FROM THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS

In 1921, the world was recovering from the horrors and destruction of World War 1. The US-German Berlin Treaty was signed, the Irish Free State was declared, Crimea became part of the Soviet Union, Babe Ruth hit his recordsetting 138th career home run, and in Australia, Qantas took flight for the first time. Even closer to home, Edith Cowan OBE became the first woman elected to an Australian parliament and only the fourth female member of parliament globally. Fortunately, Mrs Cowan also agreed to be an inaugural member of the Board of Governors of the Church of England Girls’ School, St Mary’s West Perth. She was a woman close to 60 who was still passionately fighting for a more just society and for the education and rightful place of women and girls in our community. Previously, in 1894, Mrs Cowan helped found the Karrakatta Club, a group in which women "educated themselves for the kind of life they believed they ought to be able to take". The Karrakatta Club rallied behind the campaign for women's suffrage, the catalyst for non-indigenous women in Western Australia winning the right to vote in 1899. It was an outcome that ultimately enabled Mrs Cowan to become a Member of Parliament in Western Australia. Today, it is worth reflecting on the challenges Mrs Cowan overcame 100 years ago. When she was elected, the Members of Parliament refused to allocate her a women’s toilet. Their rationale was that they believed that there would not be another female Member of Parliament. At the March 2021 state election, the people of Western Australia elected their 100th female Member of Parliament. Thankfully, there are now female toilets in Parliament House. One hundred years on from Mrs Cowan entering Parliament and sitting on St Mary’s Board, it is timely to ask ourselves, can we too be trailblazers in our own right? Are we doing everything that we can to make our society stronger and more just for all citizens? With the legacy that we have inherited at St Mary’s because of remarkable women like Mrs Cowan, what can we do to ensure that our community continues to progress and prosper? At our most recent Board of Governors strategic planning session, we agreed that it is still necessary to educate ourselves for the kind of life we believe we should take. The issues may differ, but the sentiment remains. For St Mary’s to be St Mary’s, our true north is when we live by the values of Fideliter and have our community at the heart of all that we do. Thank you for everything that you do to make our community stronger.

Elizabeth Carr (’81) AM Chair, Board of Governors

ABOVE: Principal, Mrs Judith Tudball, and St Mary’s Archivist, Ms Stephanie Neille, attended a special wreath-laying service at the Edith Dircksey Cowan Memorial Clock Tower, King’s Park entrance, on 12 March 2021 in commemoration of Edith Cowan on the centenary of her election to the Parliament of Western Australia as the first female member of an Australian legislature. ABOVE LEFT: Edith Cowan OBE. Image courtesy State Library WA b4879399_7 BELOW: Elizabeth Carr ('81) AM with School Chaplain, Father Richard Pengelley.