Harold Blair

Harold Blair AM (13 September 1924 – 21 May 1976) was an Australian tenor and Aboriginal activist.

Early life

Blair was born at the Cherbourg Aboriginal Reserve, 5km from Murgon in Queensland. His mother was Esther Quinn, a teenage Aboriginal woman. His surname, Blair, came from the family that had “adopted” his mother. He and his mother then went to the Salvation Army Purga Mission near Ipswich. His mother entered domestic service, leaving Harold, then aged two, at the mission, where he received an elementary education. Blair left school at age 16, gaining employment as a farm labourer.

At the age of 17 he was working as a tractor driver at the Fairymead Sugar Mill. Communist trade union organiser Harry Green heard him singing and encouraged him to further his singing. Blair entered a radio amateur hour talent quest in early 1945, and attracted a record tally of listeners’ votes. A group of trade unionists, academics and musicians formed a trust to sponsor his career.

Singing career

Travelling to Melbourne, he entered from the Melba Conservatorium, in 1945 and earned a Diploma of Music with honours in 1949. [http://www.abc.net.au/message/tv/ms/s1151688.htm] In 1950, Blair was invited to study in the United States by the noted African-American singer Todd Duncan. Blair studied at the Juilliard School, New York City. While in New York he sung in a church in Harlem, and entered into the community life. He was impressed how people of all races participated at all levels of society.

In 1951 the Australian Broadcasting Commission offered Blair a three year singing contract, commencing with an extensive tour. By the end of the tour he had lost his voice. Breaking the contract, he was prohibited from singing professionally for three years. Discouraged, Blair sort other work including working for a hardware store. He expressed an interest in education and was taken on as a teacher at Sunshine Technical School. He later became a teacher at the Conservatorium in Melbourne, and served on the Aboriginal Arts Board [http://www.whitlam.org/collection/1973/19730503_Aboriginal_Arts/] .

Aboriginal activism

Blair continued to act for Aboriginal rights all his life. He joined the Aborigines Advancement League in its early days and later the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. Watching an Aboriginal marching girls group at Moomba in 1962 led Blair to establish the Aboriginal Children’s Holiday Project, and he was an early member of the Aborigines Welfare Board in Victoria. He stood as a candidate for the Australian Labor Party for a seat in the Victorian parliament against the then Minister for Aboriginal Affairs.

Personal life

Blair married a fellow conservatorium singing student, Dorothy Eden, in 1949, and they had two children, Nerida and Warren. The marriage encountered some hostility at the time, as it involved the marriage of an Aboriginal man to a European woman. He now has three grandchildren.

Honours

Blair was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the Australia Day Honours of 1976 [ [http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/honour_roll/search.cfm?aus_award_id=869986&search_type=simple&showInd=true It's an Honour - Harold Blair] ] . The Australian Electoral Division of Blair in Queensland is named after him.

Bibliography

*"" ISBN 0-909091-08-0 (1975) biography by Kenneth Harrison (Novalit Australia Pty Ltd, Cheltenham, Melbourne)

External links

* [http://www.abc.net.au/message/tv/ms/s1151688.htm Transcript of 2004 episode] of "Message Stick" (ABC video documentary)
* [http://nla.gov.au/nla.ms-ms8950 Papers of Harold Blair] at the National Library of Australia
* [http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/1995/182/182p25.htm 1995 review] by Norm Dixon of "Harold", a documentary by Steve Thomas
* [http://www.quadrant.org.au/php/article_view.php?article_id=1396 2000 "Not Guilty" article] by Douglas Meagher QC ("Quadrant")
* [http://colsearch.nfsa.afc.gov.au/nfsa/search/summary/summary.w3p;adv=yes;group=;groupequals=;page=0;parentid=;query=Number%3A356022%20|%20Number%3A357816%20|%20Number%3A362586;querytype=;resCount=10 Harold Blair at the National Film and Sound Archive]