'Inmates' of the Parramatta Girls Home, 8 January 1975
This is a digital copy of an image that appeared in the Sunday Sun-Herald on 4 November 2012.
The title for this photograph was provided by the newspaper. Information from Care Leavers is that this image was not from Parramatta Girls Home but was taken during the time the institution was renamed Kamballa, and renovated. As one former resident of Parramatta Girls Home stated 'Parramatta Girls' Home did not allow short skirts. We were not allowed to sit around playing records and we definitely did not play with a dog! PGH was an inhumane, brutal, strict institution.'
The dog in the image most probably belonged to the superintendent, and its presence, as well as the fact the girls are wearing jewellery and clothes they were normally prevented from having, indicates the photograph was staged, possibly to publicise the government's attempts to modernise the institution.
Last updated: 1 July 2021
Cite this: https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/nsw/objects/ND0000323.htm
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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