Summary

Icon created for and displayed at the Women on Farms Gathering, Warragul 1999.

'The boot was chosen to signify "Stepping into the Future", as we were about to step into the new millennium and the modernising of farm techniques. The boot was worn at the first tractor driving course in 1989 [by Win Macreadie]. It was then worn around the farm and after a good polish, by a WOF member to the Women on Farms Activities.' Evelyn Lillie, member of the West Gippsland Women on Farms.

The closing of each Gathering and the anticipation of the next is celebrated with a formal 'baton changing' ritual, where a symbolic 'icon' is handed over from one organising committee to the next. Each item represents a story or message of some of the key themes and issues, which have shaped the meaning and experience of these women's rural identity.

Part of Museums Victoria's Invisible Farmer Project Collection. The Invisible Farmer Project was the largest ever study of Australian women on the land, uncovering the histories and stories of Australian women in agriculture and addressing the absence of rural women in mainstream histories and museums. It began as a pilot project (2015-2016) and evolved into a three year (2017-2020) nation-wide partnership between rural communities, academic, government and cultural organisations, funded by the Australian Research Council.

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