by Mike Esbester On 30 September 1922, railway carriage cleaner Mary Watson suffered a life-changing accident. Working at Queen Street Station in Glasgow, by 3.20pm she was just under 2 hours into her 8 hour shift. As part of a team, her role was to sweep out the carriage compartments and corridors between passenger services. … Continue reading #HeForShe – Women, work & accidents on Britain’s railways
by Becky Laxton-Bass Founded in 1863, serving over a billion customers annually, with 270 stations across 11 lines, the London Underground is the oldest and one of the most impressive transport networks in the world. However, it took until October 1978 for the London Underground to get its first female driver, Hannah Dadds. Hannah was … Continue reading London Underground’s First Female Driver: Hannah Dadds
by Louise Quick Where to start with Josephine Baker? She was a glitzy 1920s star, a World War Two spy, and the only woman to speak during the March on Washington. Let’s begin where she did, with dancing! The performer Google ‘Josephine Baker’ and you’ll quickly find images of her wearing little more than a … Continue reading Josephine Baker: Flapper, war hero, civil rights activist
by Sam Manning The 1950s was a period of decline for cinema as UK admissions fell from 1.4 billion in 1950 to under 500 million by the start of the 1960s. Cinemas were still important social spaces, but greater television ownership, improved housing conditions and new forms of youth culture are just some of the … Continue reading #HeForShe – Women at the cinema in 1950s Britain
by Louise Bell I am a big Doctor Who fan – have been ever since it returned in 2005 with Christopher Eccleston in the role and my Dad suggested that I watch it. I’ll admit at this point that I’ve never watched an episode produced earlier than this though…. and it’s obviously been exciting to … Continue reading Verity Lambert – the founding producer of Doctor Who
by Aoife Sutton Iconic, eccentric, and eventually ‘divine’ - Sarah Bernhardt was a woman that went down in history. Rising from humble beginnings to international stardom, Sarah is thought to have been the illegitimate daughter of a courtesan called Judith Bernard. As a woman of Dutch Jewish origin, Sarah faced antisemitism in her professional and … Continue reading Sarah Bernhardt: The ‘Divine Eccentric’
by Maria Ogborn Silent film actress Mabel Normand was a woman of many firsts. The first woman to own her own studio and have her name in a film’s title; the first person to throw a custard-pie on screen; and one of the first Hollywood stars to not have a theatre or vaudeville background. In … Continue reading Mabel Normand: The Queen of Comedy
by Annabel Fielding The Golden Twenties, as the German tradition dubs the Roaring Twenties, have precipitated many changes in the lives of German women. We all know the international figure of a flapper, immortalized by authors both classic and modern, from Scott Fitzgerald to Kerry Greenwood. However, many tendencies of the decade have improved the … Continue reading A Woman’s Guide to Sex and Dating in the Weimar Berlin
by Becky Laxton-Bass It has been just over two years since the celebrations of Vote 100 – a year of events, talks and the unveiling of new statues; celebrating the centenary of the Act of Parliament that granted the first women the right to vote. The Representation of the People Act was given royal assent … Continue reading The Flapper Election
by Olivia Smith What is it about the 1920s that has an aura of magic? Is it the glistening costumes? The jaunty attitudes? Or that a time we know was so unique in every way imaginable, it will never come about again? Either way when it comes to the revolutionary power and decadent style of … Continue reading Gloria Swanson
