Who were William Cooper, William Ferguson, and Jack Patten?

William Cooper, William Ferguson, and Jack Patten were prominent Australian activists who fought for the rights of Australian Aboriginal peoples during the 1930s. They are best known for organizing the 1938 Day of Mourning, a protest held on January 26—the 150th anniversary of the British arrival in Australia—to highlight the mistreatment and dispossession of Indigenous peoples since colonization.123

• William Cooper (1861–1941) was a Yorta Yorta man and the founder of the Australian Aborigines’ League. He was a tireless advocate for Aboriginal representation in Parliament, land rights, and the right to vote.2
• William Ferguson (1882–1950) was a labor activist and the founder of the Aborigines Progressive Association. He campaigned extensively against the Aborigines Protection Board, which controlled the lives of Aboriginal people and oversaw the removal of children from their families.1
• Jack Patten was an activist who worked closely with Ferguson and Cooper. In 1938, he and Ferguson co-authored the influential pamphlet Aborigines Claim Citizen Rights! and were among the leaders who met with Prime Minister Joseph Aloysius Lyons following the Day of Mourning protest.12