Support A Place of Her Own
Help us commission the written and oral histories of McIver’s Ladies Baths
For at least 150 years, the Coogee Women’s Pool has been a place apart.
Carved into the sandstone headland on Gadigal and Bidjigal land — Country with which Aboriginal women have shared a deep connection for time immemorial — the pool has endured as one of the last women-only ocean baths in the world. It has offered women privacy, safety, freedom and community; nurtured athletic talent and ambition; supported women through all stages of life; and remained, improbably and defiantly, a place of sanctuary.
In 2026, we mark 150 years since the Baths were formally gazetted as a women’s bathing reserve in 1876. To honour this milestone, the Association is commissioning A Place of Her Own — a richly illustrated written and oral history of this extraordinary place.
This project will capture the herstory of the Baths through archival research, photographs and oral history interviews with a diverse cross-section of women who use, and have used, the pool. Their stories will speak to the Baths’ enduring role in the lives of women across generations and backgrounds, and its wider significance in the history of women in Australia, public space, and the long relationship between women and water.
This will be both a beautiful community publication and an important cultural record.
Why your support matters
We are currently raising funds to commission the research, writing and oral histories that will bring this project to life. Your donation will directly support the documentation of the stories, memories and lived experiences that have made McIver’s Ladies Baths what it is today.
By contributing, you will help ensure this unique place — and the women who have sustained it — are recognised, recorded and celebrated for generations to come.
Project partnerships
The Association is currently in discussion with established partners in relation to publication outcomes and with a leading cultural institution regarding the oral histories.
Randwick City Council, through its Community Investment Program, is a current supporter of the 150-year anniversary projects, and we thank Council for its generous support.
As partnerships are confirmed, this page will be updated.
Writer and oral historian
Dr Sarah Gilbert is a Sydney-based writer, oral historian and documentary maker, and a regular swimmer at the Coogee Women’s Pool.
Her first book, Unconventional Women: the Story of the Last Blessed Sacrament Sisters in Australia (Melbourne University Publishing, 2024), was longlisted for the 2024 Walkley Book Award. Her career spans more than twenty years as a journalist, interviewer and documentary maker specialising in Australian history, with credits across the ABC, SBS and the History Channel.
Dr Gilbert currently leads the podcasting studio at Impact Studios, UTS, where she is General Manager and Executive Producer of the award-winning History Lab series. Her experience and deep commitment to storytelling make her ideally placed to lead this important project.
You can support our 150-year celebrations by donating towards the commissioning of this publication and oral history project. All donations over $500 will be acknowledged in the publication, at project events, in our Annual Report and on our website. All donations over $2 are tax deductible.
Help us tell the story of this remarkable place — and the women who have made it what it is.
