- Entry type: Person
- Entry ID: IMP0093
Tucker, Margaret Elizabeth
(1904 – 1996)- Born 1 January, 1904, Warrangesda Mission New South Wales Australia
- Died 31 December, 1996
- Occupation Author, Campaigner, 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.
Events
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2001 - 2001
Inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women
Published resources
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Book
- If everyone cared : autobiography of Margaret Tucker., Margaret Tucker, 1977
- If everyone cared : autobiography of Margaret Tucker M.B.E., Margaret Tucker, 1983
- Another time/place [sound recording], Public Broadcasting Association of Australia
- Talkin' up to the white woman : Aboriginal women and feminism, Moreton-Robinson, Aileen, 2000
- Lousy little sixpence [videorecording], Alec Morgan, Gerald Bostock, c1984
- Some Aboriginal women pathfinders : their difficulties and their achievements, Beeson, Margaret J (compiled by), [1980]
- Stories of herself when young : autobiographies of childhood by Australian women, Hooton, Joy W. (Joy Wendy), 1935-, 1990
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Videorecording
- Sister, if you only knew, Isaac, Janet (Director) and Baker, Suzanne (Producer), 1975, https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/19007567
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Resource Section
- Aunty Marge Tucker, http://www.kooriweb.org/bbm/aal/p10.html
- Edited Book
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Newspaper Article
- Honours for Aborigines, 1972
- Details of pioneers in Aboriginal movement., Horner, Jack, 1972
- Aboriginal Writers in Australia, Beston, John B., 1976
- National Aborigines Day, 1981
- Aborigines Advancement League, Jackomos, Alick, 1978
- Princess Lilardia as Guest of Queen Salote of Tonga., Cust, Sylvia, 1963
- As I Saw the World Abroad, Tucker, Margaret, 1958
- Historic meeting of two great peoples : Aboriginal King honours Canadian Indian Party, 1960
- Original protester had a role in many groups, 1996
- Journal Article
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Resource
- Trove: Tucker, Margaret (1904-1996), http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-566144
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Site Exhibition
- Faith, Hope and Charity Australian Women and Imperial Honours: 1901-1989, Australian Women's Archives Project, 2003, http://www.womenaustralia.info/exhib/honours/honours.html
Archival resources
- National Library of Australia, Manuscript Collection
- National Library of Australia
- AIATSIS Books and Printed Material Collection