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Tucker, Margaret Elizabeth (1904 - 1996)

MBE

Born
1904
Warrangesda Mission, New South Wales, Australia
Died
1996
Occupation
Author, Campaigner and Community worker

Summary

Margaret Tucker was co-founder of the Australian Aborigines League and was the first Aboriginal woman appointed to the Aborigines Welfare Board.

Details

Margaret (Lilardia) Elizabeth Tucker was born on Warrangesda Mission and spent her early childhood on the Cummeragunja and Moonaculla Missions in New South Wales. Her father, William Clements, was Wiradjuri and her mother Teresa (Yarmuk) Clements, née Middleton, was Yulupna. At the age of thirteen, Tucker and her sister May were separated from their mother against her wishes and taken to the Cootamundra Girls' Home. Tucker has written of her harrowing experiences under the care and training of the Aborigines Protection Board and in domestic service for white families in Sydney in her 1977 autobiography, If everyone cared.

By the 1930s, Tucker had begun to campaign for Aboriginal rights alongside other legendary Koori campaigners including William Cooper, Bill and Eric Onus, and Doug Nicholls. In 1932, she was co-founder of the Australian Aborigines League and on 26 January 1938 was one of the Victorian representatives observing the first national Day of Mourning. She was also instrumental in founding the United Council of Aboriginal and Islander Women in the 1960s. Tucker was the first Aboriginal woman appointed to the Aborigines Welfare Board (Victoria), 1964, and the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs, 1968.

She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (Civil) on 1 January 1968 for services to the Aboriginal community.

Sources used to compile this entry: Horton, David (ed.), The Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia : Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, society and culture, Aboriginal Studies Press for AIATSIS, Canberra, 1994, 2 v. (xxxiii, 1340 p.) pp; Jackomos, Alick, 'Marge Tucker, MBE', Identity, vol. 3, no. 9, 1979, pp. 14-15.

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

National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection

  • If everyone cared, 1970s, MS 8704; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details

National Library of Australia Newspaper Microcopy Reading Room

  • Biographical cuttings on Margaret Tucker, awarded M.B.E. for services to Aboriginal welfare in 1968.; National Library of Australia Newspaper Microcopy Reading Room. Details

Published resources

The Australian Women's Register Exhibitions

Books

  • Margaret Tucker, If everyone cared : autobiography of Margaret Tucker., Ure Smith, Sydney, 1977, 205 pp. Details
  • Margaret Tucker, If everyone cared : autobiography of Margaret Tucker M.B.E., 2 edn, Grosvenor, London, 1983, 205 pp. Details

Journal Articles

  • Hennessy, Gail, 'Character Above Colour: Fast Track to Assimilation? Margaret Tucker M.B.E. and the Politics of Assimilation', Social Alternatives, vol. 21, January. Details
  • Jackomos, Alick, 'Marge Tucker, MBE', Identity, vol. 3, no. 9, 1979, pp. 14-15. Details

Newspaper Articles

  • 'Original protester had a role in many groups', Koori Mail, 1996, p. 19. Details
  • Cust, Sylvia, 'Princess Lilardia as Guest of Queen Salote of Tonga.', Dawn, 1 Oct, pp. 5-7. Details
  • Tucker, Margaret, 'As I Saw the World Abroad', Dawn, 1 May, p. 20. Details

Online Resources

See also

  • 'Historic meeting of two great peoples : Aboriginal King honours Canadian Indian Party', Dawn, 1 Jul, p. 13. Details
  • 'Honours for Aborigines', Identity, 01 Jan, p. 34. Details
  • Sister, if you only knew [videorecording], Film Australia; Sponsored by the Dept. of Aboriginal Affairs for International Women's Year, Lindfield, N.S.W., 1975. Details
  • 'National Aborigines Day', Identity, 1 Jun, pp. 40-41. Details
  • Alec Morgan, Gerald Bostock, Lousy little sixpence [videorecording], Resource Services, Division of Services, N.S.W. Dept. of Education, Sydney, c1984. Details
  • Beeson, Margaret J (compiled by), Some Aboriginal women pathfinders : their difficulties and their achievements, Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Australia, Adelaide, [1980], 80 pp. Details
  • Beston, John B., 'Aboriginal Writers in Australia', Identity, 01 Jul, pp. 9,14-15. 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
  • Horner, Jack, 'Details of pioneers in Aboriginal movement.', Identity, 01 Jan, pp. 10-11. Details
  • Horton, David (ed.), The Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia : Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, society and culture, Aboriginal Studies Press for AIATSIS, Canberra, 1994, 2 v. (xxxiii, 1340 p.) pp. Details
  • Jackomos, Alick, 'Aborigines Advancement League', Identity, 01 Jul, pp. 4-6. Details
  • Moreton-Robinson, Aileen, Talkin' up to the white woman : Aboriginal women and feminism, University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, 2000, xxv, 234 pp. Details
  • Public Broadcasting Association of Australia, Another time/place [sound recording], Melbourne : National Programme Service. Details

Clare Land

Created: 3 September 2002, Last modified: 4 May 2009

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