In Conversation: Goodna Girls

This Monday 16 November-the Anniversary of the apology to the 'Forgotten Australians' and Former Child Migrants-join ANU Lecturer and author of Goodna Girls, Adele Chynoweth, and National Library of Australia Director of Indigenous Engagement, Marcus Hughes, as they reflect on the lives and stories of the women of Goodna and the role of cultural institutions in preserving the stories and experiences of marginalised communities.
Goodna Girls tells the story of children incarcerated in Wolston Park Hospital, an adult psychiatric facility in Queensland. It contains the personal testimonies of women who relate-in their own no-holds-barred style and often with irreverent humour-how they, as children, ended up in Wolston Park and how this affected their adult lives.
About the book: bit.ly/2Uusbd1
#NLADigitalCommunity

[@CMLCML]

I want to thank you for sharing the stories of these women. This must never be forgotten.

[@jesusislukeskywalker4294]

lest we forget ❤

[@bettyfarraher7683]

Thank you for sharing your research. I worked on the Ford Enquiring and what you hear on the news and get told of our history is so different to the facts and the truth. So much of our history gets destroyed because our stories are not told as they truly happened. Governments try so hard to change our history by forgetting our past that our policies tried to correct. I am so relieved that some of our history has remained and not corrected.

[@no2thenwo737]

Goodna is never going to able to get rid of that stigma of the "mental asylum" of Queensland even though it's located in Wacol and has been for many, many decades. Either way, Wolston Park at Wacol was and still is a very sad place. As a child I often saw the police at Gailes railway station cleaning up the bodies from the tracks due to suicides. I also knew upstanding staff (not doctors) that worked there and heard some unreal stories, often about what the patients would get up to, not the staff. I know of people who were lobotomized at this hospital back in the 1960's. I wish this lady all the best in her search for justice for all of those wronged by the mismanagement of this facility, but I believe it would be like drawing blood from a stone.

[@DirtySlapper99]

Good work but keep going because we've only barley scratched the surface.

[@JenE3377]

Two of many who find their well paid, protected niches.

[@angeread8962]

How would I talk about my story

[@jesusislukeskywalker4294]

maybe start journaling.. and then write a book .. im listening.