr. King in 1951. 2. Maurice Hale, lectured in Psychology. 3. Frank Catt, well beloved Music lecturer. 4. Bill McGrath, men’s P.E. director; lectured in English Method. Ex-RAAF, and evangelist for educator Fred Schonell. 5. Roberta (Bobbie) Enilane, women’s PE lecturer. Young, personable and glamorous; she taught us in 1950. 6. Allen Strom, arts and crafts. Front Row: 1. Miss Houston lectured in crafts suitable for girls’ department. 2. Eva Duhig, English literature. 3 .Marjorie Morrow, lectured in Biology. 4. Mr. Staines, Deputy Principal. Lectured in General Method, and in 1951 was replaced by Alton Greenhalgh. 5. George Cantello, Pioneer Principal, lectured in Education. He retired at the end of 1951 to be replaced by Mr. Braithwaite. 6. Edna Holt, lectured in geography and rejoiced in the title of Women’s Warden. 7. Ruth Thornton, College Librarian, lectured in Library Method. 8. Marion Dallison, Speech & Drama, and great fun. (Details kindly provided by Marie Duffy, 1950-51 session, BTC) |
It was clear that his environmental activities increased while he was at Balmain Teachers College. In 1948 he became a member of the NSW Fauna Protection Panel, the forerunner of the National Parks and Wildlife Service, and by 1950 Allen was also secretary of the Wild Life Preservation Society of Australia.
Marjorie Morrow who lectured in biology at the college remembered Allen ('Strommie') as being 'very popular because he took them [some of the students] out into the wilderness and he would always arrange a trip every holidays. He was fussy about his trips and he saw that they knew what they were getting in for and that they had suitable clothing to do it'.
In 1954 he took college members of the Caloola Club on an extensive bus trip to many parts of Western NSW with the aim of encouraging 'an appreciation for conservation and nature protection, and to widen the knowledge of the Australian scene'. The Caloola Club was by that time described as an organisation formed outside of, but operating within, Balmain Teachers College and was equally expeditionary as bushwalking. The members of the 1954 expedition, 5 adults and 15 Balmain Teachers College students, travelled during the day in an old bus owned by the club and camped out at night. They went through the Mallee country around Mount Hope, and visited places such as Orange, Molong, Peak Hill, Lake Cargellico, Hillston and Griffith. They inspected the Leeton Experimental Farm, spent some rest time around Berembed Weir, and then on to Burrinjuck Dam. It would have been a great, if exhausting, trip for the students, yet they would have learnt much in a short time.
It seems reasonable to say that as Allen's involvement in the environmental movement increased, his interest in his work at college decreased, and that this became noticeable to students by the mid-1950s. Before then students described him as helpful; by 1956 the comments by students are all negative.
Allen resigned as a lecturer at Balmain Teachers College at the end 1957 in order to take up the position of NSW Chief Guardian of Fauna in 1958 with a staff of two. In 1960 he married a former student of Balmain Teachers College. She was 20 and he was more her father's age of 45. This marriage lasted only 3 years, and in 1967 he married Beryl Nipperness.
A review this year in Nature New South Wales by Janine Kitson, a member of the National Parks Association of NSW, took up his story from when he was appointed Chief Guardian of Fauna in 1958:
Marjorie Morrow who lectured in biology at the college remembered Allen ('Strommie') as being 'very popular because he took them [some of the students] out into the wilderness and he would always arrange a trip every holidays. He was fussy about his trips and he saw that they knew what they were getting in for and that they had suitable clothing to do it'.
In 1954 he took college members of the Caloola Club on an extensive bus trip to many parts of Western NSW with the aim of encouraging 'an appreciation for conservation and nature protection, and to widen the knowledge of the Australian scene'. The Caloola Club was by that time described as an organisation formed outside of, but operating within, Balmain Teachers College and was equally expeditionary as bushwalking. The members of the 1954 expedition, 5 adults and 15 Balmain Teachers College students, travelled during the day in an old bus owned by the club and camped out at night. They went through the Mallee country around Mount Hope, and visited places such as Orange, Molong, Peak Hill, Lake Cargellico, Hillston and Griffith. They inspected the Leeton Experimental Farm, spent some rest time around Berembed Weir, and then on to Burrinjuck Dam. It would have been a great, if exhausting, trip for the students, yet they would have learnt much in a short time.
