About the East End Women’s Museum
The East End Women’s Museum seeks to record, research, share and celebrate the stories of east London women past and present.
It is currently the only dedicated women’s museum in England.
Rachel Crossley, Museum Director, presenting at a symposium (c) Debbie Sears
It is currently a ‘pop-up’ museum, through:
temporary exhibitions, online and touring around East London
workshops for schools and community groups
events, talks and stalls at festivals
researching, writing and publishing women’s stories
online learning activities
partnerships with local community and cultural organisations
We were due to open our permanent physical space in Barking last year (2023) but unfortunately due to difficulties beyond our control, had to put those plans on hold. Please see here and here for more information.
why is the East End Women’s Museum so Vital?
The Museum exists because for far too long women have been confined to the margins of history.
For instance:
Just 2.7% of UK public statues feature historical women who weren't royalty (source).
There is just one statue of a named black woman in the entire country (source).
Just 13% of English Heritage blue plaques in London honour women (source).
According to an English Heritage survey, 40% of people thought that women had less of an impact on history than men (source).
“The East End Women’s Museum is part of the solution, and a matter of representation. We want to rebalance the history books, and put women back in the picture.”
East London women’s lives are full of amazing stories; stories of pride, of creativity, of humour, resilience, resourcefulness and resistance – from the Bow Matchwomen’s Strike to the Battle of Cable Street, the Ford Dagenham machinists’ walkout to the Bengali families squatting to improve housing in Spitalfields. We have footballers, inventors, carers, pilots, generals, pirates and more.
We believe these lives can be inspirational to women and girls today. We believe every woman, past and present, should have a voice. We believe these stories deserve, and need, to be told.
Find out more about the aims and values that drive us.
Governance Structure
East End Women’s Museum started out as a Community Interest Company (CIC), registered in November 2016. After a period of development and fundraising, we decided to register as a charity so we could raise the funds we need to open the museum, a natural and necessary next step for us.
In late 2019 several of the directors of the East End Women’s Museum CIC became trustees of a new Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). After creating a new constitution, in March 2020 the new East End Women’s Museum CIO was admitted onto the register of charities overseen by the Charity Commission.
The CIC and the CIO are separate organisations, but have the same name and are working toward similar goals. At the moment the two organisations run alongside one another, but over the coming months the original CIC will wind down its activities, and the charity will take on responsibility for delivering all of East End Women’s Museum programmes and activities.