The day of mourning, 1981-85

Component identifier:

Series 5

Content Summary:

'The day of mourning' is the title of a chapter contributed by Horner and Marcia Langton to Australians 1938, which was edited by Bill Gammage and Peter Spearritt and published by Fairfax, Syme and Weldon, Sydney in 1987. The chapter recounts the background of mistreatment of Aboriginal people by white settlers, which led to the organisation of a 'Day of mourning' conference for Aborigines only, held in Sydney on 26 January 1938. It was the first national meeting of Aboriginal people seeking law reforms and full citizenship rights. The chapter also details resolutions passed at the conference, and subsequent approaches to the Prime Minister, Joseph Lyons, to have the suggested reforms implemented.

Included in this series is correspondence relating to the writing, editing and publishing of the chapter, research notes, notes on the structure of the chapter and a number of drafts, dating from December 1983-November 1984.

Major correspondents include Diane Barwick and Bill Gammage (both from the Australian National University), Marcia Langton, Andrew Markus (Riverina College of Advanced Education) and Craig Munro (University of Queensland Press).

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.

Names:

Jack and Jean Horner

Contents

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