It seems reasonable to say that as Allen's involvement in the environmental movement increased, his interest in his work at college decreased, and that this became noticeable to students by the mid-1950s. Before then students described him as helpful; by 1956 the comments by students are all negative.
Allen resigned as a lecturer at Balmain Teachers College at the end 1957 in order to take up the position of NSW Chief Guardian of Fauna in 1958 with a staff of two. In 1960 he married a former student of Balmain Teachers College. She was 20 and he was more her father's age of 45. This marriage lasted only 3 years, and in 1967 he married Beryl Nipperness.
A review this year in Nature New South Wales by Janine Kitson, a member of the National Parks Association of NSW, took up his story from when he was appointed Chief Guardian of Fauna in 1958:
For the next eight years Strom devoted all his energies to building the Service he led, to developing a national parks system and to spreading an understanding of what nature conservation meant. By 1965 about 50 nature reserves had been declared and more than 150 were in the pipeline despite governmental opposition to the release of Crown Lands. There were now ten field officers, an educational officer and eight office workers in Strom's organisation. At this stage, the Minister for Lands disbanded the Fauna Protection Panel and formed the National Parks and Wildlife Service.It was a great loss to the conservation cause in NSW that Allen was not appointed Director of the new service.
|
Drew Hutton and Libby Connors in their History of the Australian Environmental Movement, considered that Allen Strom, as an environmentalist outside of government, was very successful in stimulating the formation of local environmental groups, and his independent Nature Conservation Council had also been very successful. Yet from 1958 when he became a government official as Chief Guardian of Fauna for the state and chair of the Fauna Protection Panel, his successes were 'not necessarily regarded warmly by government'. The Lands Minister, Tom Lewis, regarded him as a 'fanatic' -- and his position was abolished under the new National Parks and Wildlife Act of 1967.
He returned to the Department of Education as an adviser on conservation, a position which much better suited his interests than a lecturer in craft at a teachers college. He retired early in 1971 and for the next 26 years held executive positions in the Association of Environmental Education in New South Wales and in other activist groups closer to his retirement home on the Central Coast. He was Environmental Educator of the Year in 1981 and subsequently deservably made a Member of the Order of Australia in recognition of his contribution to conservation.
From his obituary: 'This great man who inspired so many others to love the natural environment and work for its preservation, deserves to be honoured by all future generations. His ashes have been scattered in Bouddi National Park and Nadgee Nature Reserve, two of the many reserves he worked to preserve'.
Allen Axel Strom, AM., one of the founders of the conservation movement in Australia, died on 23rd March 1997, aged 82.
His vision, knowledge of, and dedication to the natural environment of Australia and of New South Wales in particular, were a guiding influence for both governments and private groups for over fifty years.
BALMAIN STUDENT MEMORIES
Morag (1954-55): 'All the students at Balmain Teachers College knew about the Caloola Club as they ran weekend trips to different areas. I always found Mr Strom helpful and constructive with any problems we had with our craft work'.
Graeme (1956-57): 'I remember him explaining the names of various tools to our class and picking up a file with big teeth, and with some enjoyment, and looking at the ladies, said, "This is a coarse bastard". I heard some lady mutter something about dirty old man.'
Maureen (1956-57): 'I was a little frightened of him because I did something, I can’t remember what, and he roared at me and called me stupid girl. ... 'I am surprised to read that students found him easy to get on with and was so popular as my memory of him ... was one of almost discomfort. I never really warmed to him and I think he to me. While at college I wasn’t aware of the bus trips and holiday excursion so I have decided I must have had my head in the clouds.'
