Maiden Australia

It’s the 1950s in Melbourne: under the Moreton Bay fig in Carlton Gardens, a woman stands before a crowd. The woman’s name is Margaret Tucker. A singer. A writer. An advocate for Aboriginal people. As she spoke of justice and truth, people listened. Her story is one of unimaginable hardship, and one every Australian must acknowledge. Learn her name. Share her story.Speakers:Tania RossiAssociate Professor Sadie HeckenbergAssociate Professor Jennifer JonesProduced, edited and written by Dr Corey Martin.Contact: [email protected] IG: @coremartinIf Everyone Cared Enough Available for purchase hereArtwork by Gemma Yeomans

In 1856, on the Australian Goldfields of Castlemaine, hundreds of rugged miners in dirt-streaked trousers gathered to cast their votes. But among them stood an outlier—Fanny Finch. A business owner. A single mother. A woman of colour. Draped in blue silk with flowers in her hair, Fanny Finch was a strong and defiant character—she stood up for herself and other women. And that made her a target. Learn her name. Share her story.Speakers:Kacey Sinclair Dr Catherine GayLauren Starr @laurenstarrartist Produced, edited and written by Dr Corey Martin.Contact: [email protected] IG: @coremartinArtwork by ⁠Gemma Yeomans⁠Shownotes:- The suggestion that Lydia may have been a woman of colour is speculative and has not yet being confirmed through archival evidence.

Imagine the 1960s: a woman sits in the gutter, a cigarette between her fingers, eyes burning. Rosaleen Norton—Witch, artist, and outsider. To the media and authorities, she was a 'Devil-Worshipper,' a dangerous woman who had to be stopped. She was silenced, ridiculed, and hunted—but not completely forgotten. Learn her name. Share her story.Speakers:Professor Marguerite Johnson: Sexuality in Greek and Roman Society and LiteratureSonia Bible: The Witch of Kings CrossTree Carr: @tree_carr A Spell a Day: 365 Easy Spells, Rituals and Magics for Every DayProduced, edited and written by Dr Corey Martin.Contact: [email protected] IG: @coremartinArtwork by ⁠Gemma Yeomans⁠

Maiden Australia began as part of my PhD. While researching Australian media, I became aware of the repeated exclusion of women’s lives and labour from historical records and media archives.While not always obvious, the decision to remember and commemorate some stories over others has had a major influence on our national identity. It impacts who we deem worthy of celebrating, the voices we amplify and the leaders we select. As historian Gerda Lerner writes, ‘History is not the past. It is the stories we tell about the past.’ Today, many people still cannot name a single woman from Australia’s history. Maiden Australia is an attempt to revive stories long neglected by mainstream history books and storytelling. It seeks to ensure these women are archived, remembered, and accessible for generations to come, so that when we think about the past, we widen our scope. I ask that listeners learn their names and share their stories, to bring us one step closer to this vision. .