Remembering Aboriginal Heroes

During the 1940s and ‘50s in Australia there rose to prominence many icons of Aboriginal descent, representative of the culture of the day and of their own people. Some permanently influenced the minds of Australians and remain famous to this day. Others have been unjustly forgotten.

Aboriginal Heroes offers an unparalleled biographical exploration of their lives, providing a prism through which the reader can view and come to a better understanding of significant aspects of resilient Aboriginal culture and its place in Australian history.

Albert Namatjira was a great watercolour landscape artist. Harold Blair was an outstandingly charismatic concert tenor of vast audience appeal. Robert Tudawali and Ngarla Kunoth were the famous stars of Charles Chauvel’s ground-breaking Australian movie, Jedda. Reg Saunders was a highly decorated war hero and the first Aboriginal commissioned officer in the permanent Australian armed forces. Harry Penrith (later known as Burnum Burnum) was a brilliant and versatile teenage sporting star and later a public figure of charisma and controversy.

About the Authors

John Ramsland is Emeritus Professor at The University of Newcastle and the author of several books and many articles on Australian social history. His most recent books include With Just and Relentless Discipline: A Social History of Corrective Services in New South Wales (1996) and Custodians of the Soil: A History of Aboriginal-European Relationships in the Manning Valley of New South Wales (2001). He has also published widely on the history of neglected and instituionalised children in England, France, and Australia.

Christopher Mooney (PHD) holds a position as an Adjunct Lecturer in the Shcool of Humanities and Social Science at the University of Newcastle, Australia. He Had taught at the University since 1991 on a part time basis and is the author of a number of national and international published papers on the history of colonial private schools in New South Wales and prominent teachers of the Classics.