Throughout the 1930s May Holman was a household name and an inspiration to the women of her generation. She made history in 1925 when, at age thirty-one, she became Australia’s first female Labor parliamentarian, holding the seat of Forrest until her untimely death on the eve of the 1939 elections.

A woman who fought tirelessly for the rights of those in her electorate, her accidental death received national coverage with thousands of Western Australian mourners lining the streets to pay tribute.

May Holman charted new territory for women, but the barriers she encountered and her methods of overcoming them still resonate today.