Phyllis Duguid
Phyllis Duguid OAM | |
---|---|
Born | Phyllis Evelyn Lade 16 October 1904 Ernabella Mission Cemetery |
Nationality | Australian |
Education | BA (Hons) |
Alma mater | University of Adelaide |
Occupation(s) | Teacher and social reformer |
Known for | Activism for Aboriginal and women's rights |
Spouse | Charles Duguid |
Children | Rosemary, Andrew |
Parents |
|
Phyllis Evelyn Duguid
The Duguids' legacies include the Duguid Indigenous Endowment Fund at
Early life and education
The third child of six children, Duguid was born on 16 October 1904 at
Duguid worked briefly as an English tutor at the university, later became a senior English teacher at the Presbyterian Girls' College in Adelaide (now Seymour College), and married the medical doctor Charles Duguid on 18 December 1930 at the Methodist Church, Kent Town, South Australia. They had a son and a daughter.[2]
Advocacy for women and Indigenous Australians
Duguid "epitomized the strength of gentleness" and co-promoted Charles' passion for the cause of Aboriginal justice, was a prominent activist for the welfare of Aboriginal women in her own right and edited Charles' writings. Together, they were described as being "a very powerful force".[5]
Duguid was inspired to campaign for Indigenous issues after hearing from one of Charles' patients about the poor conditions in central and northern Australia, and the widely reported
League for the Protection and Advancement of Aboriginal and Half-Caste Women
After a trip to
Within its first year of operation, the League had 205 members, with a core group of 20 women who formed the executive running the organisation. Its first main goal was "to establish and maintain a welfare and recreational centre in
When the
The evolution of these groups showed a shift in emphasis from protection to advancement.[6]
Other activities
Duguid described herself as a "Christian socialist".[8]
In 1944 she fostered a six-year-old Aboriginal boy, Sydney James Cook, who had been enrolled at
She and Charles were prominent in AALSA, and her work was instrumental in organising the meeting at the
Duguid was active in the League of Women Voters of South Australia, becoming its final president in 1979 as well as holding other offices prior to this. She was chairperson of the first meeting of the Status of Women Council in South Australia.[2]
She was an executive member of the WCTU and the Women's Non-Party Political Association, and board member of the
Writing and speaking
Duguid had a flair for writing and public speaking, enriched by a love of literature. She wrote and spoke on issues such as equal pay for equal work, temperance, prison reform, and prostitution.
In 1937 she wrote a pamphlet called A brief account of the Smith of Dunesk Bequest, about the bequest, comprising property in South Australia,[10] left by Scotswoman Henrietta Smith in 1893, specifically for the benefit of Aboriginal people, which led to the foundation of the Smith of Dunesk Mission in Beltana.[11] (Husband Charles wrote a letter to The Advertiser in 1948 which gives some details of the bequest, including that attempts had been made to divert the money from Aboriginals, and that three-quarters of the proceeds were to be used for the work of the Presbyterian Church among the aborigines at Ernabella.[10])
She wrote a booklet entitled The Economic Status of the Homemaker in 1944,[12] in which she advocated "homes founded on the true partnership of men and women who are free, equal and interdependent",[2] that "the political emancipation of women can never be complete so long as a large proportion of them are economically dependent", and argued for paying wages to homemakers.[4][13]
She gave a talk arranged by the Marriage Guidance Council in 1953, in which she said it was important for young people to "realise the hardships involved in the unequal economic status of a husband and wife" and to plan accordingly.[14]
Later life, honours, legacy
Duguid was known as Kungka (woman) by Pitjantjatjara people.[2]
In the
She died on 9 March 1993 at Linden Park and her ashes were buried next to those of her husband at the Ernabella Mission Cemetery.[2]
The Duguid Indigenous Endowment Fund was created at the Australian National University by Rosemary and Bob Douglas (the Duguids' daughter and son-in-law) and Dr Andrew Duguid (their son).[5]
The Duguid Travelling Scholarship is enabled by an endowment made in 2002 to the ANU's Endowment for Excellence by Andrew Duguid and Rosemary Douglas in recognition of their parents' contribution.[16]
In 1994, the Aborigines Advancement League made a large donation to the University of South Australia and Flinders University, to provide study grants for Aboriginal graduates and to conduct a memorial lecture every two years. The Biennial Duguid Memorial Lecture (held alternate years at the University of South Australia and Flinders University) is held in honour of Charles and Phyllis Duguid.[17]
References
- ^ Vogt, A.E. "Lade, Frank (1868–1948)". The Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Edwards, W.E.H. "Duguid, Phyllis Evelyn (1904–1993)". The Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
- ^ a b Duguid, Phyllis. Interview by Mary Hutchison, 13 August 1982. Transcript. Australian Federation of University Women Oral History Project. State Library of South Australia
- ^ a b c Kerin, Rani. "Phyllis Evelyn Duguid". The Encyclopedia of Women and Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
- ^ a b "Duguid Indigenous Endowment". Australian National University. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
- ^ ISBN 9781743054994.
- ^ Equality Committee of League of Women Voters, 1975, retrieved 13 July 2019
- ^ a b "Charles/Phyllis Duguid champion Aboriginal causes from Ernabella to the advancement league". Adelaide A-Z. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
- ^ Edwards, W. H. "Duguid, Charles (1884 - 1986)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Originally published in Volume 17 of the ADB (Melbourne University Press, 2007, pp. 338-340). Retrieved 14 July 2019.
- ^ a b "Smith of Dunesk Bequest". The Advertiser (Adelaide). Vol. 90, no. 27882. 17 February 1948. p. 2. Retrieved 14 July 2019 – via National Library of Australiathers=(Letter to the editor, confirming that the bequest was made for the benefit of Aborigines in South Australia.).
- ^ Duguid, Phyllis E. (Phyllis Evelyn) (1937), A brief account of the Smith of Dunesk Bequest, P.E Duguid, retrieved 14 July 2019
- ^ Duguid, Phyllis E. (Phyllis Evelyn) (1944), The economic status of the homemaker, s.n.], retrieved 14 July 2019
- The Mail (Adelaide). Vol. 33, no. 1, 717. South Australia. 21 April 1945. p. 9. Retrieved 14 July 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
- The Mail (Adelaide). Vol. 43, no. 2, 149. South Australia. 15 August 1953. p. 16. Retrieved 14 July 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Phyllis Evelyn Duguid". Australian Government. Dept of PM & Cabinet. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
- ^ "The Duguid Travelling Scholarship for Epidemiology and Population Health Graduate Students". Australian National University. National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
- ^ "Biennial Duguid Memorial Lecture". UniSA. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
Further reading
- Kerin, Rani (2005), "Sydney James Cook/Duguid and the Importance of 'Being Aboriginal'" (PDF), Aboriginal History, 29: 45–63, ISSN 0314-8769- detailed description and analysis of the Duguids' fostering of Sydney, including notes on his later life.