Section of survey for married women graduates, part of
MacKenzie's research for Women of Australia, undated

Norman Ian MacKenzie was born in London in 1921. He was a professor of political and social science at the University of Sussex, England, circa 1963-83. He married Jeanne Sampson, writer and manuscripts editor, in 1945, and they had two daughters. With Jeanne's assistance he wrote and edited several biographies of H.G. Wells, Charles Dickens, Beatrice Webb, and others. Norman was commissioned by Social Science Research Council of Australia in 1959 to conduct two-year pioneering survey of the status and social and political roles of women in Australia, published as Women in Australia (1962). Subsequent and revised editions are entitled Women in Society. In 1979 Jeanne MacKenzie published A Victorian Courtship: The Story of Beatrice Potter and Sidney Webb.

The Norman Ian and Jeanne MacKenzie Papers document the work of Norman Ian MacKenzie in preparation for his report for the Social Science Research Council of Australia on the role and status of the Australian women, published as Women in Australia (1962). The collection consists primarily of background research on the status of women in Australia and women's roles in education, labor and employment, family and home life, literature, politics, and the feminist and women's suffrage movements. Included are comparative studies for New Zealand, England, and the United States. There is also some material on Vida Goldstein, pioneer Australian suffragist; and Amy Johnson, the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia. Types of material include correspondence, typed and handwritten notes, original typed and handwritten manuscripts, surveys, reports, maps, reviews, pamphlets, clippings, memorabilia, and books. There is a small amount of material related to other publications written by Norman and co-author, Jeanne MacKenzie.