Can you help to identify these Walhalla tennis players from early in the twentieth century? 

During March, the Museum at Walhalla will be showcasing on Facebook what they know of Women from Walhalla - and trying hard to find out more.

We would love you to join us for the journey.

https://www.facebook.com/walhallamuseum/

Join us in listening to and recording the stories of women in Gippsland. Hosted for the full month of March 2020 by the Gippsland History Group on Facebook. Help us to expand this ever-growing list!

https://www.facebook.com/notes/gippsland-history/women-in-gippslands-history/2704096929820317/

Sunday 8 March 2020 marks 109 years since the first International Women's Day (IWD). It offers the opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women past, present and future, across the world.

How will you recognise IWD this year?

Here are some suggestions for activities:

Explore the ideas and resources on the IWD website

Check out the web links assembled by the City of Melbourne

Visit Wayward Women? an exhibition at the Old Treasury Building, Melbourne (open from 10 am to 4 pm)

Visit the Suffrage Research Collection at NGV International (St Kilda Road, Melbourne), acquired with assistance from Krystyna Campbell-Pretty AM and Family (open from 10 am to 5 pm)

Visit Heidelberg's Busy Bee Signature Quilt 1895-96, an exhibition at the Old Heidelberg Court House (open from 2 to 5 pm)

If you are hosting an IWD event on Sunday 8 March and would like it to be added to this list, please email info@historycouncilvic.org.au

If your event is about Women's History and is being held during March 2020, please add it to the calendar for Women's History Month. (See the instructions HERE.)

The Old Treasury Building is a key building in Victoria’s Parliamentary precinct; and rather appropriately located nearby is a wonderful sculpture by Susan Hewitt and Penelope Lee called Great Petition which reminds us of the long campaign for equal political rights for women. (Learn more about the sculpture via the City of Melbourne's Art and Heritage Collection.)

The sculpture refers to the 'Monster Petition' calling for women to be granted the right to vote in Victoria. It was signed by 30,000 Victorian women over a period of six weeks in 1891. It took another two decades before women achieved the right vote! The original petition, which consists of sheets of paper glued onto lengths of calico fabric, is 260 metres long and is held by Public Record Office Victoria.

Celebrated historian and museum specialist, Kenneth Park, will present a beautifully illustrated and fascinating lecture looking at the campaign for women’s suffrage in the United Kingdom and Australia. Kenneth will place a special focus on the jewellery, accessories, ceramics, banners, printed ephemera and other artistic objects that used distinct colour schemes and logos to popularise the cause.

Tickets for this event cost $15. Please book by sending an email to: info@kennethpark.com.au, then pay in cash on the day.

For further information, visit the Old Treasury Building's webpage about this event.

This exhibition is on show throughout March 2020. It presents ten stories about individual women’s lives in the past.  All of the women could be described as ‘wayward’.  Either intentionally, or through force of circumstance, they transgressed society’s rules in some way. Some prospered, but others paid dearly for their actions.

The women and girls featured in this exhibition all lived in Victoria in the decade from 1894-1904. It was a time of great privation for many people, with the economy in deep depression and unemployment high. There was little in the way of government assistance for those in need and the charitable organisations that tried to help had scant resources.  Many were turned away.

Wayward Women? is presented by Old Treasury Building in partnership with Public Record Office Victoria. 

The Old Treasury Building is closed on Saturdays, but open to the public from Sunday to Friday, 10 am to 4 pm. Last admission is at 3:45 pm.

Admission is free; donations are welcome.

For further information, visit the Old Treasury Building's webpage about this exhibition.

In January 1900, sixteen-year-old Maggie Heffernan drowned her infant son in Melbourne's Yarra River. She was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. But Maggie’s case was especially pitiful and attracted some powerful advocates. In her case, mercy prevailed.

Maggie's story is part of the Wayward Women? exhibition at the Old Treasury Building.

Find out more about Maggie Heffernan in this free talk.

For further information, visit the Old Treasury Building's webpage about this event.

The ‘must-have’ style of the mid-1850s, the crinoline, was worn by every class of society, and women on the Victorian goldfields were no exception! This dress style was far from practical to wear in a tent, but it was the prevailing fashion.

The Old Treasury Building holds two dresses in this style in the collection. Entirely sewn by hand, it is estimated that there are over 5000 stitches in one of the skirts alone!

Join historian Margaret Anderson to discover this dress style: what it might have been like to make, wear and care for such a dress. This will be a white glove event. You will be able to examine the dresses up close and personal!

This lecture is free of charge, but limited seating is available. Bookings are essential! Click HERE to access the Eventbrite booking page.

For further information, visit the Old Treasury Building's webpage about this event.

The Banksia Lace Group demonstrates the traditional craft of bobbin lace-making, replicating the pattern used for the lace decorations made for Heidelberg's Busy Bee Signature Quilt in 1895-96.

The quilt is the centrepiece of an interpretive exhibition that was commended in the 2019 Victorian Community History Awards.

Visit the Heidelberg Historical Society's museum to see the original quilt on display, alongside the lace-making demonstration.

Admission charges apply:

Adults $5
Children under 16 (and members of Heidelberg Historical Society) free

Click HERE to explore the quilt online.

In 2018, the Heidelberg Historical Society received by donation a Signature Quilt that was created in 1895-96 by the Busy Bees, a group of eight women who were members of the congregation of Heidelberg’s Scots Church. Their names are embroidered in the corners of the quilt's large central square (above).

The quilt project raised funds for the church. Constructed from 213 squares of cotton fabric, the quit is decorated with hand-made lace and embroidery, and framed by a substantial embroidered frill.

The quilt's past involved contributions by about 150 people from many parts of Melbourne and a lengthy sojourn in New Zealand.

Its present includes listing with the National Quilt Register and commendation at the Victorian Community History Awards.

Its future requires ongoing research into the 139 names that are legible on the squares, plus careful preservation by the Society.

This talk by Margaret Birtley will share insights gained from studying the quilt and its people, one name at a time.

An exhibition about the quilt is open for viewing from 2 pm to 4 pm. The talk will start at 2.45 pm.

Admission charges apply:

Adults $5
Children under 16 (and members of Heidelberg Historical Society) free

Click HERE to explore the quilt online.

Join us for the screening of a short film, What Courage Such a Thing Takes: The Life of Mary De Garis, and listen to historian, Dr Ruth Lee, who will share Mary's story.

For further information and to book your free ticket, please visit this Eventbrite page.