Working Women
Saturday 12 March 2005 10am – 4.30pm
London Metropolitan Archives, 40, Northampton Road, London, EC1R 0HB
Conference fee: £15 including tea and coffee
Medieval London Silkwomen - Ruth Singer
This session will explore the lives and work of London’s independent
silkworkers, drawing on examples from the Joint Archives Service
collections as well as other surviving items and contemporary
illustrations.
Women Religious as Working Women in nineteenth-century England and Wales -
Carmen M. Mangion Catholic nuns contributed much to their local
communities and to society. Their activities ranged widely from teaching
and nursing to the administration of large institutions, establishing
themselves as strong, powerful advocates for their faith and for other
women.
Women making their way in the medical profession in London, 1850-1948 – Dr
Lesley A. Hall In spite of the hostility of the elite London medical
schools towards women and the difficulty women found in obtaining posts
once qualified, there were many opportunities for women doctors in the
metropolis. This paper explores the campaign for women’s entry into the
profession from the London perspective and how women went to make
successful metropolitan medical careers prior to the inception of the
National Health Service.
Working for Victory: A Diary of Life in a WWII Factory – Dr Sue Bruley In
1941 Kate Bliss and Elsie Whiteman were directed by the Ministry of Labour
to work in an aircraft component factory at the height of the war effort.
Between 1942 and 1944 the two women kept a joint diary providing insights
into life in a wartime factory, the destiny of one and half million
British women. Women entering the workforce brought about permanent
changes to attitudes to employment and the diaries reflect some of the
effects of new social and economic freedoms.
‘We want more than the promise of a dream’: The Ford sewing machinists’
strikes and the fight for equal pay in Britain – Charlotte Sands In 1968
women sewing machinists at Ford Motor Company went on strike. Ford had
regraded their jobs which had placed them below men doing the same work.
Their action led to the question of equal pay for women given much greater
importance within trade unions, spawned a number of other strikes by women
workers for equal pay and led to the government introducing the Equal Pay
Act of 1970. However the Ford sewing machinists had to take strike action
again in 1984 to actually win their regrading claim. This session explores
the history of the strikes and the fight for women’s equal pay in Britain.
To Book:
Call 020 7332 3820 or E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Write to: Interpretation (WW), London Metropolitan Archives, 40,
Northampton Road, London, EC1R 0HB.
Cheques should be made payable to: The Corporation of London.
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