The inspiration for this project evolved from –
- reading the book Hidden from History: 300 Years of Women’s Oppression and the Fight Against It, by Sheila Rowbotham
- reflecting on the words of Virginia Woolf: “For most of history, Anonymous was a woman”
- the quote “Each time a girl opens a book and reads a womanless history, she learns she is worth less” Myra Pollack Sadker – Educator, researcher, author, professor, advocate for education equity
- learning about wider local HERstory gradually coming to light, including through the work of Sonya Robotham, Director, Vox Feminarum and Derby People’s History group and the campaign for recognition of Alice Wheeldon, the first and only woman to be celebrated with a historical blue plaque in Derby
- the lack of women and women’s contributions featured in local museum collections, statues and the naming of public buildings and streets
- a few clues – some people with memories of IWD Derby in the 1980s, talk of a mural created for IWD Derby in the 90s
- curiosity
- a conversation between Vanessa Boon, Chair of International Women’s Day Derby and Rosa Straw, Director of Culture Train about how the local history of IWD might be researched and uncovered
- finding only 2 indexed references to IWD Derby in the Local Studies Library despite knowing there had been news coverage of events since at least the 1990s
Derby HERstory 