Interview with Elva Morison [transcript] Interviewer: Beth M. Robertson

In the segments presented here Elva describes the activities of the Society and its focal point, the Cheer-Up Hut (which stood near the Adelaide Railway Station), the development of the Returned Soldiers' Association, entertaining and feeding the servicemen from the country, her motivation to become involved with the Society, patriotism, the issue of conscription and her feelings towards the men who did not join up.

Elva Morison, nee Harding, was living at Belair, where her father was stationmaster, and working as a shorthand-typist at the outbreak of the First World War. Enthused with the ideal of helping the war effort, she became involved with the Cheer-Up Society and was soon secretary to the Society's organiser, Alexandrine Seager. Mrs Morison describes the activities of the Society and its focal point, the Cheer-Up Hut, which stood near the Adelaide Railway Station. She speaks of the value of the organisation to embarking and returning servicemen and women, and explains the character of the Society's hundreds of volunteer helpers, its country activities and its relationship to other like-minded organisations. Mrs Morison also describes how the Society's activities were revived during the Second World War. Mrs Morison married in 1917 to a returned soldier she met at the Hut.

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