Seminar - National Museum of Australia (NMA) Thursday 1 September 2011
Time: 12.30-1.30
Venue: NMA Friends Lounge
Topic: Life inside Westbrook Children's Home, from the perspective of a survivor.
Speaker: Al Fletcher
Alfred Fletcher was sent to Westbrook Farm Home for Boys in Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, in the 1960s. He was 15 years old. He lived there for two and a half years until he succeeded in running away. He likens his time there to living in a concentration camp. He endured floggings that tore his flesh, torture and abuse. Al records his experiences at Westbrook in his book, Brutal: surviving Westbrook Boys Home which was published in 2006 and re-released in 2010.
After Al escaped from Westbrook he worked as a merchant seaman and horticulturalist. He married, has grown up children and now lives in a Bayside suburb of Brisbane.
His story is one of many that will be included in the upcoming NMA exhibition Inside: Life in Children's Homes. Westbrook was established in 1900 by the Queensland Government to reform boys. In 1994 there was an inquiry into the operation of Westbrook and it was closed down.
See http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/qld/content/2006/s1611318.htm
Everyone is welcome, BYO lunch.
Friday, August 26, 2011
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