East End Women's Museum facts for kids
Logo introduced in 2015
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The building site for the museum in Barking.
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| Established | 2015 |
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| Location | London
Barking, IG11 7BB United Kingdom |
| Type | Women's museum |
| Founder | Co-founder: Sara Huws, Sarah Jackson |
The East End Women's Museum is the only museum in England that is all about the history of women. It was started in 2015 to celebrate the amazing stories of women from East London, instead of focusing on negative stories from the area's past.
The museum doesn't have one single building you can visit all the time. Instead, it's a "pop-up" museum. This means it holds temporary exhibitions, workshops, and events in different places, both online and in person. This allows it to share women's history with many different communities.
Contents
What is the Museum's Goal?
The main goal of the East End Women's Museum (EEWM) is to "Research, record, share and celebrate the stories of east London women past and present."
The museum wants to make sure that the stories of all women are heard. This is especially true for women whose stories have often been ignored in history books. These include women of colour, women with disabilities, working-class women, and many others.
History has often overlooked the achievements of women. For example, only a small number of the famous blue plaques from English Heritage honour women. The museum works to fix this gender inequality by giving women a space to share their own experiences and stories.
Why is East London's Women's History Important?
East London has a rich history of women fighting for their rights and making big changes in society.
Famous Women and Events
- Mary Wollstonecraft, who is sometimes called England's "first feminist," lived in Barking as a child. A feminist is someone who believes in equal rights for women.
- The matchgirls' strike of 1888 was a famous protest by women and girls working in a match factory in Bow. They protested against dangerous working conditions and low pay.
- In 1968, women who worked as sewing machinists at the Ford Dagenham car plant went on strike. Their protest for equal pay was a huge event that helped lead to the Equal Pay Act 1970 in the UK.
The Fight for the Right to Vote
The suffragette movement was very strong in East London. Suffragettes were women who campaigned for the right to vote in the early 20th century.
When Sylvia Pankhurst was asked to leave a major suffragette group, she started her own in East London. It was called the East London Federation of Suffragettes. They focused on helping working-class women in the area.
Past Exhibitions and Events
As a pop-up museum, the EEWM has created many exciting projects all over East London. Here are a few examples.
- East End Women: The Real Story (2016): This pop-up exhibition celebrated how women in the East End led movements for social and political change.
- Women at Watney (2017): The museum worked with university students to record the memories of women who shopped and worked at Watney Market, a famous local market.
- The Women's Hall (2018): This project explored the history of the East London Federation of the Suffragettes. It included exhibitions and events that told the stories of these brave women.
- Making her mark (2018): This exhibition, created with the Hackney Museum, looked at 100 years of women's activism in the area of Hackney.
- EEWM Heritage Trail (2020): This was a walking tour that people could do on their own. It guided them to 14 different spots in East London connected to the stories of important local women, like the pioneering nurse Annie Brewster.
See also
- East End of London
- Glasgow Women's Library
- Feminist Library
- Women's Library
