Q&A with Author Christine Kenneally

Award-winning journalist Christine Kenneally joins us to discuss her new book, Ghosts of the Orphanage, a shocking exposé of the dark, secret history of Catholic orphanages and a call to hold the powerful to account.

1. What prompted you to begin this investigation, and what did you think you might find out?

I first learned that many Australians had spent time in orphanages in 2012 when I attended an archivists conference. The presenters there described a group of Australians who were struggling to find basic information about their lives because it had been taken from them. It was a mysterious and strange world and I was struck by the awfulness of having facts about one's life stripped away with few people knowing about it. From that point, I started asking questions.

2. How does it make you feel that previously silenced survivors can now have their stories told and believed?

It's incredible. Much of that work has been done in Australia by the brilliant and relentless activism of Care Leavers Australasia Network (CLAN). Without their work, I wouldn't have been able to do the reporting that I did. It's been my honor to explore in more detail the narratives of brave adults who made it through the system. Because I learned from CLAN here in Australia, I was able to take that knowledge and use it to excavate the history in the USA. It's wonderful to see the impact in people's lives of having their story believed after all this time. 

3. Have authorities been helpful throughout the process?

Many, yes. The Vermont government — by launching a criminal investigation and a restorative justice process and changing laws — has set a standard for the rest of the United States to follow. To be sure, the work of journalism and the work of governments is not necessarily in alignment, but it's been impressive to watch many people with that kind of power do what they can to redress the wrongs of the past. I found in reporting that there were helpers all along the way, many people in power and people without it, once they understood what I was trying to do, no matter how busy they were, they did everything they could to help me. 

4. What do you hope readers will come away with after reading Ghosts of the Orphanage?

I hope that they will feel they have borne witness to a large arc of world history and to specific individual lives shaped by it — the real life protagonists who lived their own incredible story and who also represent the lives of many others who survived, as well as those who didn't.

5. What can readers do to help the cause and support your work for justice?

First, thank you to everyone who has taken the time to learn in some way about these amazing stories, whether it's reading this book or looking elsewhere. Just engaging with the facts of this suppressed history is an act of defiance. Share it, if you can. If you're a teacher, please consider including this history in your class. You don't have to explore the darkest details but you can still include the big picture. Children are going to understand and engage with this world in a way that many adults can't. There's an epic quality to the stories of survival, there are universal themes of justice and hypocrisy, there is evil and good and courage and resilience. If you're a journalist, or a scholar, or an historian — jump in, there are many more stories to be told.