Project Updates
April, 2026
20th April – Correspondence sent to CSU Regional Archives team seeking collaboration and guidance for this project.
Correspondence sent to Eastern Riverina Arts seeking collaboration and guidance on the project.
Correspondence sent to Booranga Writers Centre seeking collaboration and guidance on the project.
Within 24 hours of posting on Facebook, the Wagga Girls project had reached nearly 37,000 people, generated over 400 interactions and 195 comments, and filled my inbox with messages from women eager to share their stories.
Women have come forward who boarded at 38 Morrow Street from as early as the 1950s through to the 1980s and beyond. They have shared memories of shared rooms and curfews, of matrons who ran a tight ship and assistant matrons who smuggled girls in through their bedroom windows after hours. Of lifelong friendships forged in those rooms. Of meeting husbands, attending reunions decades later, and of a place that clearly left a mark on everyone who walked through its doors.
19th April – Community outreach commenced, with correspondence sent to the following organisations seeking partnership, advice and potential auspicing support for funding:
– Wagga City Library
– Wagga Wagga District Historical Society
– Museum of the Riverina
– Country Women’s Association
Initial social media outreach Facebook Group “Lost Wagga Wagga”
18th April – Domain name waggagirls.org purchased, ABN activated, gmail and google account and documentation created to archive research and track project deliverables.
17th April – Preliminary research on 38 Morrow St commenced, and Erin contacted Marcia to inform her of the project and seek support to do community outreach.
12th April – Erin travelled to Wagga for graduation ceremony and stayed at Mate’s Gully Boutique Accomodation, meeting current owner, Marcia McCoy.
Wagga Girls: A celebration of life, love and friendship at 38 Morrow St 