Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association
The Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association (AAPA) was an early Indigenous Australian organisation focused on Aboriginal rights, founded in 1924 and based in Sydney, New South Wales (NSW). It was wound up at the end of 1927. The Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association is known as the first Aboriginal activist group to unite in Australia.[1][2]At its most successful point, there were over 600 AAPA members, and the organisation had reached 13 branches and 4 sub branches in NSW.[3]
History and description
Founded in 1924 by Fred Maynard, and publicly announced the following year,[4][5] the aim of the association was to defend the rights of Aboriginal people.[1] Maynard had been involved in another organisation, the Coloured Progressive Association, a decade earlier and he and co-leader Tom Lacey were inspired by the ideas of Jamaican activist Marcus Garvey.[4][5]
The organisation was based in Surry Hills, Sydney, but eventually expanded to 11 branches across New South Wales, and over 500 active members.[5] It campaigned against the NSW Aborigines Protection Board (APB) to gain Indigenous rights to land, identity and citizenship, alongside the fight to end the removal of Aboriginal children from their homes.[3]
The association was dissolved by the end of 1927.[5] Aboriginal studies scholar John Maynard, Fred Maynard's grandson, believes that the main reason for the breakup of AAPA was harassment by police acting on behalf of the APB.[2] The Inspector General of New South Wales Police was also APB chairman. AAPA members were threatened by police with gaol or removal of their children, and the APB ran smear campaigns in newspapers about AAPA members, especially Fred Maynard and gave biased information about them to men in power, just as NSW Premier Jack Lang.[3]
References
- ^ a b Maynard, John (2003). "Vision, voice and influence: The rise of the Australian aboriginal progressive association". Australian Historical Studies. 34 (121). Informa UK Limited: 91–105. doi:10.1080/10314610308596238. ISSN 1031-461X. S2CID 145361356 – via Taylor & Francis.
- ^ a b Maynard, John. (1997). "Fred Maynard and the Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association (AAPA): One God, One Aim, One Destiny" (PDF). Aboriginal History. 21: 1–13. ISSN 0314-8769.
- ^ a b c National Museum Australia) (16 November 2021). "Formation of the AAPA".
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b Foley, Gary. "Timeline of Significant Moments in the Indigenous Struggle". The Koori History Website. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
- ^ a b c d Pollock, Zoe (4 December 2021). "Australian Aborigines Progressive Association". The Dictionary of Sydney. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
Text may have been copied from this source, which is available under a Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0) licence.
Further reading
- "Australian Aboriginal Progressive Assoc". The Wingham Chronicle And Manning River Observer. New South Wales, Australia. 25 August 1925. p. 4 – via National Library of Australia. Report of a biennial meeting
- "Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association". The Macleay Chronicle. No. 2443. New South Wales. 7 October 1925. p. 4 – via National Library of Australia.
- "[Letter to the editor]". Daily Examiner. Vol. 20, no. 28387. New South Wales. 24 December 1927. p. 3 – via National Library of Australia. Letter to the Daily Examiner newspaper from Organising Secretary of the AAPA, E. McKenzie Hatton, thanking readers for their support
- Maynard, John, For liberty and freedom : Fred Maynard and the Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association, University of Newcastle (200?)
 | This Indigenous Australians-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |