HerStory

Telka Alathea WILLIAMS
Also known as: née Rowe, Althea Telka Rowe, Alathea Telka Rowe
Died: 27 April 2018
Special Achievements:One of the first women in the Northern Territory public service to be granted equal pay.
1977 - Telka was made Member of the Order of the British Empire.
1956-1984 - Telka Williams started work in the female section of Her Majesty’s Gaol and Labour Prison Alice Springs, working with Mrs Seymour and Mrs Muldoon. She served as matron of the gaol during this period. Telka created “a vibrant and creative prison environment … where city bred vegetarians and indigenous meat eaters taught each their version of home cooking on benches the women tiled themselves, in colourful uniforms they designed and sewed, in cells they painted, as they slept on beds adorned with their own hand made quilts.”
October 2017 - Received the prestigious Margarette Golding Award (International Inner Wheel), for many years of community service.
Telka founded Meals on Wheels in Alice Springs, Northern Territory.
National Pioneer Women's Hall of Fame (now Women's Museum of Australia) board member.
Resources
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References
Facebook: Inner Wheel Australia, 12 October 2017. “Inner Wheel Australia”. accessed 25 January 2020.
Inner Wheel Australia. “Margarette Golding Award”. accessed 28 January 2020.
8CCC Community Radio. “Telka Williams”. accessed 25 January 2020.
ABC Open Central Australia. “Telka Williams”. accessed 25 January 2020.
The Advertiser. “In Memoriam”. accessed 25 January 2020.
Fat Bob and the Blonde. “08 Aug The Fabulous Women In Alice Springs”. accessed 25 January 2020.
Girl Guides Alice Springs. “A History of Guiding in Alice Springs”. accessed 25 January 2020.
Probus South Pacific. “A lifetime of friendship”. accessed 28 January 2020.
Bowden, Joyce. Vale Telka Williams MBE. Centralian Advocate. May 11, 2018:11.
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Audio - Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Lives: First in their Field -- Telka Williams
This audio profile of Telka Williams was produced in 2015 by 8CCC 102.1FM community radio station and the National Pioneer Women's Hall of Fame. To hear more of the Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Lives: First in their Field series, please go to http://8ccc.com.au/category/ordinary-women-extraordinary-lives/.
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Document - Visitors
Newsletter, October 2013
National Pioneer Women's Hall of Fame (Women's Museum of Australia)
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Document - Australian project focuses on women in Alice Springs gaol
Newsletter, Spring 2011, Volume XLV Number 1, page 6
Oral History Association
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Document - A legacy that's sure to last forever.
Lachlan Wills. Centralian Advocate; Alilce Springs, Northern Territory. 15 May 2020. pages 12-13.