Emma Linda Palmer Littlejohn (known as Linda) born Emma Linda Palmer Teece became Emma Linda Palmer Tilden (1883–1949) was an Australian feminist, journalist and radio commentator.

Early life and education

Emma Linda Palmer was born on 11 December 1883 at

Double Bay Double Bay is a harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 4 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district. It is the administrative centre of the local government area of the Municipality of ...

, Sydney. Her parents were

Richard Teece Richard Teece (29 April 1847 – 13 December 1928) was an Australian actuary, general manager and actuary of the Australian Mutual Provident Society. Teece was born in Paihia, Bay of Islands, New Zealand, the son of William Teece and his wife C ...

and Helena, née Palmer. Her four brothers included barrister Richard Clive Teece and she had two sisters. Palmer was educated at

Ascham School , motto_translation = With Heart and Soul , established = , type = Independent, day and boarding , gender = Girls , educational_authority = , oversight = , district = , denomination = , slogan = , ...

, and was involved in philanthropic work as part of the Ascham Old Girls' Union.

Career

A feminist, Littlejohn launched the League of Women Voters in 1928 to support female candidates for public office and to press for feminist reforms. The United Associations of Women (UAW) was formed in 1929 by Littlejohn and other radical feminists who were disappointed by the progress made by similar organisations. Its founders included Mrs Dougall-Laing, Adela Pankhurst Walsh and Jessie Street. Littlejohn was Australian delegate to the congress of the International Alliance of Women for Suffrage and Equal Citizenship in Istanbul in 1935. Littlejohn addressed the Assembly of the League of Nations on behalf of the Equal Rights International (Geneva). Littlejohn was also a proponent of eugenics. Littlejohn was a member of the

Sydney Day Nursery Association The Sydney Day Nursery Association was formed in Sydney, Australia on 3 August 1905. History Formation It was the first organised long day care in New South Wales. In the early 1900s in Sydney, working-class women in the role of sole or ...

’s governing committee. She belonged to the New South Wales Institute of Journalists (1933–41) and the Business and Professional Women's club of Sydney. Littlejohn broadcast for the British Broadcasting Corporation and for

2UW KIIS 1065 (call sign: 2WFM) is a commercial broadcasting, commercial FM radio station in Sydney, Australia, on a frequency of 106.5 MHz. KIIS 1065 is one of the flagship stations on Australian Radio Network, ARN's KIIS Network. The station's ...

and

2UE 2UE is an all-music radio station in Sydney owned by Nine Entertainment Co and run under a lease agreement by Ace Radio. It currently broadcasts from its studios in Pyrmont, New South Wales. History 1920s 2EU Electrical Utilities applied to the ...

radio stations in Sydney. Littlejohn also wrote for the Australian Women's Weekly magazine. Tilden Place in the Canberra suburb of Cook is named in her honour.

Works

* Life and Lucille (1933)

Personal life

She married Albert Littlejohn on 5 April 1907 at St John's Church of England, Darlinghurst. They had four children. In 1941 she divorced Albert Littlejohn. She married Charles Joseph Tilden at

Charleston Charleston most commonly refers to: * Charleston, South Carolina * Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital * Charleston (dance) Charleston may also refer to: Places Australia * Charleston, South Australia Canada * Charleston, Newfoundlan ...

, South Carolina, on 6 April 1942 and settled in New Jersey; they returned to Sydney in 1944. Littlejohn died of cancer in the Scottish Hospital, Paddington, on 21 March 1949.

References

{{authority control Australian feminist writers Australian women activists Anti-poverty advocates 19th-century Australian women 20th-century Australian women 1883 births 1949 deaths People educated at Ascham School