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... a project to document and commemorate stories of Australians who as children experienced institutional care
August 2011
You are browsing the archive for August 2011.
Inside Westbrook
Former inmate of Westbrook Farm Home for Boys, Alfred Fletcher, will speak at the National Museun of Australia on Thursday 1 September 2011 at 12.30 – 1.30 pm, in the Friends Lounge. Read more >
What do Forgotten Australians teach us?
The National Museum of Australia has produced a resource about Forgotten Australians for teachers of History and Studies of Society. This unit has been sent to every seconday school within Australia. Read more >
The nuns thought we were criminals
Maureen Cuskelly shares some detailed recollections of her experiences at St Aidan’s, Bendigo, where she lived from the age of eight to 17. Read more >
Museum accepts poignant memento of tough times
‘We were just whipped away; we didn’t know where we were going,’ says Carmel Durant, who grew up in Bidura Home, Glebe, NSW and with various foster parents. Read Glenn Ellard’s report in the ‘South Coast Register’ about the chalk drawing Carmel made when she was ten years old. Read more >
What Mrs Letherby did for us
Artist Rachael Romero, a former inmate of the The Pines, the Convent of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd in Plympton, South Australia shares her painting of an inspirational teacher. Read more >
‘All I could have achieved’
Juanita Maria Burr, nee Broderick, was a resident of Nudgee Orphanage, Queensland, from 1944 (the year of her birth) to 1961. Here she shares a recollection, including photos of her singing at the World Expo, 1988, Brisbane. Read more >
Healing mandalas
Michelle Greaves grew up with her twin brother in Darling Babies Home and St John’s Home for Boys and Girls, Victoria. Here she shares her paintings. Read more >
Schwarten Inquiry into Westbrook
‘The Superintendent said, “Don’t look at me in that tone of voice” and banged boy 90′s head several times against the tin wall’. Read the full 1961 report of the Inquiry into Westbrook Farm Home for Boys by Stipendiary Magistrate, Mr AE Schwarten. Read more >
‘A Call for Justice’
Michelle Greaves shares ‘A Call for Justice’, a song recorded by her twin brother, Mark Torr. It’s dedicated to all those who spent time in Children’s Homes and Institutions. Michelle and Mark were sent to Darling Babies Home, Victoria, at the age of two and then, three years later, to Nunawading Cottage, St John’s Home for Boys and Girls. Read more >
‘Warrior’s Journey’
Author and counsellor Margaret Spivey lived in Children’s Homes from the age of 18 months to 17 years. ‘Warrior’s Journey’ is Margaret’s powerful poem tracing life in welfare and beyond. Read more >
