Australian Americans
Total population | |
---|---|
(60,965 (2000 United States Census data)) | |
Regions with significant populations | |
California, Hawaii, New York State, South Florida | |
Related ethnic groups | |
British Americans · Cornish Americans · Canadian Americans · English Americans · Scottish Americans · Scots-Irish Americans · Welsh Americans · Irish Americans |
Australian Americans are Americans who identify with an Australian ancestry.
History
The history of the Australian American population almost follows the story of both British Americans and Irish Americans, as Australia was a British political territory at the time when they first emigrated and most of the settlers were English or Irish. The first wave of emigration from Australia to the United States came in the 1850s California Gold Rush when mostly Irish migrants who had escaped the Great Irish Famine had previously worked on the Australian goldfields. In San Francisco, the "Sydney Ducks" as they were known came into violent conflict with nativist locals. Transpacific immigration then dried up while the American Civil War raged. It picked up during the period of Reconstruction, but faltered again when Australia was hit by a depression in the late 1890s. Immigration to the United States peaked in the years following World War II, due to America's increased economic activity, and the exodus of 15,000 Australian war brides who married U.S. servicemen. From 1971 to 1990, more than 86,400 Australians and New Zealanders immigrated to the United States.[1] At the 2000 U.S. Census, 60,965 Australian born people were enumerated in the United States, of which 15,315 were citizens. Around 40% of Australian Americans had entered the United States before 1980.[2]
Notable Australian Americans
Business
Name | Born – died | Notable for | Connection with Australia | Connection with the United States |
---|---|---|---|---|
Rupert Murdoch | 1931– | CEO of News Corporation | born in Australia | became naturalized U.S. citizen in 1985 |
Jacques Nasser | 1947– | former CEO of Ford Motors | born in Lebanon but raised in Australia | resides in the U.S. |
Public service
Name | Born – died | Notable for | Connection with Australia | Connection with the United States |
---|---|---|---|---|
Richard W. Fisher | 1949– | Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President | Australian-American father | U.S. citizen at birth |
John Henderson | blind activist | born in Australia | emigrated to the U.S. with parents as a child | |
Martin Indyk | 1951– | former U.S. Ambassador to Israel | British born, Australian raised | U.S. diplomat |
James Wolfensohn | 1933– | former President of the World Bank | born in Australia | naturalized as U.S. citizen in 1980 |
Politics
Name | Born – died | Notable for | Connection with Australia | Connection with America |
---|---|---|---|---|
Harry Bridges | 1901–1990 | International Longshore and Warehouse Union leader | born in Australia | became naturalized U.S. citizen in 1945 |
Authors
Name | Born – died | Notable for | Connection with Australia | Connection with America |
---|---|---|---|---|
Jill Ker Conway | 1934– | author | born in Australia | works in the U.S. |
Sumner Locke Elliott | 1917–1991 | author of Careful, He Might Hear You | born in Australia | moved to the U.S. in 1948 and became naturalised U.S. citizen in 1955 |
Scientists
Name | Born – died | Notable for | Connection with Australia | Connection with America |
---|---|---|---|---|
Philip K. Chapman | 1935– | astronaut | born in Australia | emigrated to the U.S. |
Terence James Elkins | 1936– | physicist, 1st ascent of Mount Elkins, 1979 Harold Brown Award recipient | born in Australia | emigrated to the U.S. in 1963; naturalized U.S. citizen in 1971 |
Paul D. Scully-Power | 1944– | oceanographer and astronaut | born in Australia | naturalized U.S. citizen in 1982 |
Andy Thomas | 1951– | astronaut | born in Australia | naturalized U.S. citizen in 1986 |
Elizabeth Blackburn | 1948– | winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine | born in Australia | naturalized U.S. citizen |
Artists
Name | Born – died | Notable for | Connection with Australia | Connection with America |
---|---|---|---|---|
Pat Oliphant | 1935– | New York Times cartoonist | born in Australia | emigrated to U.S. in 1964 |
Sport
Name | Born – died | Notable for | Connection with Australia | Connection with America |
---|---|---|---|---|
Darren Bennett | 1965– | Australian rules football and American football | born in Australia, played AFL | played NFL |
Taj Burrow | 1978– | surfing | born in Australia | parents are U.S. citizens |
Taylor Dent | 1981– | tennis | father is Australian Phil Dent | mother is American Betty Ann Grubb Stuart and born in the U.S. |
Jamie Dundee | 1971– | professional wrestling | born in Australia | moved to U.S. as a child |
Kyrie Irving | 1992– | basketball | born in Melbourne | parents are U.S. citizens |
Ben Simmons | 1996- | basketball | born in Australia | |
