Book launch marks CWA 100th celebrations

The new 400-page publication Women of Spirit - a Centenary of CWA Stories, is a social history of the role played by women in WA and is predicted to become another iconic gift to WA, joining its famous and dearly treasured cookbook on the shelf.

The new book was launched by WA's first female governor, Kerry Sanderson, at a gala event at the State Reception Centre, attended by about 370 CWA members and their extended families - some of whom had travelled from interstate.

The book is the third time CWA has chronicled its history and was, by far, the most ambitious project after earlier histories were recorded to mark the association's 50th and 75th anniversaries.

A small team of volunteers were nominated in 2018 to update CWA's history and came up with the idea to tell the story through the activities of individual CWA women who had made a significant contribution to the Association and the broader Western Australian community over the past 100 years.

The 100 women were selected from the thousands who had been members from 1924-2024 and each story was a tribute to those pioneering women and modern-day trailblazers, who faced challenges, endured hardships, and worked to improve the conditions and lives of women, men and children.

Many of them have passed on and during the evening the editorial team lit a memorial candle in remembrance of them.

The others - 35 in total - were honoured with the title Living Legend and individually presented with a copy of Women of Spirit during the launch.

CWA's 32nd State president Anne Gething welcomed guests and introduced the editorial team Pam Batten, Vivienne Rowney and Jocelyn Mitchell who embarked on the challenge to research, interview and collect the information that took them all over Australia.

In addressing the gathering Ms Batten said the enormity of the challenge and the difficulty in working from Geraldton was overwhelming and she resigned from the project only to change her mind when COVID-19 struck and the process became more digitised.

She rescinded her resignation and continued to work remotely.

The three women came to be referred to as the three amigos, a title which stuck even after they were joined by historian Alan Jones, the fourth member of the team.

He recounted how the ambitious project caught his interest and he wandered into the State office amazed, firstly that three women would want to write the stories of 100 women - and for no pay.

As he started to delve into the stories, he expected to find 100 hen-pecked husbands but instead discovered 100 patient and supportive men.

He remained an integral part of the project to the end and considerably lightened the task with his quick wit and humour.

As the project progressed, increasing appreciation and credit went to Valda and Graham Langley and Harry Davis from Stylus Design and Steve Little from Data Documents for their work and assistance to ensure the quality and accuracy of the book.

In launching the book, Ms Sanderson, who was CWA's patron during her time in office from 2014 to 2018, said it was wonderful to celebrate the launch and she knew from meeting current members the women chosen for inclusion were indeed strong women.

CWA was there every day of the year working quietly and compassionately in the community and she greatly admired members' dedication saying they all had a selfless approach to giving without grandstanding.

Three special deceased members were singled out for special mention during the night.

These were Clare Burt who served two terms as president in the 1930s and facilitated the CWA seaside homes so country families could have an affordable holiday; Agnes Barnes who was the driver behind the original CWA cookery book released in 1936 and Alice Williams whose compassionate words in the final stages of World War 2 and the following months when sons and husbands returned home to their families can still bring tears to the eyes.

The perception of CWA ladies cooking scones, knitting and nattering may be the butt of jokes, but the truth is CWA is a membership for women living in rural and metropolitan areas, that is known for uniting women and strengthening communities through friendship, education, service and advocacy.

Its power as a lobby group driving change was acknowledged by Women's Interests minister Sue Ellery whose role at the launch was to present the editorial and design teams with their own copies of Women of Spirit.

She told the audience she still had clear memories of her time as Education Minister when, in 2018, CWA members successfully rallied on the steps of Parliament House to overturn the closures of some regional student accommodation hostels and camp schools (CWA was responsible for building many of the hostels and later relinquished them to government).

Now, in her role as women's interest minister, she regarded it as an organisation with such respect and gravitas that 'when CWA speaks, people listen'.

She acknowledged CWA had long been a part of the fabric of WA and said it was fitting that International Women's Day was the date chosen for the launch.

"The IWD theme (Inspire Inclusion) was what CWA has been doing for 100 years," Ms Ellery said.

"It is a momentous achievement, for a membership organisation such as the CWA, to remain active and relevant for 100 years."

The book launch was one of the first events of CWA's centenary year but will be followed by many other celebrations as regional branches around the State mark various anniversaries ranging from a first birthday for the Lancelin Districts branch that was formed in 2023, to centenaries celebrated by the Nungarin, Bolgart and metropolitan branches.

There are currently 126 branches across WA from Derby to Esperance embracing 2000 members.

Among them are 66 members who have been active for more than 50 years.