Sally Morgan (artist)
| Sally Morgan | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Sally Jane Milroy 18 January 1951 Perth, Western Australia |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Occupation | Author and Artist |
Sally Jane Morgan (born 18 January 1951 ) is an Australian Aboriginal author, dramatist, and artist. Morgan's works are on display in numerous private and public collections in both Australia and around the world.
Morgan was born in Perth, Western Australia 1951 and was the eldest of five children. She was raised by her mother and grandmother. Her father passed after a long term battle with post traumatic stress disorder post war experience. 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 and instead said she was Indian. She understood from her mother that her ancestors were from India. However, when Morgan was 15, she learnt that she and her sister were in fact of Aboriginal descent, from the Bailgu people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
The story of her discovery of her family's past is told in the 1987 multiple biographies My Place, which sold over half a million copies in Australia. It has also been published in Europe, Asia and the United States.
The claims made in this book are disputed by Judith Drake-Brockman, daughter of Howden Drake-Brockman. Judith's version of events is detailed in her book "Wongi Wongi." In 2004, she requested that Sally Jane Morgan undergo a DNA test to prove her claims that Howden fathered Morgan's Aboriginal grandmother Daisy, then committed incest with Daisy and fathered Gladys – Sally Morgan's mother. In the article "My Place – a Betrayal of Trust" author Tony Thomas asserts Morgan and publisher Ray Coffey from Fremantle Arts Centre Press jointly workshopped an outline for "My Place" to assure it was marketable, including a number of claims rejected by Drake-Brockman.
Sally Morgan's second book, Wanamurraganya, was a biography of her grandfather. She has also collaborated with artist and illustrator Bronwyn Bancroft on children's books, including Dan's Grandpa (1996).
Morgan is the director at the Centre for Indigenous History and the Arts at the University of Western Australia. She has received several awards: My Place won the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission humanitarian award in 1987, the Western Australia Week literary award for non-fiction in 1988, and the 1990 Order of Australia Book Prize. In 1993, international art historians selected Morgan's print Outback, as one of 30 paintings and sculptures for reproduction on a stamp, celebrating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
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