Kay (1956-57): 'The only event that I clearly remember [about Mr Strom] concerned my lack of artistic ability. In painting we had to copy a biblical scene. I chose to do the burning bush from Moses and the Burning Bush. Allen Strom was walking around the room making comments. He stopped beside me, looked at my painting and just shook his head in a definite negative fashion with a sad look on his face! I was a little disappointed as I thought it was not that bad but he was right about my ability as an artist. I have tried brush painting and ceramics since then but sadly with the same result.'
Jim (1956-57): 'I only remember Mr Strom as uninspiring and not terribly helpful. His main aim seemed to be to ensure that anybody who asked him for 'brown sticky paper', the stuff that almost everybody in the rest of Australia called 'brown sticky paper', never got it until they called it passe-partout.'
Lois (1956-57): 'I did craft with Mr Strom. What I remember most was the fact that he told us the question we were to be asked in our final exam. He said he didn’t want to waste his time reading a load of rubbish. He wanted to spend his time reading answers that had a modicum of intelligence! He didn’t appear to have much confidence in us.'
He returned to the Department of Education as an adviser on conservation, a position which much better suited his interests than a lecturer in craft at a teachers college. He retired early in 1971 and for the next 26 years held executive positions in the Association of Environmental Education in New South Wales and in other activist groups closer to his retirement home on the Central Coast. He was Environmental Educator of the Year in 1981 and subsequently deservably made a Member of the Order of Australia in recognition of his contribution to conservation.
From his obituary: 'This great man who inspired so many others to love the natural environment and work for its preservation, deserves to be honoured by all future generations. His ashes have been scattered in Bouddi National Park and Nadgee Nature Reserve, two of the many reserves he worked to preserve'.
Allen Axel Strom, AM., one of the founders of the conservation movement in Australia, died on 23rd March 1997, aged 82.
His vision, knowledge of, and dedication to the natural environment of Australia and of New South Wales in particular, were a guiding influence for both governments and private groups for over fifty years.
BALMAIN STUDENT MEMORIES
Morag (1954-55): 'All the students at Balmain Teachers College knew about the Caloola Club as they ran weekend trips to different areas. I always found Mr Strom helpful and constructive with any problems we had with our craft work'.
Graeme (1956-57): 'I remember him explaining the names of various tools to our class and picking up a file with big teeth, and with some enjoyment, and looking at the ladies, said, "This is a coarse bastard". I heard some lady mutter something about dirty old man.'
Maureen (1956-57): 'I was a little frightened of him because I did something, I can’t remember what, and he roared at me and called me stupid girl. ... 'I am surprised to read that students found him easy to get on with and was so popular as my memory of him ... was one of almost discomfort. I never really warmed to him and I think he to me. While at college I wasn’t aware of the bus trips and holiday excursion so I have decided I must have had my head in the clouds.'
Kay (1956-57): 'The only event that I clearly remember [about Mr Strom] concerned my lack of artistic ability. In painting we had to copy a biblical scene. I chose to do the burning bush from Moses and the Burning Bush. Allen Strom was walking around the room making comments. He stopped beside me, looked at my painting and just shook his head in a definite negative fashion with a sad look on his face! I was a little disappointed as I thought it was not that bad but he was right about my ability as an artist. I have tried brush painting and ceramics since then but sadly with the same result.'
Jim (1956-57): 'I only remember Mr Strom as uninspiring and not terribly helpful. His main aim seemed to be to ensure that anybody who asked him for 'brown sticky paper', the stuff that almost everybody in the rest of Australia called 'brown sticky paper', never got it until they called it passe-partout.'
Lois (1956-57): 'I did craft with Mr Strom. What I remember most was the fact that he told us the question we were to be asked in our final exam. He said he didn’t want to waste his time reading a load of rubbish. He wanted to spend his time reading answers that had a modicum of intelligence! He didn’t appear to have much confidence in us.'