The Pioneer Women’s Memorial in Sydney is a 3.5-meter bronze statue of a woman carrying a baby on her left arm and pulling an old child with her right hand. It honors the early settlers women in Australia and their contribution to colonialism in Australia. The Women’s Pioneer Society of Australasia commissioned this statue as part of Australia’s bicentenary celebrations. They chose the Australian sculptor Alex Kolozsy to design and create it. The dedication ceremony was held on 19 November 1988 with Lady Faye Rowland, the spouse of the Governor of New South Wales at the time.
The plaque at the base of the statue reads:
This statue was commissioned by
the Women’s Pioneer Society of
Australasia in recognition of
the courage and endurance of our Women Pioneers
and their vital role in the development of this country.
The project was jointly funded by:
The New South Wales Bicentennial Council
The National Mutual Life Association of Australasia Limited
The Women’s Pioneer Society of Australasia
to commemorate the Bicentenary of Australia.
Unveiled on 19.11.1988 by Lady Rowland.
Sculptor Kolozsy.
The statue stands at the Jessie Street Gardens, a small urban park named after the Australian women and Indigenous equal rights activist Jessie Street (1889-1970). Street helped found the United Associations of Women, co-chaired the first union equal pay committee, and was the first Australian women delegate to the UN.
About three kilometers from this statue is the Jessie Street National Women’s Library, which preserves, collects, and promotes Herstories of Australian women from all fields of life.
If you are interested in experiencing more sites related to pioneer women in downtown Sydney, follow this self-guided tour.
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