'Inever spoke of the abuse because it seemed normal. I had been abused in the orphanage'. In 1957, Donna, aged three, was sent into institutional care with her sister and four brothers. Donna shared her personal history with the National Museum.
Tag: Lowson House
Lowson House
'I stopped correcting them, and certainly stopped respecting them': Jessica Dalton describes her time at Lowson House, Royal Brisbane Hospital, in 1980. Jessica was 20 at the time but some of her experiences were similar to those recounted by Forgotten Australians who were admitted to adult wards of psychiatric hospitals as children.
Six institutions, six poems
As a child, Barbara Lane spent time in six institutions, between 1970 and 1979. Here, she shares six poems.
Remember Them, Those Poor Souls
Sue Treweek was a resident of Abbortsford Convent from 1968 - 1970. At the age of 11, she was sent to Warilda, in Brisbane. She was also a resident of the Bush Children's Home in 1973 and Nudgee Orphanage from 1978 - 1979, both in Queensland.
When a child’s home is an asylum
In this poem, Rhonda describes how her mother's love helped her endure the many years she spent in homes and mental health facilities, after her father died when she was eight.
