Social historian Marje Prior and retired mental health clinician Anne Ind are calling for former patients and their families to come forward as part of an oral history project for a new book on Bloomfield Hospital.

Bloomfield Hospital has a long history of institutional care, much of which is documented in the well-researched exhibition currently on display at the Orange Regional Museum.

But Marje explained that this project expands upon that story.

“I thought it was really important that we tell the lived experiences of the people who worked there and also the patients, to be able to tell the real truth about institutional care and what this hospital was,” Marje said, adding that she had taken a similar approach when writing a previously published history of the Riverside Centre.

“I was commissioned by the State Government in 2015 to research the history of Riverside, which is a story of people with intellectual disability who were institutionalised, then went into Riverside and then went out into the community,” Marje said.

“So I thought oral history would then induct me into the lives of the staff and the people who worked at Bloomfield, and so that's where this history started.”

Marje, working with Anne Ind, has already conducted more than 60 interviews with retired Bloomfield nurses, managers, and outdoor and domestic staff.

They are now wishing to speak with former patients or their family members for the final stage of their research, which will be published new social history titled ‘Bloomfield – Inside and Out’.

“We’d really just like to ask for anybody who would like to share their stories to come forward, and we will handle them sensitively and with compassion,” Marje said.

“It's great Ann is doing those interviews because she really understands people who are dealing with mental illness and making sure that we can help remove the stigma around it. That's one of the things that we're hoping to achieve with the book.”

The recordings will be undertaken in a sound-proof booth at the Orange Regional Library, but Marje said they are happy to meet people in their own homes if preferred. All interviewees will be treated with compassion and respect for privacy, with informants choosing to remain anonymous or to allow their recordings to be made available as part of the Bloomfield oral history collection.

“It's basically up to them,” Marje said. “And it might just enable some people to talk about an experience where there has never been an opportunity for them to do so before.”

Anyone interested in participating in this project is urged to contact Marje or Anne by emailing research@onthestone.com.au or by phoning 02 6337 4131.

‘Bloomfield – Inside and Out’ will be the fourth book Marje Prior has published based on her oral history research. For further information on her previous work, you can visit www.onthestone.com.au