She Shapes History: Celebrating the unsung women who built australia
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Canberra tour guide, feminist, and history nerd Sita Sargeant’s new book She Shapes History is an inspiring tribute to the often-overlooked women who helped build Australia’s cities, towns, and communities.
The book, which combines walking tours and captivating stories, takes readers on a journey across 30 Australian locations, unveiling the remarkable legacies of women who were central to shaping the country’s history.
The Canberra book launch, set to take place in just a few days (tickets here), will mark the culmination of Sita’s ambitious project, which started as a local walking tour in 2021. Over the last few years, her dedication to uncovering these untold stories has transformed into a full-scale book that is both a compelling history lesson and a personal exploration of identity.
“I started out questioning why I wasn’t seeing women positioned as central characters in the stories we tell about Australia,” Sita says. Her initial curiosity has grown into a consuming passion, sparked in part by a surprising discovery about her hometown.
“I grew up in Canberra, and I didn’t know until my twenties that Australia’s capital city was designed by a woman, Marion Mahony Griffin. That moment made me realise how many stories I had missed, and how much women’s contributions were overlooked in our national narrative.”
Through her research, Sita unearthed countless stories of women who made their mark in towns like Coober Pedy, Hobart, and Rockhampton, and on projects as large scale as the Sydney Harbour Bridge project. Each story serves as a reminder that history is not a monolith; it is made up of diverse voices, particularly those of women, whose accomplishments are often left out of the mainstream narrative.
She Shapes History covers 30 cities and towns across Australia, each with its own unique chapter highlighting a woman or group of women who have made a lasting impact. From the “underworld queens” of Kings Cross to the pioneering activist who founded Meals on Wheels, the book offers a kaleidoscope of stories that are both heartwarming and eye-opening.
“The stories were always there, they just weren’t being widely shared,” Sita explains. “And when I started sharing them, the response was overwhelming. What started as a walking tour quickly turned into a full-time business, and now it’s a book. It just grew so much faster than I could have imagined.”
For Sita, the tour-turned-book is as much about uncovering women’s history as it is about personal discovery. After quitting her full-time job in 2023, she set off on a six-month road trip across Australia, living out of a tent on top of her car, visiting 18 cities and towns, and connecting with locals to gather stories of women who shaped their communities.
“I wanted to make sure I captured as many places as possible,” she says. “Not just the well-known ones, but the small towns, too. Every place had something to offer, and I followed the stories wherever they led me.”
One of Sargeant’s most surprising findings came from Coober Pedy, a small mining town in South Australia.
“I never expected Coober Pedy to be a hotspot for feminist historical storytelling,” she laughs.
“But the town actually has a strong record of acknowledging the roles women played in its development. The first women who moved there were the ones holding the community together during tough times, running businesses, keeping the town running, and eventually creating the tourism industry.”
But She Shapes History isn’t just be a collection of biographies—it’s an invitation to engage with history in a more personal, dynamic way. The book’s design reflects Sita’s walking tours, combining historical narratives with engaging maps and “scrapbook” elements that invite readers to imagine themselves on the journey.
“This isn’t your typical travel guide,” she says. “It’s part history book, part travel guide, and part feminist scrapbook. It’s about seeing familiar places with new eyes. I want people to walk through their cities and towns and notice the women’s stories around them—stories that often go untold.”
One of the most powerful themes in the book is its emphasis on women from diverse backgrounds. Sita’s approach has always been inclusive, drawing on her own experiences as a queer woman of colour.
“If we want people to care about history, they have to see themselves in it,” she explains. “I wanted this book to be something where people from all walks of life could find someone who felt like them. Women of different backgrounds have shaped this country, and their stories deserve to be told.”
A key example is the story of Doris Taylor, the founder of Meals on Wheels, whose disability never stopped her from becoming a prominent social activist. Doris is just one of the many women whose stories challenge traditional ideas of what “heroic” history looks like.
“I love Doris’s story because it shows how women can make change in unexpected ways,” says Sita.
“She was a problem-solver, and she didn’t let anything—especially her disability—get in her way. The Meals on Wheels movement she started continues to impact millions of Australians today.”
As She Shapes History takes its place on bookshelves across the country, Sita hopes it will spark a new wave of interest in Australian women’s history. “Learning about these stories has changed the way I see Australia. It’s given me a richer, more meaningful understanding of the country.”
With the Canberra launch just around the corner, Sita hopes to inspire others to connect with their own histories. “This book isn’t just about celebrating the past. It’s about seeing how these women’s stories continue to shape the future.”