Robert Machado | 1973– | surfing | born in Sydney | grew up in and lives in California |
James Spithill | 1979– | sailing | born in Sydney | married to an American and skippered Oracle Team USA yacht to two victories |
Music
Name | Born – died | Notable for | Connection with Australia | Connection with America |
---|---|---|---|---|
John Butler | 1975– | lead singer for the John Butler Trio | family moved to Australia at age 11 | born in the U.S.; mother is U.S. citizen |
Flea | 1962– | bassist for Red Hot Chili Peppers | born in Melbourne | lived in the U.S. since age 5 |
MC Lars | 1982– | rapper | father is Australian | born in the U.S. |
Helen Reddy | 1941– | actress, singer | born in Australia | naturalized U.S. citizen |
Cody Simpson | 1997– | pop singer | born in Gold Coast, Queensland | moved to the U.S. in 2010 |
Rebecca St. James | 1977– | Christian pop rock singer-songwriter | born in Sydney | family moved to the U.S. at age 14; married Cubbie Fink in 2011 |
Rick Springfield | 1949– | singer and actor | born in Sydney | lives in the U.S. |
Mark Stoermer | 1977– | bassist for The Killers | father is Australian | born in the U.S. |
Iggy Azalea | 1990– | rapper | born in Sydney | moved to the U.S. at age 16 |
Ashton Irwin | 1994- | drummer for 5 Seconds of Summer | born in Hornsby | father is American |
Brody Dalle | 1979– | singer-songwriter and guitarist | born in Melbourne | lives in the U.S.; married Josh Homme in 2007 |
Actors/Actresses
Name | Born – died | Notable for | Connection with Australia | Connection with America |
---|---|---|---|---|
Simon Baker | 1969– | actor | born in Launceston, Tasmania | moved to the U.S. in the 1990s; has been a dual U.S. and Australian citizen since 2010 |
Jacinda Barrett | 1972– | actress | born in Brisbane | moved to the U.S. in the 1990s; married to U.S. citizen Gabriel Macht and became naturalized U.S. citizen in 2009 |
Sean Murray | 1977– | actor | born in America to an American father and Australian mother; spent some of his childhood in Australia | U.S. citizen |
Mia Farrow | 1945– | actress | father is Australian | born in the U.S. with dual citizenship |
Errol Flynn | 1909–1959 | actor | born in Hobart | became naturalized U.S. citizen in 1942 |
Sean Flynn | 1989– | actor | grandfather is Australian Errol Flynn | born in the U.S. |
Melissa George | 1976– | actress | born in Australia | moved to U.S. in the 1990s; became naturalized U.S. citizen in 2008[3] |
Nicholas Hammond | 1950– | actor and director | moved to Australia in the mid-1980s | born in the U.S. |
Nicole Kidman | 1967– | actress | both parents are Australians; raised in Australia | born in the U.S. with dual citizenship |
Poppy Montgomery | 1975– | Without a Trace actor | born in Australia | lives and works in the U.S.; dual U.S. and Australian citizen |
Nathan Parsons | 1988– | actor | born in Australia | naturalized U.S. citizen |
Ann Richards | 1917–2006 | actress | born in Australia | moved to the U.S. in 1942; father was a U.S. citizen |
Tristan Rogers | 1946– | General Hospital actor | born in Australia | naturalized U.S. citizen |
Portia de Rossi | 1973- | Ally McBeal actress | born in Australia | naturalized U.S. citizen |
Kristen Stewart | 1990– | actress | mother is Australian | born in the U.S. |
Other
Name | Born – died | Notable for | Connection with Australia | Connection with America |
---|---|---|---|---|
Valda Cooper | 1915–2008 | journalist, one of the first female reporters for the Associated Press | born in Melbourne, Australia | immigrated to the U.S. as an infant |
Bindi Irwin | 1998– | child television/film personality | father is Australian Steve Irwin | mother Terri Irwin is from Oregon |
Laura James | 1990– | fashion model, America's Next Top Model winner | mother is Australian | father is Dynasty actor John James; born in the U.S. |
Thelma Keane | 1926–2008 | negotiated copyrights for The Family Circus, inspiration for the comic's "Mommy" character | born and raised in Queensland | immigrated to the U.S. with her husband, Bil Keane |
Brianna Keilar | 1980– | television journalist for CNN | born in Australia | grew up in Orange County, California |
Soledad O'Brien | 1966– | television journalist for CNN | father is Australian | born in the U.S. |
Terry Tao | 1975– | mathematician, 2006 Fields medalist | born in Australia | won a Fulbright Scholarship in 1992; attained Ph.D. at Princeton in 1996; married an American |
Marsha Waggoner | 1940– | champion poker player | born in Australia | lived in the U.S. since 1977 |
Christopher Wilder | 1945–1984 | serial killer | born in Australia | emigrated to the U.S. in 1969; father is a U.S. citizen |
See also
References
- ↑ http://www.everyculture.com/multi/A-Br/Australian-and-New-Zealander-Americans.html
- ↑ http://www.census.gov/population/cen2000/stp-159/stp159-australia.pdf
- ↑ Idato, Michael. "Entering a grey area", The Sydney Morning Herald, 2009-03-16. Retrieved on 2009-03-16.
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