Growing up, Vida’s father was an anti-suffragist. Her mother, however, was not, so she made sure that Vida and her three sisters were all well educated. They were educated by a governess up until the age of 15. After that, Vida attended Presbyterian Ladies’ College in Melbourne. She was first introduced into the world of women's rights when she helped her mother collect signatures for the Women’s …show more content…
Suffrage Petition in 1890.
After her introduction to women's rights, Vida took an early interest in politics. She was determined to get equal property rights, equal pay, the appointment of women to various posts, a raising of the age of consent and the promotion of women's rights in general.
However, in 1893 there was a huge financial crash in Australia which forced Vida and her sisters into employment to help with the family's finances.
Vida and some of her female family members decided to open up a primary school at Ingleton. This further motivated her to make sure that girls got a good education, to make sure that woman got a vote and to make sure that women had equal rights.
In 1903, Vida ran for the first time as an independent. She became the first woman in the British Empire to stand for election to a national parliament. Her attempt to get a seat in the Senate failed, but she continued to try 5 more times over 14 years. Her last attempt was to run for a seat in the House of Representatives in 1917, Through this and after this Vida continued to fight for women's rights and suffrage.
During the First World War, Vida was an ardent pacifist. She became chairman of the Peace Alliance and formed the Women's Peace Army, who were a Melbourne based, anti-war socialist movement that sort to mobilise and unite women, regardless of political or religious beliefs, in their opposition to war. One of Vida’s recruits was Adela Pankhurst, who came from England. Adela was a big figure in the fight for women's
rights.
After the war, Vida continued fighting for Women's rights and everything that she believed in. But sadly she died in 1949 from cancer, so she wasn’t able to see the result of her never-ending efforts. However, her contribution to women's political rights remain as important today as it was in the early 20th century.
Through this Vida Goldstein has shown that she is caring, open-minded, knowledgeable and balanced. Without these qualities, Vida Goldstein would not have made as much of a difference as she did in getting women's rights.