Together, Emeritus Professor Reginald Appleyard, Anna Amera and Dr John Yiannakis have managed to give voice to the migrant story of Greek Australian females of the 1960s, with the nationwide release of Black Night, White Day: Greece-born Women in Australia.
The unique 45-year longitudinal study, commenced by Appleyard, addresses the integration of 78 single brave young Greek women who left their villages and small towns to resettle in Australia with the promise of a better future − and in some cases a suitor.
The study is unique in that it draws on interviews conducted with the women in Greece prior to their departure, designed to find out why they responded to the program in the first place, and includes subsequent interviews in Australia (and in Greece with those who returned) over the next four decades to help evaluate their adaptation.
To gain even greater insight into their experiences, the study went one step further, with interviews undertaken with the women’s spouses, relatives living in Greece, and their children.
As a result, Black Night, White Day successfully places women at the centre of the migration narrative and reveals their strength and resilience.
Launched in Western Australia in 2015, after discovering that “the bulk of the women in the study ended up in Melbourne and Sydney”, Mr Yiannakis expressed it was “only fitting the book is also launched there”. After being successfully received in Melbourne in June, the next leg is Sydney next month at Glebe Town Hall.
The book will be available for purchase on the day.
Black Night, White Day: Greece-born Women in Australia will be launched at Glebe Town Hall, Southern Room, 160 St Johns Rd, Glebe, NSW on Sunday 25 September at 3.00 pm. Entry is a gold coin donation and a light afternoon tea will be supplied. RSVP by 18 September by contacting Kathy on 0466 217 088.