Summary

Wig, brand name 'La Rocca' owned and worn by Frances Newell as part of a disguise to avoid police detection during her Vietnam draft resistance activities, about 1969-1970.

Frances and Michael Hamel-Green, whom she married in 1969, were involved in underground activities of non-violent resistance to conscription and Australia's participation in the Vietnam War in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

During this period Michael was moving between safe houses in the inner and south-east suburbs of Melbourne to avoid arrest and Frances put together a disguise in order to visit him. The wig was provided for her by a contact in the Save Our Sons movement. Usually she wore boots and duffel coats and had long blond hair, but the disguise included this brown curly wig, high heels, a mini skirt and striped top.

Both Frances and Michael were arrested several times during the years of their activism and were also jailed. It was a difficult period and made their early married life fraught but both describe it as a sacrifice they were willing to make. They were both present at the Vietnam Moratorium on 8 May 1970 which saw up to 100,000 people fill Bourke Street to express their anti-Vietnam War and conscription sentiment.

Physical Description

Brown, nylon fibres attached to brown mesh base. Base of two parts, attached to each other with Velcro. Manufacturer's tag sewn to main mesh piece.

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