Vote Ferguson for Aboriginal freedom: a biography, 1965-74

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Component identifier:
Series 3
Content Summary:

William Ferguson (1882-1950) was a shearer and trade union organiser who, in his later life, campaigned for Aboriginal rights reform in New South Wales. In 1937 he launched the Aborigines' Progressive Association, through which he conducted conferences, formulated policies and arranged publicity and welfare work. He was one of the organisers of a 'Day of Mourning' conference for Aborigines on Australia Day 1938, which led to the petitioning of the Prime Minister, Joseph Lyons, for a national Aboriginal policy. From 1943 to 1949, Ferguson was one of two Aboriginal representatives elected to be a member of the Aborigines Welfare Board. In 1949 he was vice-president of the NSW branch of the Australian Aborigines' League. Administrative reforms drafted by Ferguson on behalf of the League and put to the Minister for the Interior were ignored. Determined to take action, Ferguson stood for Parliament in the 1949 elections, but received only 388 votes.

Horner wrote a biography of Ferguson, which was published by the Australia and New Zealand Book Co., Sydney in 1974. In 1994, the book was republished in Canberra by Horner, under the new title Bill Ferguson, fighter for Aboriginal freedom.

This series consists of a large collection of research material, mostly in the form of loose pages of handwritten notes taken from a number of sources, interleaved with early drafts of the book. The material has been foldered in the order it was received from Horner. There are also edited typescripts of later drafts and galley proofs of the book.

There is a small collection of correspondence relating to research and publication of the book, including a letter from Dame Edith Lyons (1966), and a strip of unidentified black and white negatives.

Immediate source of acquisition:
The papers were donated to the Library by Jack and Jean Horner in April 2000. Further papers were received in August 2001.

Contents

Access and use

Parent Restrictions:
Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1941650).
Parent Terms of Access:
Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.
Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact:
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