Under the theme ‘Shared Stories’, this year’s Heritage Week Festival will kick-start the project and students are invited to visit the school for a tour and a look at the archives to rekindle memories of their school days.
Exhibition curator Sabine Smyth said she hoped former residents would share their memories.
“(We’d love to hear those stories) regardless of whether they are good or bad memories,” Ms Smyth said.
“We want the whole picture. Many former students who were either migrants or their classmates have stories.
“In those days migrant children went to school without much induction and no additional language help.
“It was a sink-or-swim cultural experiment. It is part of our local history, and we want to capture the personal stories of that time.”
FCJ College archivist Lyn Tanner said from the school’s perspective, the important thing was the stories were captured in an authentic voice.
“And that we capture all sorts of memories, not just the good ones,” she said.
“We want to know what the challenges were, as well as the highlights, and document it all for posterity.
“We are keen to collect stories and memories of FCJ students who lived at Benalla’s migrant camp from 1949 to 1967.”
Ms Smyth said often former migrant camp residents would say to her that their personal story was nothing special.
“But when I interview them they will say something that paints a clear and moving picture of what people felt and thought, and that is what we want to gather up,” she said.
“We want to know and document what it was really like for the camp children going to school at FCJ College without speaking English, being a stranger to the local kids, making new discoveries and friendships, making a fresh start, (all) while still being potentially traumatised by war and the loss of family and possessions.”
Ms Smyth and Ms Tanner are inviting former migrant camp residents who attended FCJ College to get in contact via lynftanner@gmail.com, 0427 306 657; or sabine.smyth@gmail.com, 0439 001918.
During the Heritage Festival the FCJ College Archives will be open on Wednesday, May 3 from 1pm to 3pm and Thursday, May 4 from 10am until noon.
On Saturday, May 6 the college will be open from 1pm and tours of the school will be available.
Class photos from 1949 to 1967 and the stories that have already been sent in will be on display.
Volunteers will be at the ready, to listen and write down any recollections that visitors are happy to share on the spot.
The Benalla Migrant Exhibition at Hut 11 will also be open both Saturday, May 6 and Sunday, May 7 from 10am to 3pm.
Historian at the Greta Migrant Camp in NSW Alek Schulha will deliver a talk on the links between Benalla and Greta camps at Hut 65 (the former camp chapel) on Saturday, May 6 between 5.30pm and 6.30pm.
For more details on these events, which are all proudly part of Benalla’s Heritage Festival, visit www.nationaltrust.org.au/ahf_event/school-days/
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