An Aboriginal man's fight to have his children educated during the early 1900s has been recognised through State heritage listing of a local Wheatbelt school.
Heritage Minister John Castrilli recently announced the former Quairading State School and quarters would be included on the State Register of Heritage Places.
"The 1913 weatherboard and iron school building was central to a remarkable story of one man's determination to have his children educated at the local State school," Mr Castrilli said.
"It is symbolic of a wider movement by Aboriginal families to end segregated education through the first half of the 20th century.
"Today, 28 per cent of the Quairading school population is indigenous, illustrating how attitudes have changed."
In 1915, local farmer John Kickett began an unsuccessful campaign to have his children attend the local Quairading State School.
During this period, segregation and exclusions were common at numerous schools with the Education Department insisting the education of Aboriginal children was the sole responsibility of the Aborigines Department.
"Mr Kickett remained undaunted, repeatedly writing to the Education Minister for a number of years," the Minister said.
Mr Kickett organised a petition, which was signed by the majority of 'white' parents. He also gained the support of his local Member of Parliament, the Chief Protector of Aborigines and the new head teacher at Quairading - all to no avail.
"In one poignant letter, written in 1918, Mr Kickett outlined how one of his children's uncles had died and four others were fighting in France on behalf of 'King and Country' and yet his children continued to be excluded from school," Mr Castrilli said.
"Mr Kickett's fight was symbolic of the plight of other Aboriginal families, including families in the Quairading area, who fought to have their children attend their local State schools."
In 1948, it became compulsory for Aboriginal children to attend school although it was still on the proviso that parents of non-Aboriginal children did not object. In the same year in Quairading, a new brick school was built across the road, which has since been attended by many of John Kickett's descendants.
"While the original building is a good representative example of a single-room timber-framed country school built during this era, it is the stories around it that make it worthy of being included on the State Register of Heritage Places," Mr Castrilli said.
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