Mum Shirl
Mum Shirl | |
---|---|
Born | Coleen Shirley Perry Smith 22 November 1924 Erambie Mission, New South Wales, Australia |
Died | 28 April 1998 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | (aged 73)
Resting place | Botany Cemetery |
Nationality | Australian |
Occupation | Social worker |
Known for | Aboriginal rights |
Spouse | Cecil "Darcy Smith" Hazil |
Children | 2 (1 died during childbirth) |
Coleen Shirley Perry Smith
. During her lifetime she was recognised as an Australian National Living Treasure.Biography
Mum Shirl was born as Coleen Shirley Perry Smith on the Erambie Mission, in Wiradjuri country near Cowra, New South Wales, in 1924 to Joseph and Isabell Perry Smith. She did not attend a regular school because of her epilepsy and was taught by her grandfather and learned 16 different Aboriginal Languages. She began to visit Aboriginal people in jail after one of her brothers was incarcerated and discovered that her visits also benefited other prisoners. Her community activism also saw her accompanying indigenous people who were unfamiliar with the legal system to court when they had been charged with a crime. Her nickname came from her habit of replying, "I’m his mum" whenever officials queried her relationship with the prisoners - the name by which she became widely known.[1]
Because of her work visiting Aboriginal prisoners, Mum Shirl is the only woman in Australia to have been given unrestricted access to prisons in New South Wales. "She'd be at one end of the state one day, and seen at the other end of the state the next day. The department wasn't getting her from A to B. She used to rely on family and friends to get her around," said Ron Woodham from NSW Corrective Services.[2] Later the Department of Corrective Services revoked her pass, making her prisoner support work near impossible.[3]
Smith's welfare work, however, was not confined only to prisons and the legal system. She also spent considerable time and money finding homes for children whose parents could not look after them and helping displaced children to find their parents again. The children with nowhere to go often ended up living with her. By the early 1990s, she had raised over 60 children. Likewise, many people with no family or friends in Sydney arrived at Mum Shirl's Redfern house seeking shelter.
In 1970, Smith, along with Ken Brindle, and Chicka and Elsa Dixon, were the guiding force behind a group of young Aboriginal men and women who were involved in the
Religion
Mum Shirl was an integral and committed part of the Catholic Church of St Vincent's Redfern with the prominent priest Father
Awards
She was made a Member of the
Health and death
Mum Shirl had epilepsy throughout her life. She was badly injured in a car crash after which she had a heart attack and was in the hospital for seven months. She died on 28 April 1998. Her funeral at St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney, was presided over by her friend Father Ted Kennedy and was attended by several dignitaries including the Governor-General of Australia, Sir William Deane, as well as many people whom she had helped over the years.
Legacy
Two years after her death,
On 8 July 2018, Mum Shirl was featured in a Google Doodle in honour of NAIDOC Week, which that year had the theme: "Because of her, we can!" The doodle was designed by Bigambul artist Cheryl Moggs.[11]
References
- ^ "Shirley Perry Smith". AustLit. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- ^ "Australians - Mum 'Shirl' Smith". Schools TV. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 28 March 2012. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- ^ Land, Clare (2002). "MumShirl (c. 1924–1998)". The Australian Women's Register. National Foundation for Australian Women. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- ISBN 1-86330-144-5
- ^ Kennedy, Ted (13 May 1998). "Mum Shirl: fighter for Aboriginal rights". Green Left Weekly. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- ^ 'Smith, Shirley Coleen (Mum Shirl) (1921–1998)', Indigenous Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://ia.anu.edu.au/biography/smith-shirley-coleen-mum-shirl-17817/text29401, accessed 8 July 2018.
- ^ "The Order of the British Empire - Member (Civil) (MBE(C)) entry for Smith, Shirley Colleen". Australian Honours Database. Canberra, Australia: Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 11 June 1977. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
Aborigines
- ^ "Member of the Order of Australia (AM) entry for Smith, Shirley". Australian Honours Database. Canberra, Australia: Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 10 June 1985. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
AM. QB 1985. MBE. QB77 NSW. For service to Aborigines. For service to Aboriginal community
- ^ Long, Stephen (13 December 1990). "Big fuss over a great woman". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
- ^ Andrew Refshauge, Deputy Premier of New South Wales (29 April 1998). "Death of Mrs Colleen Shirley Smith". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). New South Wales: Legislative Assembly. pp. 4410–11.
- ^ "Celebrating Shirley (Mum Shirl) Smith". Google. 8 July 2018.
Sources
- Mum Shirl with the assistance of Bobbi Sykes, Mum Shirl: an autobiography, Mammoth Australia, 1992, ISBN 978-1-86330-144-2
External links
- Perry Smith, Shirley (Mum Shirl) (1924 - 1998) on Reason in Revolt
- Mum Shirl on Church Mouse (further links provided)