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Blackburn, Doris Amelia (1889 - 1970)

MHR

Born
18 September 1889
Auburn, Victoria, Australia
Died
12 December 1970
Coburg, Victoria, Australia
Occupation
Politician and Peace activist
Alternative Names
  • Horden, Doris (maiden name, 18 September 1889 - 10 December 1914)

Summary

The second woman member of the House of Representatives, Doris Blackburn successfully won her late husband’s Federal seat of Bourke as an Independent Labor candidate in 1946. She was involved in the Free Kindergarten movement and numerous campaigns for better education, playgrounds and crèches. Blackburn was a member of the Women’s Political Association in Victoria, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, the Women’s Prison Council and the Save the Children Fund. In 1957, with Doug Nicholls, she was a co-founder of the Aboriginal Advancement League and the Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement.

Details

Events

1911
Attended her first meeting of the Women's Political Association
1913
Acted as campaign secretary for Vida Goldstein
10 December 1914
Married Maurice McCrae Blackburn (died 1944), they were to have 2 sons and a daughter
1916 - 1917
With her husband she was an anti-conscription campaigner
1946 - 1950
Member House of Representatives (Independent) for Bourke, Victoria
1948
President of the Council for Civil Liberties
1952
Travelled overseas as an emissary of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
1957
Co-founded the Aboriginal Advancement League with Doug Nicholls

Sources used to compile this entry: Grahame, Emma, 'Blackburn, Doris', in Caine, Barbara (ed.), Australian feminism : a companion, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, Vic., 1988, p. 391; Rasmussen, Carolyn, 'Doris Blackburn MHR: Radical Representative', in Lake, Marilyn and Kelly, Farley (eds), Double time : women in Victoria - 150 years, Penguin, Ringwood, Vic., 1985, pp. 353-363; Rasmussen, Carolyn, 'Blackburn, Doris Amelia (1889-1970)', in Australian Dictionary of Biography Online, Australian National University, 2006, http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A130225b.htm.

Related entries

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Published resources

Book Sections

  • Grahame, Emma, 'Blackburn, Doris', in Caine, Barbara (ed.), Australian feminism : a companion, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, Vic., 1988, p. 391. Details
  • Rasmussen, Carolyn, 'Doris Blackburn MHR: Radical Representative', in Lake, Marilyn and Kelly, Farley (eds), Double time : women in Victoria - 150 years, Penguin, Ringwood, Vic., 1985, pp. 353-363. Details

Online Resources

See also

  • Legge, J S (ed.), Who's who in Australia 1968, The Herald and Weekly Times, Melbourne, 1968, 956 pp. Details
  • Radi, Heather (ed.), 200 Australian Women: A Redress Anthology, Women's Redress Press, Sydney, 1988, 258 pp. Also available at http://nla.gov.au/nla.arc-78644. Details

Anne Heywood

Created: 19 September 2003, Last modified: 20 April 2009

Site-wide information and acknowledgements

National Foundation for Australian Women The University of Melbourne, eScholarship Research Centre

http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE0554b.htm