Sally morgan books biography famous people

Sally Morgan's parents were William Joseph (a plumber) and Gladys Milroy. After her father's death, Morgan and her four siblings were raised by her mother and grandmother. Having been told that they were of Indian background, she discovered in her teens that the family had "part"-Aboriginal ancestry from her mother's and grandmother's side. This discovery motivated her later research into her family's history and culminated in the writing of her autobiographical work, My Place, which integrates the life stories of her mother (Gladys Milroy), her grandmother (Daisy Corunna), and her grandmother's brother (Arthur Corunna). She married Paul Morgan (a teacher) in 1972. In 1974, she completed her BA at the University of Western Australia, majoring in psychology, and continued with postgraduate diplomas in Counselling Psychology, Computing and Library Studies at the Western Australian Institute of Technology.

My Place, published in 1987, immediately became a best-seller, regarded as a revelation for white readers into the plight of Aboriginal people. However, the book's extraordinary success has also drawn some criticism, from white and Aboriginal voices, raising questions of authenticity and the construction of Aboriginality, as its author had not experienced life in a 'typical' Aboriginal community. Yet the book has become an 'Australian classic', with more than half a million copies sold in Australia to date. It has been translated into several foreign languages. Morgan has also gained a considerable international reputation as an artist, and has written and illustrated children's books. The Art of Sally Morgan was published in 1996.

Morgan has won numerous awards and prizes, among them the Human Rights Award for her 1989 biography of an Aboriginal relative, Jack McPhee, Wanamurraganya. In 1997, she was appointed Director of the University of Western Australia Centre for Indigenous Art and

Originally published in 1987, this nonfiction title is both a mini biography (of Sally Morgan’s Great Uncle Arthur, her mother Gladys and her Nan, Daisy) and part memoir.

Sally Morgan, an Australian of Aboriginal descent, begins the book writing about her childhood from the perspective of not knowing her own identity. Thus the reader too, reads from this perspective as Sally recounts events in her life as they happen and as a child would, refrains from analysing or questioning them. Until she finds out.

The children at school ask about her skin colour and ethnic origin.

One day, I tackled Mum about it as she washed the dishes.

‘What do you mean “Where do we come from?” ‘

‘I mean what country. The kids at school want to know what country we come from. They reckon we’re not Aussies. Are we Aussies Mum?’

Mum was silent. Nan grunted in a cross sort of way, then got up from the table and walked outside.

‘Come on Mum, what are we?’

‘What do the kids at school say?’

‘Anything. Italian, Greek, Indian.’

‘Tell them you’re Indian.’

‘I got really excited then. ‘Are we really? Indian!’ It sounded so exotic.

‘When did we come here?’ I added.

‘A long time ago’, Mum replied. ‘Now no more questions. You just tell them you’re Indian.’

It was good to finally have an answer and it satisfied our playmates. They could well believe we were Indian, they just didn’t want us pretending we were Aussies when we weren’t.

At home, they live with their mother Gladys and father Bill, who is unwell and sometimes dangerous. He is a WWII war veteran of able body, suffering from what today would be diagnosed as PTSD.

Bill was a strange man, he wasn’t prejudiced against other groups, just Aboriginals. He never liked us having our people to the house. We had to cut ourselves off. I thin

Sally Jane Morgan (nee Milroy, 28 January 1951 - ?) Writer & Artist

Introduction

Sally Morgan is an Indigenous Australian author and illustrator. She has published books for both adults and children, including her acclaimed autobiography, My Place.

As a child, Sally Morgan found school difficult. Questions were asked about her appearance and family background. She understood from her mother that her family were from India. When Sally was fifteen she learnt that she was in fact of Aboriginal descent, from the Palku and Nyamal peoples of the Pilbara. Her family was part of the Stolen Generation and she grew up in Perth, unaware of her Aboriginal heritage. This experience of hidden origins and her subsequent quest for identity were the inspiration for her 1987 autobiography, My Place.  It tells the story of Sally's self discovery through reconnection with her Aboriginal culture and community. My Place was an immediate success and has since sold over half a million copies in Australia.

While researching her family history for this book, Morgan's childhood interest in art was rekindled. In 1986, Sally Morgan held her first exhibition at the Birukmarri Gallery in Fremantle.

Sally is now an internationally-renowned artist. Her works are held in numerous private and public collections in Australia and the United States.

She is currently Director of the Centre for Indigenous History and Arts at The University of Western Australia.

Her books for children include picture books, junior fiction and middle fiction titles including The Amazing A to Z Thing, Feast for Wombat, Sister Heart and the Charlie Burr series. She has recently released two picture books Dream Little One, Dream (Penguin) and I Love Me (Fremantle Press), both illustrated by Ambelin Kwaymullina [her daughter].

Early Life

Sally Morgan was born on the 28th of January, 1951

Aboriginal Australian artist, writer (born 1951)

For other people named Sally Morgan, see Sally Morgan (disambiguation).

Sally Jane Morgan (née Milroy; born 1951) is an Australian Aboriginal author, dramatist, and artist. Her works are on display in numerous private and public collections in Australia and around the world.

Early life, education, and personal life

Morgan was born in Perth, Western Australia in 1951 as the eldest of five children. She was raised by her mother Gladys and her maternal grandmother Daisy. Her mother, a member of the Bailgu people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia, grew up in the Parkerville Children's Home as part of the Stolen Generations. Her father, William, a plumber by trade, died after a long-term battle with post-war experience post-traumatic stress disorder. Of her siblings, Jill Milroy is an academic,Helen Milroy is a child psychiatrist who was the first indigenous Australian to become a medical doctor, David is a playwright, and William has worked as a senior public servant.

As a child, Morgan became aware that she was different from other children at her school because of her non-white physical appearance, and was frequently questioned by other students about her family background. Her mother never told her that she was Aboriginal, saying instead that she was of Indian-Bangladeshi descent. She understood from her mother that her ancestors were from the Indian sub-continent. But, when she was 15, she learned that she and her si