Document, Girls Legacy Classes, 1976

Historical information

A recollection of information about Girls Legacy Club and its primary instructor Miss Enez Domec Carre. It was written by C.E. Chancellor in June 1976.
"Draft only. Girls Legacy Classes
When I was attached to Girls' Classes after being transferred from Mildura Club to Melbourne, I found that the difference between the administration of the Girls' and the Boys' Classes was that the Girls' Classes were centralised in one building in Market Street, whilst the Boys' Classes were held in Melbourne and in various suburbs.
The building in Market Street was leased from the Melbourne City Council, it was old, had narrow stairways, small rooms and was dusty and noisy so that is can be appreciated that the classes were held under great difficulties and inconvenience. Classes were held on both Friday and Tuesday nights of each week and the girls were trained in physical culture, ballet and dancing, and most of them also attended a speech training class. The girls were divided into Junior, Intermediate and Senior girls, and the hourly classes commenced at 5 p.m.
It will be appreciated that after WW2 the numbers of girls attending increased considerably (actual numbers may be on old files) and it was necessary for the overall organisation to be efficient for this work to be efficiently carried out.
In retrospect I do not think that too great a tribute can be paid to Miss Enez Domec Carre, F.P.C.V., not only for her great ability in teaching the physical culture and dancing classes, but also because she became the confidant of the mothers and the girls for their particular problems, and was able to transmit these to the Class Legatees, and she also assisted in helping to solve them - and be sure there were many of them with so many girls and families involved.
Miss Carre was also responsible for the many magnificent presentations of the various items learnt by the Classes during each year and of the merging of individual classes held at various times and days to enable them to be so successfully shown at the each annual Legacy Parade.
Miss Carre also organised the Mothers, Legatees' wives and friends into sewing groups to provide the thousands of costumes required for the items presented, and naturally she had to design these costumes - all of this work was carried out, as previously mentioned, under the extreme difficulties they were working under in the Market Street building.
The purchase of Legacy House and the transfer of classes to this building was of immense help and importance in the carrying on of these classes which have proved so valuable to Legacy work. Many of the girls - now Mothers and Grandmothers still help in Legacy work and still appreciate the value of the Girls' Classes were to them.
C.E. Chancellor
cc. to Legatees A.R. Beattie / Larkin / Gibsey"

Significance

A nice summary of the work done by Miss Enez Domec Carre for Legacy and the conditions the classes were held in prior to moving to Legacy House.

Physical description

White foolscap paper with black type x 2 pages recollecting the contribution Miss Enez Domec Carre to the Girls Physical Culture Classes as well as details of location of classes.

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