Alice Springs, Australia
In the middle of Australia is located the Women’s Museum of Australia. The first museum in the continent that celebrates the contribution of women to the development of Australia.
After Molly Clark visited in the Stockman’s Hall of Fame in Longreach, Queensland, she campaigned to create a similar institution to celebrate the pioneer women of rural Australis. In 1993, the National Pioneer Women’s Hall of Fame founded, and in September 1994, it opened to the public in the Old Courthouse.
Over the years, the collection grew, and on 8 March 2007, the museum moved to the former Gaol and Labour Prison. It was dedicated by the Minister for Women’s Policy Marion Scrimgeour, who was also the first Indigenous woman to be elected to the Northern Territory Parliament. In 2019 the museum was renamed Women’s Museum of Australia.
The museum’s collection has more than 2500 items, displayed in six permanent exhibitions that celebrate the pioneer women of Australia. The exhibition Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Lives features historic Australian women from the 1870s till today. These women broke barriers in all fields of life and fought to make Australia better and more equal. The exhibition Women at the Heart focuses on the life of women from Central Australia, their isolated life, daily routine, friendship, and resilience.
In addition to the collection, there is also the HerStory archive that preserves the stories of notable Australian women.
The museum has two patrons: Dame Quentin Bryce, the 25th Governor-General of Australia and the first woman to hold this position, and Gaby Kennard, the first Australian woman to fly solo (for 99 days) worldwide in 1989. Read more...
