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Closer to Justice [1]

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Date: 2023-07-07  

By Gabrielle Connellan

On a historic day in a dusty cemetery in Victoria, Australia, Ambassador Caroline Kennedy and staff members from the U.S. Consulate General in Melbourne helped bend the arc of the moral universe a little closer toward justice by unveiling a memorial to African American John Joseph, bringing widespread public and media attention to this forgotten figure in history who was much wronged in his lifetime, and mostly forgotten in his death, until now. What began as a bureaucratic email to the consulate almost a decade ago ended in Joseph emerging from the shadows with a permanent, heartfelt tribute to his life and times.

Santilla Chingaipe (right) observes while Gabrielle Connellan from ConGen Melbourne (left) and Ambassador Caroline Kennedy (second from left) unveil a plaque commemorating John Joseph, Feb. 27. Photo by Nicola Taylor

On Feb. 27, 165 years after his death, Kennedy unveiled a plaque and planted an American Oak tree in dedication to Joseph, a critical figure in the Eureka Stockade miners’ rebellion in 1854 (an event in Australian history akin to the Boston Tea Party) who lay in an unmarked grave in White Hills Cemetery in rural Victoria. Consul General Kathleeen Lively, African-Australian documentarian Santilla Chingaipe, and Kennedy spoke of the almost decade-long effort within the consulate to bring this memorial to fruition; about Joseph’s short life and his critical role in the workers’ uprising and events following; and the egregious discrimination he faced as a Black man both in the United States and in Australia before his death and since. This long overdue recognition finally realized the tireless efforts of the descendants of miners who participated in the Eureka Stockade rebellion and historians.

“[Joseph’s] story is one for our time too as we face this history,” said Kennedy in front of a packed media contingent and a crowd including the great-great-grandchildren of Eureka rebels. “We can ask ourselves who is missing from today’s narrative and what is our responsibility to make sure that they are included. We can be inspired by the courage of the miners and renew our commitment to justice for those who have been left out and left behind. We can take heart from the recognition that great progress has occurred while recognizing that there is much more to do. We can hold our governments accountable to their democratic promises and we can hold ourselves accountable for creating a more just and honest world.”

Kathleen Lively, the consul general at ConGen Melbourne, delivers remarks at the unveiling of the John Joseph Memorial, Feb. 27. Photo by Nicola Taylor

John Joseph was an African American man in his late thirties from the East Coast of the United States when he traveled to Australia. While records of why Joseph left the United States are lost, he would certainly have left severe racial segregation and discrimination, disenfranchisement, and economic oppression. Joseph arrived at the goldfields of Ballarat, Victoria state, in 1854 and sold refreshments or “sly-grog” (alcohol) from a tent near the mines. On Nov. 30, 1854, miners disgruntled with the unjust and corrupt way the colonial government had been administering the goldfields swore allegiance to a new Southern Cross flag and built a stockade at the nearby Eureka mines.

On Dec. 3, 1854, almost 300 troopers and police attacked the stockade. The assault was over in 15 minutes, with at least 22 miners (including one woman) and six soldiers losing their lives. When the stockade was attacked, Joseph was said to be on the front line, an impressive figure confronting the advancing troops with a double-barreled shotgun. As the troops entered the stockade, Joseph reportedly discharged one barrel. Captain Henry Christopher Wise, who was leading the troops, was shot in the knee, requiring that his leg be amputated. He would die three weeks later from infection. It is not clear that it was Joseph’s shot that felled him, but several soldiers thought so and set upon him.

Santilla Chingaipe, an African-Australian documentarian, delivers remarks at the unveiling of the John Joseph Memorial, Feb. 27. Photo by Nicola Taylor

Of hundreds arrested at Eureka, Joseph was one of only 13 charged, and the only one of the many Americans involved to be tried for it. Whereas the other U.S. citizens arrested for their involvement received assistance and support from the United States consul and the local American community, Joseph received none. He was not recognized by them as a fellow citizen, and later accounts of Eureka written by Americans such as Charles Ferguson (himself arrested inside the stockade, but not tried) make no mention of him. Facing charges of high treason, Joseph became the first defendant in a racially biased trial blighted by stereotypes. A contemporaneous account described him as “a man of color … a man utterly devoid of intellect, utterly without education, a man who really did not entertain one single idea in his head.”

The Crown’s case for high treason was weak, and 10,000 people gathered to hear the ‘not guilty’ ruling, lifting Joseph onto their shoulders and taking him to the nearest bar. Joseph not only preserved his own survival but helped to undermine the case against 12 other men facing execution on the most serious charge.

Joseph died four years later in 1858 from a suspected heart attack and was placed in an unmarked grave in White Hills Cemetery in Bendigo, Victoria, where he remained un-commemorated.

“The triumph of [Joseph’s] legacy is that on days like today, we can correct the historical record to say that John Joseph was treated unjustly, and his life should be understood within the context of the times that he lived in,” said Chingaipe at the unveiling in White Hills Cemetery. “While it doesn’t change the circumstances of his experiences while he was living, it’s my hope that this ceremony enables his spirit to rest easy.”

Gabrielle Connellan is head of public affairs at the U.S. Consulate General in Melbourne.

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[1] Url: https://statemag.state.gov/2023/07/0723feat02/

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