Giuseppa (Pina) Gagliano Oral History

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DescriptionThis interview consists of two audio recordings and transcripts (in progress). Giuseppa (Pina) Gagliano was interviewed on 24 August 2010 at the Whitlam Library, Cabramatta by Marilyn Gallo.Interview SummaryGiuseppa (Pina) Gagliano was born in Sydney in February 1966. She is of Italian heritage; both her parents immigrated to Australia from Italy in 1960. Her father was a contract worker in the Queensland sugar cane fields before moving to Fairfield to have a farm (he had been a farmer in Italy). Her mother was well educated but the outbreak of WWII meant that she had little time to pursue a career. Her parents married in 1962.

Pina’s parents were both from Sicily. Her father name was Giuseppe (Joseph) and her mother was Winchensa. She has a younger brother, Tony, born in 1967. Pina has a son, Benjamin Joseph, born in 1993 sometime after her father’s death.

Pina has straddled a dual Italian-Australian heritage all her life. She grew up in Fairfield which in the 1960s had a strong Italian community. Her time was spent with family visits and making tomato sauce, salami and olives. She particularly enjoyed going to Cabramatta on weekends to get doughnuts and riding a wooden horse outside the hardware store. She has fond memories of the barber, butcher and haberdashery. But Pina also enjoyed vegemite sandwiches and interacting with Australian children as she grew up. She experienced some discrimination, but she insists that it was mostly banter rather than abuse.

Pina attended Our Lady of the Rosary Primary School where she struggled because she did not speak English at home. She found her ESL classes discriminating because they made her stand out. After primary school Pina went to Our Lady of the Rosary High School, where in her leisure time she played in a local creek. Her final school years were at Cerdon Catholic College in Merrylands.

After school Pina applied for government jobs but failed the required tests. She went to the Australian Catholic University (Teachers College) to train as a teacher, and upon completion of her studies was offered a job at Our Lady of the Rosary High School.

In 1991, Our Lady of the Rosary was renamed Mary MacKillop College. It also incorporated years 11 and 12 into its curriculum. Pina was both saddened and gratified by the news.
Today most of the school staff are not necessarily religious, and the school embraces students and teachers from diverse faith communities.

She credits the college’s first principal, Sister Judith Sippel, with the College’s success.

Details

IntervieweeGiuseppa (Pina) GaglianoInterviewerMarilyn GalloDate of interview24/08/2010DurationTotal interview 01:29:03Transcripts availableYesRightsFairfield City Council Access ConditionsAccess open for research, written permission required for personal copies and public use

Connections

Oral History ProjectThe Way We Were - People of FairfieldMary Mackillop Catholic College, Wakeley NSW - Oral HistoriesCollectionAll Oral HistoriesRelated itemsMary Mackillop Catholic College (formerly Rosary High School)

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