# Port Adelaide Workers Memorial

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Memorial statue by John Tillett, in Port Adelaide

Port Adelaide Workers Memorial Artist Mr John Tillett Year Begun 1918 (1918); completed 1921 (1921) Type Statue Location Corner of Commercial Rd and St Vincent St, Port Adelaide, South Australia Owner City of Port Adelaide Enfield

The **Port Adelaide Workers Memorial** is a public [memorial](/source/Memorial) [sculpture](/source/Sculpture) located in [Port Adelaide](/source/Port_Adelaide), [South Australia](/source/South_Australia) which recognises people who have made a significant contribution to promoting [workers' rights](/source/Labor_rights) in the Port Adelaide community.

The memorial bears the names of many prominent figures in the South Australian [trade union](/source/Trade_union) movement and [Labor Party](/source/Australian_Labor_Party_(South_Australian_Branch)), as well as workers who served in the Great War of 1914 -1918.

## History

After the death in 1916 of Hugh Garland, a prominent Port Adelaide trade unionist and founder of the [Daily Herald](/source/Daily_Herald_(Adelaide)), a committee was formed by the local branch of the [Australian Labor Party](/source/Australian_Labor_Party) and representatives of the [United Trades and Labour Council](/source/United_Trades_and_Labour_Council_of_South_Australia) to organise for the creation of a memorial to honour the contribution of labour activists in the Port.[1]

The Port Adelaide city council granted permission for the statue to be erected in 1917, and funding for the project was raised through donations from a carnival and a social held by the Ladies Committee of the Labor Party. Part of the fundraising was carried out by the Port Adelaide Football Club which fielded a Women's side in 1918 to play on Alberton Oval against a team representing Thebarton.[2]

Affiliated unions of the Trades and Labour Council each nominated past members for the 41 names included in the initial inscription.[3] Of these, 8 had recently been killed during [World War I](/source/World_War_I).[4]

The granite base of the memorial was officially unveiled on 6 December 1918. At the ceremony, [John Gunn MP](/source/John_Gunn_(Australian_politician)), the leader of the State Labor Party, declared that the men whose names appeared on the memorial had "done great things for the trade union movement - when it was not respectable as it is today, when it was almost a crime to be a unionist, when men had to hold union meetings secretly, and when to be known as a unionist meant victimisation".[5]

The marble [statue of Justice](/source/Lady_Justice) was installed in 1921 after being commissioned in Italy and donated by Mr. and Mrs. Winter, local merchants.[6]

## Modern use

Port Adelaide Workers Memorial During South Australian May Day celebrations in 2021.

The memorial is currently owned by the [City of Port Adelaide Enfield](/source/City_of_Port_Adelaide_Enfield) and managed by a committee made up of the Mayor and representatives of [SA Unions](/source/United_Trades_and_Labour_Council_of_South_Australia) and the Port Adelaide Federal Electoral Council of the [Australian Labor Party](/source/Australian_Labor_Party).

Each year the Committee nominates a single name to be inscribed on the monument, which is traditionally done during a ceremony on [International Workers Memorial Day](/source/Workers'_Memorial_Day) or as part of [May Day](/source/International_Workers'_Day) celebrations.[7]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Workers Memorial"](http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63757490). *[Sunday Mail](/source/Sunday_Mail_(Adelaide))*. National Library of Australia. 2 November 1918.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-First_2-0)** ["LADIES' FOOTBALL MATCH"](http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article212943951). *[Port Adelaide News](/source/Port_Adelaide_News)*. Vol. 6, no. 12. South Australia. 1 November 1918. p. 1. Retrieved 14 February 2017 – via National Library of Australia.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Workers Memorial for Port Adelaide: History of the scheme"](http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article106518700). *[Daily Herald](/source/Daily_Herald_(Adelaide))*. National Library of Australia. 26 July 1918.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** McQueen, Humphrey. ["Workers Memorial May Day Speech, 2011"](http://www.surplusvalue.org.au/McQueen/lab_history/lab_hist_port_adelaide.htm). *www.surplusvalue.org.au*. Retrieved 15 January 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Workers Memorial: Unveiling ceremony"](http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article106530442). *[Daily Herald](/source/Daily_Herald_(Adelaide))*. National Library of Australia. 7 December 1918.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Labor_Pioneers_6-0)** ["Labor Pioneers"](http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article106639855). *[Daily Herald](/source/Daily_Herald_(Adelaide))*. National Library of Australia. 15 December 1921.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Council Agenda & Reports, 9 June 2015"](https://www.portenf.sa.gov.au/webdata/resources/minutesAgendas/9%20June%202015%20Council%20Agenda%20&%20Reports.pdf) (PDF). *City of Port Adelaide Enfield*. p. 20. Retrieved 15 January 2016.

## External links

- [List of names on Port Adelaide Workers Memorial (Port Adelaide Enviropedia)](http://www.portadelaidewiki.org.au/index.php/List_of_names_on_the_Workers%27_Memorial,_Port_Adelaide)

- [Port Adelaide Workers Memorial profile (Monument Australia)](http://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/culture/social/display/51484-workers-memorial)

v t e Port Adelaide landmarks Buildings and structures Birkenhead Bridge Fishermen's Wharf Market Hart's Mill Jervois Bridge Mary MacKillop Bridge Port Adelaide Lighthouse Port Adelaide Workers Memorial Tom 'Diver' Derrick Bridge Cultural institutions National Railway Museum South Australian Aviation Museum South Australian Maritime Museum Torrens Island Concentration Camp Beaches and islands Garden Island Port River Semaphore Torrens Island Sport Alberton Oval / Port Adelaide Football Club Ships and vessels City of Adelaide Falie Fearless MV Nelcebee One and All Yelta Pubs and hotels Birkenhead Riverview Tavern (1877) The British Hotel (1847) Dockside Tavern (1850) First Commercial Inn (1841) Newmarket Hotel (1879) Port Admiral Hotel (1849) Port Anchor Hotel (1873) Port Dock Brewery Hotel (1855) Railway Hotel (1856) Royal Arms Hotel (1878) The Lighthouse Hotel (1857) Largs Pier Hotel (1882) Glanville Hotel (1865) Lord Exmouth Hotel (1859)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Port Adelaide Workers Memorial](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Adelaide_Workers_Memorial) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Adelaide_Workers_Memorial?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.