Hazel de Berg - Australian Oral History Pioneer Hazel de Berg - Australian Oral History Pioneer 10 December 2020 Hazel de Berg interviewing physicist Professor Harry Messel, 1972,nla.cat-vn4759844 Largely regarded as Australia’s first oral historian, Hazel de Berg recorded interviews with 1,290 Australians who were born between 1865 and 1953. Without her work, many of these people would never have their voices recorded for us to listen to today. Hazel interviewed very widely but artists were particularly well-represented – she recorded around 250 painters and sculptors. But she also interviewed individuals as diverse as Don Banks (composer), J. H. Carver (physicist), Harry Seidler (architect), Robert Helpmann (dancer), Jack Lang (politician), Jessie Street (feminist), Peter Weir (film director) and Bruce Williams (economist) to name just a few!