Charles Nelson Perkins, usually known as Charlie Perkins (16 June 1936 – 19 October 2000), was an Aboriginal Australian activist, soccer player and administrator.
It is claimed he was the first known Indigenous Australian man to graduate tertiary education.
Perkins was born on 16 June 1936 in the old Alice Springs Telegraph Station to Hetty Perkins, originally from nearby Arltunga, and Martin Connelly, originally from Mount Isa, Queensland.
His mother was born to a white father and an Arrernte mother, while his father had an Irish father and a Kalkadoon mother.
Perkins had one full sibling and nine other half-siblings by his mother, and was also a cousin of artist and soccer player John Moriarty.
He was the great-uncle of Pat Turner, and inspired her work to improve the lives of and right to self-determination for Indigenous people.
1952
Between 1952 and 1957, Perkins worked as an apprentice fitter and turner for the British Tube Mills company in Adelaide.
1961
He married Eileen Munchenberg, a descendant of a German Lutheran family, on 23 September 1961 and had two daughters (Hetti and Rachel), and a son (Adam).
His granddaughter through Hetti is actress Madeleine Madden.
Perkins obtained his early schooling at St Mary's Church School in Alice Springs, before moving down to St Francis House for Aboriginal Boys in Semaphore South, a beachside suburb of Adelaide near Port Adelaide, South Australia.
There he was treated with kindness, sent to the local school, and met other future Aboriginal leaders and activists, including Gordon Briscoe, John Kundereri Moriarty, Richie Bray, Vince Copley, Malcolm Cooper, and others.
This action was inspired by the US Civil Rights Freedom Ride campaign in 1961.
The Australian Freedom Ride aimed to expose discrepancies in living, education and health conditions among the Aboriginal population.
The tour targeted rural towns such as Walgett, Moree, and Kempsey.
They acted to publicise acts of blatant discrimination.
This was demonstrated through one of the Freedom Ride activities in Walgett.
A local RSL club refused entry to Aboriginal people, including those who were ex-servicemen who participated in the two World Wars.
At one stage during the Rides, the protesters' bus was run off the road.
1965
He is known for his instigation and organisation of the 1965 Freedom Ride and his key role in advocating for a "yes" vote in the 1967 Aboriginals referendum.
He had a long career as a public servant.
In 1965 he was one of the key members of the Freedom Ride – a bus tour through New South Wales by activists protesting discrimination against Aboriginal people in small towns in NSW, Australia.
On 20 February 1965, Perkins and his party tried to enter the swimming pool at Moree, where the local council had barred Aboriginal people from swimming since its opening 40 years earlier.
They stood at the gate refusing to let anyone else in if they were not let in.
In response to this action, the riders faced physical opposition from several hundred local white Australians, including community leaders, and were pelted with eggs and tomatoes.
These events were broadcast across Australia, and under pressure from public opinion, the council eventually reversed the ban on Aboriginal swimmers.
The Freedom Ride then moved on, but on the way out they were followed by a line of cars, one of which collided with the rear of their bus, forcing them to return to Moree where they found that the council had reneged on their previous decision.
The Freedom Riders protested once again, forcing the council to remove the ban once more.
On 6 August 1965, Perkins staged a fake "kidnapping" of 5-year-old Nancy Prasad from under the nose of immigration officials at the Sydney airport for the purpose of highlighting the injustice of her deportation under Australia's "White Australia" immigration policy.
His antic had effect.
The newspapers headlined the "kidnapping".
Even so, Prasad was taken to the airport again, and deported to Fiji on 7 August 1965.
1966
He subsequently attended the Metropolitan Business College in Sydney, followed by the University of Sydney, from where he graduated in 1966 with a Bachelor of Arts.
He was the first Indigenous man in Australia to graduate from university.
While at university he worked part-time for the City of South Sydney cleaning toilets.
1967
In 1967 a referendum was held on constitutional amendments to allow the inclusion of Aboriginal people in censuses and giving the Parliament of Australia the right to introduce legislation specifically for Aboriginal people.
In the lead-up to the referendum Perkins was manager of the Foundation for Aboriginal Affairs, an organisation that took a key role in advocating a Yes vote.
The constitutional amendment passed with a 90.77% majority.
1969
In 1969 Perkins began his career in Commonwealth government public service in the Office of Aboriginal Affairs in Canberra, which became the Department of Aboriginal Affairs (DAA) in 1972.
In that year he underwent a kidney transplant.
Soon after getting his first job in Canberra, he founded the company Aboriginal Hostels Limited, with the aim of setting up a national network of hostels providing temporary accommodation for Aboriginal people.
