16 Dec Historic Essex arts project gets green light
A new arts project is set to celebrate the diverse and inspirational stories of Essex women through history.
Essex County Council’s Cultural Development Team has secured a grant of £95,445 from the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund for a two year project working with museums across the county, entitled Snapping the Stiletto: Re-Examining Essex Collections.
It will culminate in 2018, when exhibitions will launch commemorating a century since the first British women were given the vote, 90 years since all women were given the vote and 50 years since the Dagenham Ford Workers’ Strike.
The project covers ‘historic Essex’, including those areas which are now unitary authorities or part of London.
The project partners will research and record how Essex women’s lives have changed during the last century and celebrate stories of individuals and groups of women in the county. This will include Suffrage campaigners and Dagenham strikers but the project is equally as interested in women whose stories aren’t yet so well known.
Cllr John Spence, Essex County Council Cabinet Member with responsibility for Heritage, Culture and Art, said: “I am delighted that we have been awarded funding to work with our museum partners in order to shed further light on the fascinating and important history of women in Essex and I am very much looking forward to hearing about the inspirational stories that will be uncovered.”
