East End Women's Museum

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East End Women's Museum
East End Women's Museum Logo.jpg
Logo introduced in 2015
Construction Site of East End Women's Museum.jpg
Current building site
East End Women's Museum
Established2015
LocationLondon

Barking, IG11 7BB

United Kingdom
Coordinates @51.533766, 0.075335 51°32′01.6″N0°04′31.2″E / 51.533778°N 0.075333°E / 51.533778; 0.075333
TypeWomen's museum
FounderCo-founder: Sara Huws, Sarah Jackson [1]
DirectorRachel Crossley
Website https://eastendwomensmuseum.org/

East End Women's Museum (EEWM) is a virtual, pop-up museum and the only dedicated women's museum in England. It was established in 2015 as a positive protest to a "Jack the Ripper Museum" in Cable Street. While the EEWM sought to open a permanent location in Barking town centre in 2023, the museum faced difficulties finalising the lease. The museum continues to have a pop-up museum that hosts temporary exhibitions—both online and in-person—as well as community workshops and educational events. [2]

Contents

Mission

The mission of the East End Women's Museum (EEWM) is to "Research, record, share and celebrate the stories of east London women past and present." [3]

About the museum

Construction site in 2020 Construction Site of East End Women's Museum at night.jpg
Construction site in 2020

East End Women's Museum (EEWM) is a small museum dedicated to the stories and voices of women of east London. Its aim is "to give representation to all women, particularly those traditionally marginalised, including women of colour, women with disabilities, lesbian and bi women, trans women, working-class women, older women, women from migrant or itinerant communities, women who are refugees or asylum-seeking, and women working in the sex industry." [3] Women are underrepresented within British historical record and female voices have often been overlooked; for example, only 14% of English Heritage's blue plaques honour women. [4] In order to provide more opportunities for female voices, its goal is to challenge gender inequality and encourage women to express their thoughts and tell their own stories.

History

East London, including but extending beyond the East End of London, has been a place full of intense political activism and women's equality movements. England's ‘first feminist’ , Mary Wollstonecraft, spent her early childhood at Barking. The matchgirls' strike of 1888 occurred at the Bryant & May match factory in Bow. The sewing machinists strike at Ford Dagenham in 1968 was a landmark labour-relations dispute which led to the passing of the Equal Pay Act 1970.

The suffragette movement was strong in the area. When Sylvia Pankhurst and her followers were expelled from the Women's Social and Political Union in 1912, they set up the East London Federation of Suffragettes. The last surviving suffragette, Annie Clara Huggett, lived locally and has a women's centre in Dagenham named after her. [5]

Past projects and activities

"EEWM Heritage trial" Flyers and construction site in 2020 Heritage Trail flyers.jpg
“EEWM Heritage trial” Flyers and construction site in 2020

As a virtual, pop-up museum, the EEWM seeks to engage local communities through temporary exhibitions, workshops, talks and events, different research, online learning and touring around East London. Its pop-up exhibitions have been all over East London: [6]

2016

2017

2018

2020

See also

Related Research Articles

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The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham is a London borough in East London. It lies around 9 miles (14.4 km) east of Central London. The borough was created in 1965 as the London Borough of Barking; the name was changed in 1980. It is an Outer London borough and the south is within the London Riverside section of the Thames Gateway; an area designated as a national priority for urban regeneration. At the 2011 census it had a population of 187,000. The borough's three main towns are Barking, Chadwell Heath and Dagenham. The local authority is the Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council. Barking and Dagenham was one of six London boroughs to host the 2012 Summer Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dagenham</span> Town in east London, England

Dagenham is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred 11.5 miles (18.5 km) east of Charing Cross.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sylvia Pankhurst</span> English activist, writer and artist (1882–1960)

Estelle Sylvia Pankhurst was an English feminist and socialist activist and writer. Following encounters with women-led labour activism in the United States, she worked to organise working-class women in London's East End. This, together with her refusal in 1914 to enter into a wartime political truce with the government, caused her to break with the suffragette leadership of her mother and sister, Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst. Pankhurst welcomed the Russian Revolution and consulted in Moscow with Lenin. But as an advocate of workers' control, she rejected the Leninist party line and criticised the Bolshevik regime.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annie Kenney</span> British suffragette (1879–1953)

Ann "Annie" Kenney was an English working-class suffragette and socialist feminist who became a leading figure in the Women's Social and Political Union. She co-founded its first branch in London with Minnie Baldock. Kenney attracted the attention of the press and public in 1905 when she and Christabel Pankhurst were imprisoned for several days for assault and obstruction related to the questioning of Sir Edward Grey at a Liberal rally in Manchester on the issue of votes for women. The incident is credited with inaugurating a new phase in the struggle for women's suffrage in the UK with the adoption of militant tactics. Annie had friendships with Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence, Baroness Pethick-Lawrence, Mary Blathwayt, Clara Codd, Adela Pankhurst, and Christabel Pankhurst.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack the Ripper Museum</span> Museum in London

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florence Haig</span> Scottish artist and suffragette

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maud Joachim</span> British suffragette

Maud Joachim was a member of the Women's Social and Political Union, one of the groups of suffragettes that fought for women to get the right to vote in the United Kingdom. She was jailed several times for her protests. Joachim was one of the first suffragettes to go on hunger strike when imprisoned, a protest at not being recognised as political prisoners.

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References

  1. Team, WATC Admin (13 January 2020). "Inspirational Woman: Sara Huws | Co-Founder, East End Women's Museum". Archived from the original on 28 October 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  2. Hardaker, Alistair (6 February 2023). "East End Women's Museum cancels plans for permanent location". Museums + Heritage Advisor. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  3. 1 2 "Aims and values". East End Women's Museum. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  4. 1 2 "Walking as radical history on the East End Women's Museum Trail". History Workshop. 20 January 2020. Archived from the original on 26 February 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  5. Hedges-Stocks, Zoah (21 September 2016). "Post Memories: Women's centre named after Barking suffragette Annie Huggett". Barking and Dagenham Post. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  6. "17 museums no trip to London is complete without". Evening Standard. 8 May 2019. Archived from the original on 1 September 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  7. "East End Women: The Real Story". 38 Degrees. 27 May 2016.
  8. "Women at Watney: Voices from an East End market". East End Women's Museum. Archived from the original on 23 May 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  9. "The Women's Hall: East End suffragettes". East End Women's Museum. Archived from the original on 24 May 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  10. "Making Her Mark: 100 years of women's activism in Hackney". East End Women's Museum. Archived from the original on 23 May 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020.