Freda Leslie Whitlam (11 September 1920 – 30 May 2018), was an Australian educator and feminist. Whitlam was a leader in the Uniting Church. She is best known for her work as the principal of the Presbyterian Ladies' College (PLC), at Croydon in inner-west Sydney, where she worked for 18 years.

Biography

Whitlam was born in Mosman on 11 September 1920 and was the sister of Gough Whitlam who became Prime Minister of Australia. In 1927, she and her family moved to

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. Her father

Fred Whitlam Harry Frederick Ernest "Fred" Whitlam (3 April 1884 – 8 December 1961) was Australia's Crown Solicitor from 1936 to 1949, and a pioneer of international human rights law in Australia. He was the father of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, and had ...

became Australian Crown Solicitor in December 1936. Whitlam attended

Canberra Girls Grammar School , motto_translation = To the young, anything is possible , established = 1926 , type = Independent, day and boarding , gender = Co-educational – Early Learning to Yr 3Girls – Yrs ...

and Abbotsleigh before studying at Canberra University College. During World War II, she served with the WAAAF, joining in 1943. After the war, she earned a Bachelor of Arts from Melbourne University. Whitlam went on to teach

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

in Canberra and learned Latin and

Esperanto Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communi ...

. In 1954, she earned a

Fulbright Scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

to study at Yale. She earned her master's degree there in 1955 and then went on to take further studies at London University. Whitlam became the new principal of the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Croydon (PLC) starting in 1958. Whitlam resigned from the school in 1976, citing political issues between herself and the school's council as the reason for her early retirement. In 1977, a Union of the Congregational, Methodist and Presbyterian churches took place, forming the Uniting Church in Australia. Approximately one-third of the Presbyterian Church decided to remain Presbyterian, and consequently the property of the church had to be divided. In May of that year it was announced that PLC Croydon was to remain Presbyterian and PLC Pymble would be transferred, with its name changed to Pymble Ladies' College. Then in 1978 it was decided that PLC Croydon should return to its original name: Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney. Freda Whitlam took part in the movement to form the Uniting Church and thus ended her principalship of the school. She was appointed moderator of the

New South Wales Synod The Synod of New South Wales and the ACT is a regional council of the Uniting Church in Australia having responsibility for the congregations and presbyteries in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. From its creation in 1977 until ...

of the Uniting Church in Australia in 1985 and served in that role until 1986. In 1986, she told '' The Sydney Morning Herald'' that she identifies as a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

. Whitlam was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 1987 Australia Day Honours for "service to education and to the community". She was involved in

drug reform Drug liberalization is a drug policy process of decriminalizing or legalizing the use or sale of prohibited drugs. Variations of drug liberalization include: drug legalization, drug re-legalization and drug decriminalization. Proponents of drug ...

in 1993, where she signed onto a charter to abolish criminal sanctions for personal illegal drug use. In 1999, Whitlam was awarded an honorary doctorate of letters from the University of Western Sydney. PLC named their school of science after her in 1998. She continued to teach Latin well into her nineties. Whitlam died in a nursing home in Penrith on 30 May 2018.

Biography

References

Further reading