パーソナル・ヒストリーからみる西オーストラリア州の歴史 : ヘレン・ミュアーの場合  [in Japanese] A View of Western Australia through the Personal History of Helen Muir  [in Japanese]

In this paper, I have attempted to set down Helen Muir's personal recollections of her childhood, school life and family life in her Western Australian homestead, and related some of her colorful and amusing anecdotes of the Duracks, her successful pioneer Irish family. Her experiences with three Italian prisoners of war who were boarded at her farm, and a female Hungarian war refugee who also lived there for a time, present a sharp portrait of the social conditions both during the war and during the post-war days. Her memories of school bus trips with Aboriginal children reflect the common prejudices against indigenous people in those days. I could never learn such intimate accounts or personal details of the lives of ordinary Australian women from history books or Government papers. Helen's life and her experiences might seem insignificant and fade with time, however these brief oral histories form a living link between generations. They paint a vivid portrait of real lives and illustrate the way of thinking in those days. They help us to make sense of the world in which we live.