Glynn Pritchard interviewed by Helen Belle Curzon-Siggers in the Bringing them home oral history project [sound recording]
- Bib ID:
- 1819761
- Format:
- Audio
- Author:
- Pritchard, Glynn, 1934-, interviewee
- Access Conditions:
- Access open for research, personal copies and public use of transcript only.
- Description:
-
- 1999
- 2 digital audio tapes (120 min.)
- Series:
- Bringing them home oral history project.
- Summary:
-
Pritchard speaks of how she and her husband came to formerly foster two Aboriginal siblings, Bessie and David Kriss; initially Bessie had been placed by her parents at St. Mary's Hostel in Alice Springs for her education and she was given a govt. scholarship; through their local Anglican Church the Pritchards met a carer who was looking after some girls for the 1959 Christmas holidays from St Mary's and they volunteered to take a couple of girls, one of whom was Bessie at age 12, off her hands and they could spend the holidays with them; after hosting her during holidays for the next couple of years, the couple with the Hostel legally fostered her from 1962 when Bessie was aged 15 to 1974; she attended Eltham High School and earned a govt. scholarship in 1963; both were active in supporting Aboriginal activism and her husband was involved in the National Aborigines' & Islanders' Day Observance Committee; they often attended Pastor Doug Nichols' church and conferences where they occasionally met other Aboriginal leaders.
Pritchard speaks of Bessie's studies on a scholarship at a secretarial college then joining the Commonwealth Public Service; having searched for her mother for some years, at age 25 she and her husband moved to Darwin where she finally found her mother in a nursing home in Alice Springs; the Pritchards also agreed to foster David, Bessie's 6 year old brother from 1967; David was wild, having been raised traditionally on the river bank but very good at sports; examples of racism towards David at age 10; from 1974 they agreed to allow Bessie to foster him in the N.T. during his high school years; he became a hairdresser at age 19 but also played professional football; Bessie and David's relationship with her own children; successes in their adult lives; her involvement in the local Reconciliation Committee at Eltham; her view that the fostering of both children was a positive experience for all parties.
- Notes:
-
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this recording may contain names and voices of deceased persons.
- Recorded on Aug. 14, 1999 in Lower Plenty, Vic.
- Digital master available National Library of Australia;
- Index/Finding Aid Note:
- Summary (8 p.) and corrected transcript (typescript 67 leaves)
- Subject:
-
- Pritchard, Glynn, 1934- -- Interviews
- Kriss, David, 1960?-
- Kriss, Bessie
- Foster parents -- Victoria -- Interviews
- Aboriginal Australian foster children -- Victoria
- Aboriginal Australians -- Removal
- Children, Aboriginal Australian -- Care -- Victoria
- Children, Aboriginal Australian -- Victoria -- Treatment
- Aboriginal Australians -- Government policy -- Australia
- Other authors/contributors:
- Curzon-Siggers, Helen, interviewer
- Related Records:
-
This belongs to the Bringing them home oral history project.
This collection contains 334 records. - Copyright:
-
In Copyright
Contact us for information about copying. For access conditions return to the record display above.
- Reason for copyright status:
- Until 2069 [Created/Published Date + 70 Years]
Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Sound Recording
- Published status:
- Unpublished
- Creation date:
- 1999
Copyright status may not be correct if data in the record is incomplete or inaccurate. Other access conditions may also apply. For more information please see: Copyright in library collections.
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