This course will take place in person.
This in-person course introduces less well-known subjects, whose lives are documented in the special collections at Bishopsgate Institute. Drawing on original historical sources such as letters, photographs, and scrapbooks, we’ll get to know upwards of twenty ‘forgotten women’ among them campaigners, community workers, pacifists, politicians, sex workers, and secretaries.
Who is this course for?
- Anyone curious to discover the experiences of a range of twentieth-century British women whose lives are documented in our archives
- Informal learners seeking an accessible and engaging introduction to women’s lives and experiences
- Activists seeking information about the background to contemporary feminism
- Creatives, historians, and writers looking for fresh ideas and inspiration for projects
What can I expect?
- The subject is examined through hundreds of original sources from Bishopsgate Institute’s special collections, many of them rare and some unique (e.g. playing cards, unpublished autobiographies, scrapbooks, campaigning ephemera)
- The tutor provides an overview of the historical materials
- Questions and activity ideas provide focus and support the research process
- Students have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the sources, which have been arranged in curated sets to represent themes relevant to ‘Forgotten Women’
- Students spend time with each set of materials, with the tutor on hand to give guidance and answer questions
- A timeline handout provides historical background and context
- Facilitated, informal group discussions offer a chance to share findings and reflect on ‘then’ and ‘now’ contrasts.
How we’re keeping you safe
April 2022 update: Keeping you safe and healthy is our number one priority.
If you test positive for Covid-19 or are asked to isolate and are not able to attend your class or pre-booked event, please contact the Bishopsgate Box Office for further information (enquiries@bishopsgate.org.uk). Please do not come to the Institute in person if you have symptoms or have tested positive.
Wearing a face mask is no longer compulsory but we ask you to consider others when in our building and especially when spending time in crowded and enclosed spaces where you come into contact with people you don’t normally meet. You will see many of our staff and volunteers continuing to wear face masks and we are keeping the perspex screens at our reception desks.
Bishopsgate Institute has strict cleaning protocols in place and ventilation throughout the building. There are hand-sanitising stations available throughout the building and touch-free drinking fountains. Find out more about how we’re keeping you safe.
Bursary places
We provide a number of funded bursaries to people who find it hard to pay the full or concessionary rates. Find out more information on how to apply.
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You will learn
- To see feminism differently through an increased understanding of its history and development since c.1900
- How women’s history interacts with wider social and political histories
- The unique and often uplifting stories of women struggling individually and collectively towards recognition, equality and self-realisation
- The joys and challenges of researching the past using original historical materials.
Meet the Tutor
Dr Michelle Johansen
Dr Michelle Johansen is a social historian specialising in the history of modern London, with a particular emphasis on social class and mobility, gender, professional lives, and regional identities. Her publications include articles in Teaching History, the London Journal, and Cultural and Social History. Michelle has more than ten years' experience of delivering learning sessions at Bishopsgate Institute for all types of learners, from primary school pupils to undergraduates to informal adult learners. Her teaching approach places the emphasis on access to original historical documents, which provides a uniquely dynamic and immersive classroom experience.
