Eddie Mabo felt an intense need to express himself as a writer and orator. He poured out a stream of words on paper; always expressing his ideas, his hopes, his conviction.

Every draft of every document was filed away for posterity. "Some day" he would tell his friends, "I'll be famous."

In March 1995, the National Library of Australia purchased Eddie's private papers. The papers are one of the Library's most important acquisitions this decade. They are a unique record of Eddie Mabo's life as an activist.