Having an incredible group of women leading our Senior Management team at Shoreditch Town Hall inspired us to think about the connection of women to the history of our building. In the summer of 2023, we worked with Jessica Ihejetoh, the Arts and Heritage Producer at Oxford House with a huge passion for historical buildings, to carry out research into the history of women and Shoreditch Town Hall.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing Jessica’s research with you in celebration of Women’s History Month – read on for her introduction to the series.
Town Halls are buildings that many of us encounter during life’s many rituals. Like the areas they serve, town halls have their own distinctive identities. Some are huge red brick Victorian fortresses, others are art deco marvels, and a few are modernist cubes which are camouflaged into our high streets.
Sitting on the same busy corner of Old Street since 1865, Shoreditch Town Hall is one of these buildings. Today it is a busy cultural hub with a mixed programme of performances and activities. However, as its name implies, it once stood at the heart of civic business for a century. On top of its listed building stands a statue of ‘Lady Progress’. It acts as a metaphor for the council’s early ambitions but also serves as a reminder that progress can be a struggle of opposing forces. If we look closely at this statue, we notice Lady Progress also holds a torch, bears an axe and wears a helmet, reflecting this process.
Shoreditch Town Hall has been a crucial convening space for women throughout its long history. Searching for women’s stories here takes us down several interesting paths including Shoreditch Town Hall’s building itself. It will also lead you to CLR James Library in Dalston, where some of its historic records are held. If archives are evidence of the past, archivists are the detectives who help to piece together the story. Guided by Hackney’s helpful archivists, you’ll delve into Victorian choir programmes, wartime letters and giant red ‘lettings books’, all providing clues into the women who came before.
This series of articles is by no means a comprehensive survey of women’s history at Shoreditch Town Hall. Instead, it aims to offer an insight into how women across different backgrounds have used Shoreditch Town Hall as a platform to share their campaigns, creativity and ideas. This makes for a fascinating historical rollcall of groundbreaking Victorian reformers, riveting suffragettes, grass root campaigners and dynamic artists over the decades.
We’ll be sharing more of Jessica’s research over the coming weeks – keep an eye on our Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok!