Eleanor Harding
1934 - 1996

   In 1934, 
  Eleanor was born on Erub Island in the Torres Strait, she was the youngest of four siblings.

Eleanor's father was killed while working on a pearl lugger when she was eight years old, and she lost her mother she moved from the islands to live with her grandmother. They lived in several Aboriginal communities around Cape York, before settling at the Bloomfield River Mission.



1956,
 Eleanor moved to Melbourne in the hope that she might give her children a better life.
She settled in Fitzroy, where Aboriginal families occupied many of the suburb's boarding houses and flats. Eleanor quickly ingratiated herself with the poor but close-knit community.
She participated locals socialised at fortnightly dances held at Collingwood Town Hall,  with a group known as the Fitzroy Dancing Girls.


Eleanor poured her energy into achieving a better deal for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. She was especially passionate about women's issues and education.She opened her heart to the most neglected, regularly visiting Aboriginal men and women incarcerated in Melbourne's prisons. She would bring them supplies of coffee and biscuits, paid for out of her own pocket, as well as a sympathetic ear.


In1960s, Eleanor was involved in a national campaign to secure equal rights for Indigenous Australians, as a member of the Aborigines Advancement League and the Victorian branch of the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI). She was part of the latter's push for constitutional change, which resulted in the 1967 Referendum.

She was a supporter of Abschol, a program set up in the 1960s to raise money for scholarships for Aboriginal students, which later evolved into the federal Abstudy scheme. All Eleanor's children went on to complete higher education with her encouragement and support many of them are high profile figures in the arts and Aboriginal affairs today.Despite having left school at a young age, Eleanor recognised the value of education.


In the 1967 Referendum. Eleanor sold badges and distributed pamphlets to educate the public on what the vote's success would mean. It proved a symbolic win in the long-fought battle for Indigenous rights.


In 1970, Eleanor was an executive member of the National Aboriginal and Islander, Women's Council. She participated with the busloads of women to travel to Sydney and in a peaceful protest to highlight what the historic moment meant for Indigenous Australians.

 In 1972, Eleanor travelled with a group to Canberra in support the Aboriginal Tent Embassy.


In 1978, Eleanor joined the Victorian Department of Community Services where she worked principally with victims of domestic violence. As she was concerned about homelessness among young Aboriginal women.

In 1983, Eleanor joined with others to set up the Margaret Tucker Hostel, she worked there voluntarily until ongoing government funding was secured.



In 1992, she helped establish the Victorian Wongai Torres Strait Islander. She was a valued founding member of the Victorian Aboriginal Catholic Council. She did an effective and significant role in the Indigenous rights movement in Victoria.


In 1996, Eleanor passed away and she was buried on Erub Island.


Her message was a simple but potent one: "respect each other and be proud of who you are".