Perceptions of Lifestyle and Leisure of Rural Women in South Australia, 1940-1960

Kay Harding, nee Cowan, was born in Adelaide, South Australia and grew up in her family's large home in Tranmere in the eastern suburbs. After finishing high school she trained at the Adelaide Kindergarten Teachers' College for three years and then worked briefly in the country as a governess. She found that she enjoyed teaching older children and asserted her independence by gaining primary school teaching qualifications after a further year studying at the Adelaide Teachers' College in 1939. She was appointed first to Burra, where she recalls refugees from the Darwin bombing, and then to Black Springs where she was the only teacher. Ilsa met her future husband at a local dance. They married in 1944 and settled in the district. Ilsa joined the Country Women's Association, an involvement which has led to her taking up writing as well as participating in CWA activities on an international level. Kay and her husband Gordon had a daughter and a son.

Recorded on 20 July 1994. 1 hour 44 minutes.