Ellen Atkinson
Ellen Atkinson | |
|---|---|
Ellen Campbell Atkinson and Edwin Atkinson at their wedding in Echuca, 3 May 1911. | |
| Born | Ellen Campbell c. August 1894 Madowla Park, near Echuca, Victoria, Australia |
| Died | 30 April 1965 (aged 70–71) Mooroopna, Victoria, Australia |
| Resting place | Mooroopna Cemetery |
| Other names | Aunty Ellen |
| Occupation | Aboriginal community leader |
| Spouse |
Edwin Atkinson
(m. 1911; died 1952) |
| Children | 4 |
Ellen Campbell Atkinson (née Campbell; 1894–1965) was an Australian Aboriginal community leader. Born in Madowla Park, near Echuca in Victoria, Atkinson and her family were forced to move frequently, either through the necessity of finding work, or forcibly by authorities. She converted to Christianity when the Aborigines' Inland Mission (AIM) visited the Cummeragunja Reserve, where she was living, and served the mission for many years in roles such as organist and deacon.
Atkinson supported key Aboriginal activists including William Ferguson, William Cooper, Jack Patten and Thomas Shadrach James, and participated in the Cummeragunja walk-off. At the end of her life she finally saw the building of her church, which she found bittersweet as her husband Edwin "Eddy" Atkinson, who was also a key figure in the church community, had not lived to see the culmination of his life's work.