Irene Greenwood (9 December 1898 — 14 April 1992) was an Australian radio broadcaster and feminist and peace activist.
Early life and education
Greenwood was born in
Albany, Western Australia on 9 December 1898. She was the oldest child of Henry Driver and Mary Ann Driver née Hicken. Greenwood attended Albany State School between 1905 and 1912 and
Perth Modern School between 1913 and 1917. She then went on to study arts at the
University of Western Australia.
Later life and career
Driver worked as a secretary at the Department of Agriculture between 1918 and 1920 where she met her husband, Albert Ernest Greenwood, an accountant. They married on 18 June 1920 at the Anglican Church of the Annunciation in
Broome, Western Australia
Broome, also known as Rubibi by the Yawuru people, is a coastal pearling and tourist town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, north of Perth. In the the population was recorded as 14,660. It is the largest town in the Kimberley reg ...
.
Between 1931 and 1935, Greenwood worked as a broadcaster in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
before moving to
Perth to run regular radio programmes, several of which centered around women.
Greenwood retired from radio broadcasting in 1953.
Greenwood became involved in feminist and peace movements through her mother who was involved with the
Woman’s Christian Temperance Union
The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization, originating among women in the United States Prohibition movement. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program th ...
and the
Australian Federation of Women Voters
The Australian Federation of Women Voters (AFWV) originally the Australian Womens Register in 1921 became the AFWV in 1924.
Also known as The Australian Federation of Women's Societies for Equal Citizenship it was founded as a national lobby grou ...
.
She took part in
Perth's first strike by civil servants in 1920. While working as a broadcaster, many of her programs were centred around her political and feminist beliefs. Her involvement in feminist and peace movements increased after she retired from radio. During the 1960s and 1970s, she became a delegate to national conferences and forums and worked with the
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom until she was in her seventies. She was also involved with the foundation of the Family Planning Association in Western Australia and the Abortion Law Repeal Association.
Before her death on 14 April 1992,
Greenwood donated the majority of her radio transcripts, books, journals, personal correspondence and her papers from the organisations which she was involved with to the
Murdoch University
Murdoch University is a public university in Perth, Western Australia, with campuses also in Singapore and Dubai. It began operations as the state's second university on 25 July 1973, and accepted its first undergraduate students in 1975. Its n ...
library.
Awards and recognition
Greenwood received several awards through her work in feminist and peace movements. She was awarded with the
United Nations Association of Australia Silver Peace Medal; Queen's Silver Jubilee Medal; had a ship, M.V. Irene Greenwood, named after her; and in 1974 was appointed to the National Advisory Committee on Women's Affairs. She was also the first woman to receive an Honorary Degree from Murdoch University.
In 1975 she was made a
Member of the Order of Australia for her "service to women's welfare".
In 2005 a biography by Kaye Murray, ''Voice for Peace: The spirit of social activist Irene Greenwood (1898-1992)'', was published.
See also
*
List of peace activists
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenwood, Irene
1898 births
1992 deaths
People educated at Perth Modern School
University of Western Australia alumni
Australian radio personalities
Australian women radio presenters
Australian women's rights activists
Australian women activists
People from Albany, Western Australia
Members of the Order of Australia