For International Women’s Day 2018, Shane Greentree explores how the the late-eighteenth-century press commemorated the legacy of Mary Wollstonecraft. The 1797 death of Mary Wollstonecraft and the furious response to her widower William Godwin’s Memoirs of the Author of a Vindication … Continue reading →

Nadia Rhook shares a poem commemorating the life and work of Tracey Banivanua Mar, historian of colonialism and post-colonialism in the Australian and Pacific region, and Associate Professor at La Trobe University. Vale Tracey, taken from the world too soon … Continue reading →

The Inspirational Women series concludes with Claire Cooke’s reflections on Charlotte Maxeke, a South African religious leader, social worker, and reformer. Pioneer, activist, mother: Charlotte Manye Maxeke was a prominent Black South African woman who dedicated her life to others. At … Continue reading →

Sharon Crozier-De Rosa explores the life of problematic feminist figure Constance Markievicz and her place in historical memory as part of our inspirational women series. When thinking about writing a post for this ‘Inspirational Women’ series, my thoughts immediately strayed to an uncomfortable … Continue reading →

Alison Alexander, author of the biography The Ambitions of Jane Franklin, reflects on the life of this adventurous nineteenth-century lady as part of VIDA’s inspirational women series. There is a reason that today most history recalls fewer names of influential … Continue reading →

Our series on inspirational women continues with Heather Sheard’s examination of Australia’s women doctors in World War I. As the Great War rolled into 1915, Australian women doctors became exasperated with the refusal of military authorities to accept their attempts … Continue reading →

The VIDA blog Inspirational Women series continues with the life of Persia Campbell, a once-renowned Australian economist in the United States. On a spring evening in 1974, an elderly resident of Queens, New York was found unconscious on her kitchen floor. … Continue reading →

The VIDA blog Inspirational Women series continues with a celebration of the life and scholarship of Australian early modern scholar Patricia Crawford. Patricia Crawford – Trish – was born Patricia Marcia Clarke on January 31, 1941. After graduating from The … Continue reading →

On International Women’s Day, Melanie Nolan explores the Australian Dictionary of Biography and its ongoing efforts to include the lives of more women as part of VIDA blog’s Inspirational Women series. My job is an irksome one for a feminist scholar. Few people understand … Continue reading →

Michelle Arrow reflects on the career of feminist activist Elizabeth Reid as part of VIDA blog’s series on Inspirational Women. Asked to name a famous women’s liberationist from 1970s Australia, most people would probably answer Anne Summers or Germaine Greer. … Continue reading →