Retta Long

Margaret "Retta" Jane Long (5 April 1878 – 18 October 1956; née Dixon) was an Australian Baptist missionary who founded the Aborigines Inland Mission of Australia. The Retta Dixon Home for Aboriginal girls in Darwin was named after her.

Early life Margaret "Retta" Jane Long (née Dixon) was born 5 April 1878 in Ultimo, Sydney, to Irish-born Baptist parents Matthew and Matilda Dixon.

Dixon became a member of Petersham Baptist Church before joining the New South Wales Christian Endeavour Union. This brought her into contact with Aboriginal people at the Aboriginal reserve at La Perouse. It was here that Christian Endeavor held Sunday services for the Indigenous people.

Aborigines Inland Mission Mrs Irving, Mrs Retta Long, bride Aileen Willis, groom Don Brady and Mr Irving. Wedding at Cherbourg AIM in 1952

In 1905 Dixon left the NSWAM to establish the Aborigines Inland Mission of Australia (AIM).

At Singleton Baptist Church on 11 January 1906, she married Leonard Long, who became co-director of AIM. They were to have seven children, two of whom did not survive infancy.

Dixon died aged 78 on 18 October 1956, survived by three daughters and two sons. She was buried in Rookwood Cemetery with Baptist forms.

Publications

Published under the name Retta Long: Providential channels (Sydney: Aborigines Inland Mission of Australia, 1935) In the way of His steps: a brief outline of three decades of history of the Aborigines Inland Mission of Australia, 1905-1935 (Sydney: Aborigines Inland Mission of Australia, 1936) The Aboriginal as a subject of the Kingdom of God (Sydney: Aborigines Inland Mission of Australia, [196-?])