RACIAL FOLLY A TWENTIETH-CENTURY ABORIGINAL FAMILY book.indb 1 17/02/10 10:14 AM book.indb 2 17/02/10 10:14 AM RACIAL FOLLY A TWENTIETH-CENTURY ABORIGINAL FAMILY Gordon Briscoe THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY E P R E S S book.indb 3 17/02/10 10:14 AM Published by ANU E Press and Aboriginal History Incorporated Aboriginal History Monograph 20 This title is also available online at: http://epress.anu.edu.au/racial_folly_citation.html National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Author: Briscoe, Gordon, 1938- Title: Racial folly : a memoir of a twentieth century family / Gordon Briscoe. ISBN: 9781921666209 (pbk.) 9781921666216 (pdf) Series: Aboriginal history monograph ; 20. Notes: Bibliography. Subjects: Briscoe, Gordon, 1938- Aboriginal Australian intellectuals--Australia--Biography. Intellectuals--Australia--Biography. Aboriginal Australian historians--Biography. Historians--Australia--Biography Political activists, Aboriginal Australian--Australia--Biography. Political activists--Australia--Biography. Aboriginal Australians--Politics and government. Aboriginal Australians--Northern Territory--Removal--Biography. Children, Aboriginal Australian--Institutional care--South Australia--Biography. Dewey Number: 994.007202 Aboriginal History Incorporated Aboriginal History is administered by an Editorial Board which is responsible for all unsigned material. Views and opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily shared by Board members. The Committee of Management and the Editorial Board Kaye Price (Chair), Peter Read (Editor), Robert Paton (Treasurer and Public Officer), Anne McGrath (Deputy Chair), Karen Smith (Secretary), Isabel McBryde, Niel Gunson, Luise Hercus, Harold Koch, Christine Hansen, Tikka Wilson, Geoff Gray, Jay Arthur, Shino Konishi, Dave Johnson, Ingereth Macfarlane, Brian Egloff, Lorena Kanellopoulos, Serene Fernando, Richard Baker, Peter Radoll, Samantha Faulkner, Sophie Collins. Contacting Aboriginal History All Editorial enquiries: Editor, Aboriginal History, Australian Centre for Indigenous History, Coombs Building, ANU 0200. Sales and subscriptions [email protected] Aboriginal History Inc. is a part of the Australian Centre for Indigenous History, Research School of Social Sciences, The Australian National University and gratefully acknowledges the support of the History Program, RSSS and the National Centre for Indigenous Studies, The Australian National University. WARNING: Readers are notified that this publication may contain names or images of deceased persons. ANU E Press: All correspondence should be addressed to: ANU E Press, The Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200, Australia Email: [email protected], http://epress.anu.edu.au Cover image: Sleeping arrangments for half-caste children. Jay Creek, Northern Territory, 1929. From Dr WD Walker Report on Aborigines N Aust (1928-1929), NAA: CRS A1 1928/10743. Courtesy of National Archives of Australia. Cover design and layout by ANU E Press Printed by University Printing Services, ANU Apart for any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this publication may be reproduced by any process whatsoever without the written permission of the publisher. This edition © 2010 ANU E Press and Aboriginal History Inc book.indb 4 17/02/10 10:14 AM Contents Illustrations . xi Foreword. xv Preface . xix 1 ..My.family.background,.1890.to.1941. 1 2 ..Evacuation,.Mulgoa.to.Semaphore,.1938.to.1945. 17 3 ..Racial.theory.and.a.religious.solution,.1920s.to.1945.. 31 4 ..Pembroke.Street.to.St.Francis.House,.1946.to.1949. 47 5 ..Educated.men.or.Christian.misfits?.1950.to.1956. 77 6 ..Life.after.St.Francis.House,.1957.to.1964. 91 7 ..Race.relations,.work.and.education,.1964.to.1968. 103 8 ..University.and.Aboriginal.politics,.1969.to.1971.. 119 9 ..Redfern.and.the.early.1970s. 151 10 ..The.Northern.Territory,.1972. 165 11 ..A.new.era.in.Aboriginal.politics,.1974.to.1981. 177 12 ..The.education.years:.1980s. 191 13 ..The.1990s.and.beyond . 203 Epilogue. 215 References. 221 v book.indb 5 17/02/10 10:14 AM vi book.indb 6 17/02/10 10:14 AM . For my brother Bill (1944 to 2003) who served his country well. vii book.indb 7 17/02/10 10:14 AM book.indb 8 17/02/10 10:14 AM . ‘I have had many dealings with adversity, but the want of parental affection has been the heaviest of my trials’ Edgar Allan Poe ix book.indb 9 17/02/10 10:14 AM book.indb 10 17/02/10 10:14 AM.