Women in the Archives

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE OF NORTHERN IRELAND 11 APRIL — 28 JUNE 2019 LINEN HALL LIBRARY 12 APRIL — 31 MAY 2019 FREE ADMISSION

WWW.MAKINGTHEFUTURE.EU

Female Factory Workers © PRONI D2334/7/6/1/8

WOMEN IN THE ARCHIVES

WOMEN IN THE ARCHIVES  Cover of Forget Me Not magazine, 1907. © Linen Hall Library.

Women in the Archives is a joint initiative between the Linen Hall Library and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) to uncover hidden female voices from their archives. Between them, they hold some of the key records and building blocks of women’s heritage in Ireland.

For the first time, the heritage organisations present two simultaneous exhibitions, Anonymous Was A Woman (Linen Hall Library) and In Her Words (PRONI), unveiling rarely before seen archives, collections and stories about women from throughout history.

The exhibitions will go on tour to libraries across Northern Ireland and border counties later this year.

Women in the Archives is one of nine stands that make up Making the Future, a new cross-border cultural programme from the Nerve Centre, National Museums NI, Public Record Office of Northern Ireland and Linen Hall Library.

Making the Future is a €1.82m project supported by the European Union’s PEACE IV Programme that will explore the legacy of the past and create a vision for future change.

Partners:

Funder:

Making the Future is a project supported by the European Union’s PEACE IV Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB).

 Cover of Forget Me Not magazine, 1907 © Linen Hall Library.

 © Linen Hall Library  Sapphowoman comic, created in 1989, depicting lesbian life in Belfast. © Linen Hall Library.

ANONYMOUS WAS A WOMAN Linen Hall Library 12 April — 31 May Anonymous Was A Woman charts the key events that have contributed to female equality and citizenship, in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Since the first female members of the Linen Hall Library in 1792, to the first woman holding the office of First Minister of Northern Ireland in 2016, there has been a major shift in women’s role in society. In the main, this has been achieved by the acquisition of rights for women through legislation and by the achievements of female pioneers. For many, the struggle continues to this day.

A timeline of female firsts makes its way up through the library, detailing moments that have informed the journey for women in Ireland. Zones on each floor explore some of the firsts in education, work and politics. The exhibition makes use of the library’s extensive collections and archive and will encourage you to explore more.

EVENTS IN HER WORDS EXHIBITION LAUNCH Thursday 11 April, 1pm PRONI In Her Words launches with a talk from curator Lynsey Gillespie and author Branagh McAtasney, better known as @NornIronGirl81, who will speak about the significance of diary writing and women’s stories.

ANONYMOUS WAS A WOMAN EXHIBITION LAUNCH AND HISTORY IRELAND HEDGE SCHOOL Friday 12 April, 6pm Linen Hall Library Anonymous Was A Woman will launch with a special History Ireland Hedge School, featuring Dr Margaret Ward, Dr Myrtle Hill, Donal Fallon and Baroness May Blood, chaired

by Tommy Graham, Editor of History Ireland.

WOMEN’S HISTORY ANTIQUES ROADSHOW Saturday 20 April, 10am – 3pm Linen Hall Library Bring along your artefacts and stories for a unique event focused on women’s stories from across Northern Ireland, and get hands on with how technology can be used to explore the past.

CHARLOTTE MCREYNOLDS: FASHION AND FEMINISM Wednesday 5 June, 2pm Linen Hall Library Charlotte McReynolds, National Museums NI Art Curator, explores the link between fashion and feminism, the topic of an exhibition at the Ulster Museum, Belfast.

EDWARD CARSON’S BETRAYAL OF WOMEN? Wednesday 12 June, 2pm Linen Hall Library Curator and historian Jason Burke uncovers unionist attitudes to female suffrage between 1912 and 1914.

ARCHIVAL ROADSHOWS PRONI Help PRONI capture the stories of women’s lives from across Northern Ireland over the last 100 years. Bring along items from home and let PRONI’s archivists help you to preserve collections for generations to come, through a number of themed days.

Thursday 25 April, 1 – 6pm Material relating to women’s participation in the Civil Rights Movement.

Thursday 16 May, 1 – 6pm

LECTURE: THE LETTERS OF MARY ANN MCCRACKEN

Material relating to women and the LGBTQ community.

Friday 26 April, 2pm Linen Hall Library

Thursday 20 June, 1 – 6pm

Cathryn McWilliams is a PhD researcher working on the letters of Mary Ann McCracken (1770-1866), an Irish political feminist, radical and philanthropist.

Material relating to women in minority communities in Northern Ireland.

CURATOR TOURS

OPENING TIMES

1 May, 22 May & 29 May, 2pm Linen Hall Library

Linen Hall Library Monday – Friday, 9.30am – 5.30pm

Join Jason Burke, Curator of Anonymous Was A Woman, for a guided tour of the exhibition.

Public Record Office of Northern Ireland Monday – Friday, 9am – 4.45pm (Thursdays 10am until 8.45pm)

All events are free to attend, please register at www.makingthefuture.eu

 Female factory workers c. 1940 © PRONI D333/E/3/8A  Gallagher girls spinning tobacco, 1900 © PRONI NF/7/B/2/4

IN HER WORDS Public Record Office of Northern Ireland 11 April — 28 June In Her Words brings forward the voices and experiences of unseen women, written by them in their own words, found in diaries and letters held by PRONI. This exhibition provides an intimate insight into the lives of these women, allowing them to speak for themselves and tell their own story. They are not women you are likely to have heard of before, they are everyday women, living their lives in the midst of history. Their words give us a glimpse into the reality of life for women, across a century.

Women, and their experiences, are not present in many historical documents. Letters, and diaries in particular, were the personal way that women were able to document their life experiences, their opinions, their interests, their hopes and their aspirations.

The letters and diaries in this exhibition are a representation of what is held in the PRONI archives, and the information that can be found within them. However, they are not even close to a full representation of women’s experiences in this part of the world over the last 150 years.

We may never be able to recover the stories of all these women – but will bring forward some of the voices we have found. Their time has come.

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