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The Kempster Papers - 1959 to 1968 - Aboriginal Advancement in…
Auction House:
Auction Location:
Melbourne
Date:
3-Jun-2014
Lot No.
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Description:
The Kempster Papers - 1959 to 1968 - Aboriginal Advancement in the lead-up to the 1967 Referendum, A comprehensive archive of original papers, notes, booklets, letters, pamphlets, newsletters, photographs and seven original artworks on paper. Comprising of many 100s of items [full list available on request] which give us a remarkable insight into the political, social, economic and psychological changes taking place in the 1950s and '60s with regard to the way Australia's original inhabitants were being seen, and their needs and aspirations understood. Dr John Kempster, a Cambridge Graduate, migrated from England to Adelaide, South Australia, in 1959 at the age of twenty-six. His field of academic expertise was physics, and when he arrived in Adelaide he knew only that Aboriginal people made boomerangs. He became heavily involved in various organisations for the advancement of Aboriginal civil rights. He was president of the South AUstralian Aboriginal Advancement League as well as being significantly involved with the Australian Christian Youth Council, the Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement and the Student Christian Movement. Formed in 1938/39, the South Australian Aborigines' Advancement League worked to expose and overcome racial discrimination in the workplace. In addition, it agitated for the repeal of discriminatory legislation. The League hosted the inaugural meeting of the Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement in February 1958. While there had always been white Australians deeply concerned by the ways in which indigenous Australians were treated (for example, the Aboriginal Protection Association was formed following the Myall Creek massacre of 1838), the 1950s saw the beginnings of what would become the Aboriginal civil rights movement of the 1960s and the significant push for change that continues to the present day. While there is no doubt that John Kempster and the many white people involved in groups like the Aborigines' Advancement League worked hard, tirelessly and with the best of intentions to improve the lot of Australia's indigenous population, they did so from a firmly white, middle-class background. This is made very clear in the Kempster Papers, as is the considerable role played by the Protestant Church in the movement. As such, working for the rights of Aboriginals often retained a very paternalistic tone. The disbanding of many of the Advancement Leagues throughout Australia by the late 1960s, following a shift towards radicalism and autonomy in how indigenous people saw themselves and their search for identity, is also suggestive of the white, middle-class character of these mid-20th Century Australian civil rights groups. These groups and their activities are remarkably well 'preserved' in this archive; Kempster having been a significant participant and a particularly articulate and intelligent example.
Estimate:
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Price:
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Category:
Unclassified