Travelling to Tomorrow: Australian Women in the United States, 1910-1960

A celebrity decorator with blue hair. A single mother who advised JFK in the Oval Office. A Christian nudist with a passion for almond milk.

A century ago, ten Australian women did something remarkable. Throwing convention to the wind, they headed across the Pacific to make their fortune. In doing so, they reoriented Australia towards the United States years before politicians began to lumber down the same path. For the artist Mary Cecil Allen, this meant spreading the word about American abstract expressionism. For the naturopath Alice Caporn, it meant evangelising fruit juices and salads. For the swimmer Isabel Letham, it was teaching synchronised swimming. Others imported the latest thinking in dentistry, fashion, economics, law, music, medicine and more. They were rebels, they were trailblazers, they were disruptors. Individually, they have extraordinary stories; together, they change the narrative of Australian history.

Speaker Bio: Dr Yves Rees (they/them) is an historian and writer based on unceded Wurundjeri land. They are a Senior Lecturer at La Trobe University, the co-host of Archive Fever podcast and the author of All About Yves: Notes from a Transition (Allen & Unwin, 2021).

Ticket information: Select from two options - book your seat at the Victorian Archives Centre, or choose the online option and you'll be emailed a link to watch the live-stream through Zoom.

Image 1:Rose Cumming (L) and Mrs. Edith Griffith (R) photographed by the Bain News Service, circa 1915 – 1920, from the Library of Congress Collection.

Image 2: The book cover of "Travelling to Tomorrow: The modern women who sparked Australia's romance with America" which is out 1 September through NewSouth Books.

Host or Publisher Public Record Office Victoria