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 Cable Street is a road in the East End of London, England, with several historic landmarks nearby. It was made famous by the Battle of Cable Street in 1936. Location Cable Street starts near the edge of London's financial district, the Cit ...

. While the EEWM sought to open a permanent location in

Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking, 1965–1980 ** Municipal Borough of Barking, 1931–1965 ** Barking (UK Parliament constituency) ** Barking (electoral division), Greater ...

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.

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."

About the museum

East End Women's Museum (EEWM) is a small museum dedicated to the stories and voices of women of

east London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

. 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." Women are underrepresented within British historical record and female voices have often been overlooked; for example, only 14% of

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...

s honour women. In order to provide more opportunities for female voices, its goal is to challenge

gender inequality Gender inequality is the social phenomenon in which people are not treated equally on the basis of gender. This inequality can be caused by gender discrimination or sexism. The treatment may arise from distinctions regarding biology, psychology ...

and encourage women to express their thoughts and tell their own stories.

History

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

, 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 Mary Wollstonecraft ( , ; 27 April 175910 September 1797) was an English writer and philosopher best known for her advocacy of women's rights. Until the late 20th century, Wollstonecraft's life, which encompassed several unconventional ...

, spent her early childhood at Barking. The

matchgirls' strike In July 1888 the women and teenage girls working at the Bow Quarter, Bryant & May match factory in Bow, London, England went on strike. At first, the strikers were protesting the dismissal of a worker after employees had refused a demand from B ...

of 1888 occurred at the Bryant & May match factory in

Bow BOW as an acronym may refer to: * Bag of waters, amniotic sac * Bartow Municipal Airport (IATA:BOW), a public use airport near Bartow, Florida, United States * Basic operating weight of an aircraft * BOW counties, made of Brown, Outagamie, and Winn ...

. The sewing machinists strike at

Ford Dagenham Ford Dagenham is a major automotive factory located in Dagenham, London, operated by the Ford of Britain subsidiary of Ford Motor Company. The plant opened in 1931 and has produced 10,980,368 cars and more than 39,000,000 engines in its history ...

in 1968 was a landmark labour-relations dispute which led to the passing of the

Equal Pay Act 1970 The Equal Pay Act 1970 (c. 41) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that prohibited any less favourable treatment between men and women in terms of pay and conditions of employment. The act was proposed by the then Labour government ...

. The

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

movement was strong in the area. When

Sylvia Pankhurst Estelle Sylvia Pankhurst (; 5 May 1882 – 27 September 1960) was an English Feminism, feminist and Socialism, socialist activist and writer. Following encounters with women-led labour activism in the United States, she worked to organise worki ...

and her followers were expelled from the

Women's Social and Political Union The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was a women-only political movement and leading militant organisation campaigning for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom founded in 1903. Known from 1906 as the suffragettes, its membership and p ...

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.

Past projects and activities

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:

2016

*''"East End Women: The Real Story"'' (2016–2017) was a pop-up exhibition celebrating and sharing women's involvement and leadership around social and political change in the East End. It was funded by the "38 Degrees" and built by the East End Women's Collective, in which EEWM was a partner.

2017

*''"Women at Watney: Voices from an East End market"'' was an exhibition in partnership with

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

and

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

that captured women's memories of Watney Market through recorded interviews. It was funded by the London Arts and Humanities Partnership.

2018

*''"The Women's Hall: Celebrating the East London Federation of the Suffragettes"'' was a project that examined and explored the original women's hall headquarters and some lesser-known suffrage stories. It consisted of two major exhibitions, a series of events, and a participatory photography project. It was run in partnership with Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives, Four Corners Gallery, Alternative Arts and NUMBI Arts. *''"Making her mark: 100 years of women's activism in Hackney"'' was an exhibition about women-led activism in Hackney from 1918 until today. It was a collaboration with

Hackney Museum Hackney Museum is a local history museum located in the London Borough of Hackney The London Borough of Hackney ( ) is a London boroughs, London borough in Inner London, England. The historical and administrative heart of Hackney is Mare Str ...

and Hackney Archives, plus an advisory group and a volunteer research team.

2020

*"EEWM Heritage Trail" is a self-guided trail which allowed the public to trace 14 locations of both popular and lesser known stories regarding East London women, such as Annie Brewster.

References

{{reflist 2015 establishments in England History museums in London Women's museums in the United Kingdom Women in London