Guest speaker Dr Ruth Hegarty has written about her Dormitory experiences in her award-winning memoir “Is That You Ruthie?”

October 3, 2025

Many “Domo Girls” – the women who grew up (and survived) the Cherbourg dormitory system – feel they are the forgotten people.

Taken from their families, they were placed into a strict regime which controlled every minute of their lives.

Their fellow Domo Girls became their “family” … so an event held in Cherbourg on Thursday felt a lot like a family reunion.

The occasion was the unveiling of the new “Girls Dormitory” centenary exhibition at The Ration Shed Museum.

The Girls Dormitory, officially known as the “Stopford Home For Aboriginal Girls”, was opened by Home Secretary James Stopford in 1925.

The centenary provided the perfect opportunity for former residents to share memories and speak their individual truths defiantly, without being filtered through history books.

Guest speakers at the “Truth Telling” were award-winning author Dr Ruth Hegarty and Aunty Joanne Willmott, who travelled from Adelaide for the occasion, and Aunty Andrea Collins, whose late mother Nan Eva Collins was a supervisor in the Babies Quarters and later the Girls Dormitory.

There were lots of laughs alongside sad memories of harsh punishments and friends lost, and some singing (by Aunty Andrea).

Ironically, the event was held inside the former Boys Dormitory building, which forms part of The Ration Shed historic precinct, as the Girls Dormitory building burnt down in the early 1990s.

Cherbourg Mayor Bruce Simpson said he was humbled to be with the “deadly Cherbourg matriarchs” at the event.

He reminded the audience that in three weeks’ time it would be the 12-month anniversary of the dismantling of the Truth Telling process by the State Government.

Mayor Simpson thanked former Treaty Minister Leeanne Enoch – now Shadow Minister for Closing The Gap and Reconciliation – for coming to the exhibition opening.

And he promised that Cherbourg Council would continue advocating for Truth Telling in Queensland.

Related articles:

Quandamooka woman and Shadow Minister for Closing The Gap Leeanne Enoch with The Ration Shed chair Luella Blair

Aunty Joanne Willmott, from Adelaide, shared her experiences of life in the Cherbourg Girls Dormitory

Aunty Andrea Collins shared memories of her mother Eva and the Dormitory system
Cr Carla Fisher, who read a poem she had written, “When Will It Stop”, with Cherbourg Mayor Bruce Simpson   

Aunties Sandra Morgan and Lesley Williams were the movers behind the Dormitory Girls exhibition

South Burnett councillor Jane Erkens with Cherbourg Mayor Bruce Simpson
The Boys Dormitory building, which has been converted in part into a meeting area, was filled with former Domo residents sharing memories, both painful and pleasant
The Girls Dormitory exhibition contains photos, recordings, oral histories and personal memories of the Dormitory system
Photographs of the 1925 opening form part of the exhibition

  

 

One Response to "‘Domo Girls’ Share Their Truths"

  1. Another great opportunity to see what life was like for First Nations people. I am always shocked to find how restricted life was for people from my generation. I was totally unaware.

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