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Simon, Ella (1902 - 1981)

Born
1902
Taree, New South Wales, Australia
Died
13 February 1981
New South Wales, Australia
Occupation
Aboriginal community worker

Summary

Ella Simon went to school on Purfleet Aboriginal reserve, New South Wales, until the age of twelve. She then worked in Gloucester and Sydney, but returned to Purfleet in 1932 to nurse her sick grandmother, Kundaibark. She married Joe Simon in the mid-1930s, and they travelled around New South Wales, helping Aboriginal people. In 1957 Ella was granted her 'certificate of exemption' from the restrictions imposed by the Aborigines Welfare Board. In 1960 she formed a branch of the Country Women's Association on Purfleet reserve and became its president. She opened the Gillawarra gift shop selling Aboriginal artefacts. She improved the living conditions on Purfleet, by supplying new stoves and introducing electricity. She continued caring for Aboriginal children and the sick. In 1962 she was named Lady of Distinction by Quota and appointed a justice of the peace. She dictated her life story for the book Through My Eyes during 1976-78.

Sources used to compile this entry: 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.

Archival resources

Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS)

  • The Aussie image : the language of the image makers, 1980, KIT N531.48/A1; Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS). Details
  • Sports and community portraits from the north coast of New South Wales - Photographs reproduced in New Dawn Magazine, 1970 - 1974, NEW.DAWN.1.BW; Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS). Details

Published resources

Books

  • De Vries, Susanna, The Complete Book of Great Australian Women: Thirty-six women who changed the course of Australia, HarperCollins, Sydney, 2003. Details
  • Simon, Ella, 1902-1981, Through my eyes, Rigby, Adelaide, 1978, 189 pp. Details

Journal Articles

  • Mead, Jenna, 'The dream of a shared society : on the borderlines', Australian Book Review, no. 96, 1987, pp. 13-15. Details

Newspaper Articles

  • Brady, Veronica, 1926-, 'Something that was shameful : two Aboriginal identities in a whole culture', Age Monthly Review, vol. 7, no. 6, 1987, pp. 3-5. Details

Online Resources

See also

  • Aboriginal perspectives : resources for English, history, general studies, social sciences, women of the sun., N.S.W. Dept. of Education, North Coast Region, Lismore [N.S.W.], [1987]., 76 pp. Details
  • Hooton, Joy W. (Joy Wendy), 1935-, Stories of herself when young : autobiographies of childhood by Australian women, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1990, 428 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
  • Ramsland, John, 1942-, Custodians of the soil : a history of aboriginal-European relationships in the Manning Valley of New South Wales, Greater Taree City Council, Taree, NSW, 2001, 200 pp. Details

Leonarda Kovacic

Created: 10 June 2004, Last modified: 27 April 2009

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