Past, Present, Future: Women Shaping History

Dominant perception: Suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst
arrested for militancy

On 13^th January I was fortunate enough to attend the Fabian Society New Year conference in London. In light of the recent prominence of campaigns such as Me Too and Time’s Up, as well as the Westminster sexual harassment scandal, gender inequality was a major theme throughout the conference, beginning with the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s inspiring keynote speech on female empowerment and the discrimination and adversity which women continue to face.

Suffragettes Unseen

Christina Broom,
Museum of London Collection

Listening to Meryl Streep’s interview this week, about women in film, films made by women and about women, following the release of Suffragette!, we are reminded of how much unseen history of women there is, not necessarily undocumented but certainly undervalued in its potential, particularly that recorded, made by and about women.

A visit to Museum of London last week to see the Christina Broom exhibition ‘Soldiers and Suffragettes’ was an eye opening experience for me in many ways. Museum of London Docklands is a lovely space, situated along the Thames at the evocatively named West India Quay, giving you a sense of the river’s trading history, a very different feel to it’s sister site in the heart of the City.