Gladys Elphick

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Gladys Elphick
MBE
Born
Gladys Walters

(1904-08-27)27 August 1904
Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) (1971),
South Australian Aborigine of the Year (1984)
Websitewww.gladyselphickawards.com
Jubilee 150 Walkway Plaque commemorating Gladys Elphick

Gladys Elphick

Kaurna and Ngadjuri
descent, best known as the founding president of the Council of Aboriginal Women of South Australia, which became the Aboriginal Council of South Australia in 1973.

Early life and education

Gladys Walters was born on 27 August 1904 in Adelaide, South Australia, the daughter of John Herbert Walters, gas-meter inspector, and Gertrude Adams.[1]

Her maternal great-grandmother was Kudnarto,[2] who was known for having been the wife of a white man, Tom Adams, in the first approved mixed-race marriage in South Australia. She was descended from their son Tim, and was related to the family of Vince Copley on his mother's side, who was descended from his brother Tom. The families were close and Copley refers to "Aunty Glad" (actually his older cousin) many times throughout his memoir, The Wonder of Little Things.[3]

While still an infant of eight months, Gladys was taken to live with relations at

Point Pearce Aboriginal mission on the Yorke Peninsula. There she attended the local school, and taught herself to play the organ.[1]

On leaving school at age twelve, she worked in Point Pearce's dairy. She married Walter Hughes, a

Lewis Yarlupurka O'Brien[4]), and worked as a domestic servant. She then worked at the Islington Railway Workshops in Adelaide's northern suburbs during World War II creating shells and other munitions.[1]

She married Frederick Elphick, a soldier, in 1940.[1][3]

Community work

Elphick joined the

Aborigines Progress Association (APA). Lowitja O'Donoghue reported that she and others, including Elphick, joined the new group because they felt the need for an all-Aboriginal group, but without any ill-feeling towards the League or founding president Charles Duguid.[5]

Council of Aboriginal Women of South Australia

In 1966, after Elphick clashed with Laurie Bryan, and others became disillusioned with the APA (which they said was run mainly by white people), she and a group of Aboriginal women broke away and formed the Council of Aboriginal Women of South Australia (CAWSA).

the Coorong, were actively involved with the Council.[6]

CAWSA worked closely with and received substantial support from the Department of Aboriginal Affairs.

1967 Referendum.[7]
The Council became the Aboriginal Council of South Australia in 1973, and from then included men in its remit and governance.

Aboriginal Cultural Centre/Nunkuwarrin Yunti

After the disbandment of the APA in the 1970s,

NAIDOC Organisation of the Year in South Australia in 1998. It is community-controlled and governed by an all-Indigenous board, employing more than 100 staff, and delivers a range of health care and community support services as well as being a registered training organisation.[8]

Elphick helped to establish the

College of Aboriginal Education (now Tauondi Aboriginal College) in 1973, and co-founded the Aboriginal Medical Service of South Australia in 1977.[9]

She was known to the community as Auntie Glad.

Awards, honours and legacy

Elphick was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1971 in recognition of service to the Aboriginal community.[10]

She was named South Australian Aborigine of the Year in 1984, during National Aborigines Week.[9]

A plaque honouring Elphick and her work for the community is part of the Jubilee 150 Walkway, a series of 150 bronze plaques set into the footpath of North Terrace, Adelaide commemorating "a selection of people who had made a significant contribution to the community or gained national and international recognition for their work".[11]

An award has been named in her honour by the International Women's Day Committee (South Australia). Presented since 2003, it is a Community Spirit Award Acknowledging Outstanding Aboriginal Women.[12] Known as the Gladys Elphick Award, it is awarded to recognise Aboriginal women working to advance the status of Indigenous people.[13][14]

One of the parks in the

Gladys Elphick Park in her honour.[15]

Numkuwarrin Yunti, the cultural and community centre established by Elphick, continues today.[5][8]

A Google Doodle released on 27 August 2019 was dedicated to her.[13]

The first Gladys Elphick Memorial Oration was scheduled to be given in July 2021 by journalist

Aboriginal flag.[16] However, it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. The inaugural Gladys Elphick Memorial Oration was held in July 2022 with academic, artist, and community leader Simone Tur, pro vice chancellor Indigenous at Flinders University, giving the Oration. Tur explored "First Nation Matriarchs: The Role of First Nations Women in Elevating Voices".[17][18]

Personal life

Elphick married Walter Hughes, a

soldier settler block of 979 acres (396 ha) at Conmurra and was highly regarded in the community. Alfred served in the regular army, and was posted to serve in the Korean War with the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment between 1951 and 54.[19]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e E. M. Fisher (2007). "Elphick, Gladys (1904–1988)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. MUP. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  2. ^ "Biography - Kudnarto". Indigenous Australia,'Kudnarto (c. 1832–1855)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, by Peggy Brock.
  3. ^
    HarperCollins Australia
    . p. 8,10,12,28. Retrieved 23 January 2024. And then there were cousins older than me who I called Aunty too, like Aunty Gladys.
  4. ISBN 9781862547308. Extract
    , see Contents list, p.3 in the preface, and pp.67-70.
  5. ^
    ISBN 9781743054994
    .
  6. ^
    HarperCollins Australia
    . p. 178-179. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  7. ^ "Aunty Gladys Elphick MBE". City of Adelaide. 1 September 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  8. ^ a b "History". Nunkuwarrin Yunti of South Australia. 14 August 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  9. ^ a b O'Brien, Lewis; Hughes, Paul (December 2013). "Gladys Elphick MBE". SA History Hub. Retrieved 31 January 2024. This entry was first published in S.A.'s Greats: the men and women of the North Terrace plaques, edited by John Healey (Adelaide: Historical Society of South Australia Inc., 2001).
  10. ^ The Order of the British Empire - Member Archived 8 May 2018 at the Wayback Machine (MBE), 1 January 1971, It's An Honour. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  11. ^ "J150 Plaque, Gladys Elphick". Adelaidia. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  12. ^ Gladys Elphick Awards
  13. ^ a b "Gladys Elphick's 115th Birthday". Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  14. National Foundation for Australian Women (NFAW) in conjunction with The University of Melbourne
    . Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  15. ^ "Park 25". Adelaide Park Lands Association. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  16. ^ "Gladys Elphick Memorial Oration: Flagging Intentions". Adelaide Festival of Ideas. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  17. ^ "First Nation Matriarchs Talk". Historical Society of South Australia. 17 June 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  18. YouTube
  19. ^ Hall, Robert (1996). "Timothy Hughes (1919–1976)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 31 January 2024. This article was published in hardcopy in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 14, (Melbourne University Press), 1996

External links

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