Two Irish Colleens talking after a hard day cutting peat and transporting it back to their humble cottage. Barefoot, wearing a cloak and clothes probably made out of ‘homespun’ cloth. Who knows what they were chatting about; definitely not if anyone in the future would remember them or write about them. But people did, do, and will do in the future. The history of Irish women is multi-faceted and fascinating; I only touch one area of Irish women’s history as an a historian but many touch on all aspects that have affected Irish women’s lives over the last few centuries.
Resources, Sources, and Courses – Getting to Grips with Irish Women’s History
Irish female historians have been making waves since the 19th century with historians such as Emily Lawless, Alice Stopford Green, Mary Hayden etc. paving the way for historians of Irish history and inspiring generations of future Irish historians. And as any historian will let you know finding a place that collates resources, sources, and courses (I couldn’t resist an alliteration!) for their particular discipline can be hazardous if that discipline is either niche or under-researched.
Thursday Thoughts – Saving the Past: The Thomas Cook Archive and What Should Be Saved
With sadness the world learned about the demise of the world’s oldest travel company; Thomas Cook after a last minute bid to secure the company’s future failed on Sunday. Stories of people trapped abroad and airline staff learning they had lost their jobs whilst in the air have littered the news over the past few days. As an historian the first thing that came to my mind was what is going to happen to the Thomas Cook Archive?
Bauhaus 100: Otti Berger, Lost Woman of the Bauhaus
Otti Berger, photographed by Lucia Moholy, 1927, design-is-fine.org
2019 marks the 100th anniversary of the Bauhaus; the seminal art school that would change how we perceive and interpret art forever. The Bauhaus is seen as one of the most important influences on how art, design, architecture and arts education was perceived, developed and created in the twentieth century and twenty-first century. The Bauhaus embraced both crafts and fine art to make a complete piece of art. However, as pioneering as the Bauhaus was they were not as pioneering in their attitudes towards women students with many being forced into the weaving workshop. Although, one such female student became enthralled with weaving and went onto become one of the twentieth centuries most famous textile artists; Otti Berger.
Through the Lens of a Woman: Eva Chichester and Amateur Photography c.1890-1920
Eva Chichester was a Sunday School teacher born and raised in Newcastle, County Down c.1872 and passed away c.1955. Her life spanned the end of the 19th century and saw the advances for women from the early 20th century to her death in 1955 aged 83. Eva was born into a well-to-do middle-class family and appears from photographs to be her parents only child. Although it is worthwhile noting that little is known about Eva’s life outside of her photographs, albums and travel journals that are now deposited in the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI). A systematic problem that is all to common with women’s history that scant details of their lives exist and we are left to pick up the pieces from what records do survive from their lives.
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