Strangely, the East End Women’s Museum actually sprang to life in Cardiff, one sunny afternoon in the summer of 2015. That’s where I was, when I heard about the Jack the Ripper Museum opening in London.
Feeling bold, I asked my friend Sarah Jackson if she wanted to join me in making a museum - one that celebrated east London’s women in life, not just their murders. A pop-up, an event maybe: just something. Anything would be better than the macabre sideshow they’d unveiled on Cable Street.
Sarah, in her wisdom, asked the internet if they wanted to help, and within a week, we had around 800 offers of support. By the end of that month, the New York Times had been in touch, asking when we were opening. Things had well and truly got out of hand - in a good way, we reasoned. The East End Women’s Museum was born.
This was at the launch of our exhibition with Hackney Museum - the place was absolutely packed to the rafters with people laughing, sharing memories and exploring the museum. I think someone took to the podium and called for a general strike at some point? Good times!
We cracked on with our museum-making - giving talks, working on exhibitions, collecting histories, joining protests; working with community groups, established heritage organisations and museums, academics, activists and members of the public.
Taking inspiration from the women of east London’s past, we took our museum to the streets, into spaces where larger institutions wouldn’t tread. We had difficult, emotional conversations, collecting ‘everyday’ histories in markets, squats and protests. We were also in British Vogue at some point. It was a bit of a rollercoaster.
We wanted our museum-making to be meaningful - but also exciting, enjoyable, irreverent and, as we wrote into our first constitution, ‘never boring’. In fact, we got so bored of being called ‘strong women’ events that we decided to take it literally, installing a fairground strength-testing machine in Barking town square, where anyone could come and take a quick smash at the patriarchy. We made banners, shared food, and as a tiny team we worked around the clock to solve problems, raise money, and keep our little museum going.
Drawing of the proposed East End Women’s Museum building, made by Manalo and White, after consultation with over 2,000 community members in Barking and Dagenham and beyond.
Six years later, I am in awe of how impactful that afternoon was, not only in establishing the first museum dedicated to the histories of women and girls in England and Wales; but in changing my life, too. It has brought so many wonderful women into my life - caring, creative, competent, imaginative, inclusive and extremely determined women.
What we have achieved together so far has been beyond anything I could have ever imagined when I pressed ‘send’ on that sunny afternoon. I want to say diolch o galon - a heartfelt thanks - to every single one.
So. From this month, I’ll be stepping down from the Board of East End Women’s Museum: it’s been an absolutely wild ride, and one I wouldn’t change for the world - but it’s time for me to take a breath. The past two years have been life-changing for many of us, myself included - and I’ve come to realise that rest and reflection are a part of the activist’s toolkit, just as imagination, action, history and community-building are, too.
The museum’s plans for the future are ambitious - we have never done things by half measures, and seeing the architectural plans for our new building a few weeks ago absolutely floored me (as, fittingly, did seeing the flooring samples - this was real!). We are so, so close to achieving our aim.
We still need your support to get there: raising money for something as radical and necessary as a museum for women’s history is ridiculously hard work. It seems everyone wants an inclusive, enjoyable museum that kicks butts and sticks it to the patriarchy, but that’s yet to translate into us having enough donations to get over the finish line. That’s why, as my outgoing message as Co-Chair of East End Women’s Museum, I’m asking for your support: please donate to the East End Women’s Museum today and help us realise our aim of opening our doors in 2022. If you would like to discuss offering a one-off or regular gift, please get in touch with our Director, Rachel.
Every donation matters - this year has been particularly tough and your contributions really do keep us going. Please, give what you can and keep supporting us as we make history.