LSE’s Library series for “LSE Women: making history” highlights women’s stories in some of the archives and special collections held at LSE. Gillian Murphy shares her experience curating Women, Peace and Equality. Posts about LSE’s Library explore the history of the Library and its collections.
Ooh…I’m related to her. That’s my aunt!
This was the excited reaction of a woman attending a gallery talk on Women, Peace and Equality. This visitor was related to Amelia Scott and she had been unaware that her aunt’s archive was held within the Women’s Library collection at LSE.
Amelia Scott lived in Tunbridge Wells. She and her sister, Louisa, provided much needed support for Belgians who had fled to England during the First World War. The displaced Belgian refugees expressed their gratitude by creating a beautiful album of thank-you poems, letters and paintings for Amelia and Louisa. Albert, King of the Belgians, also recognised Amelia’s work in 1929 when he awarded her the Golden Palm of the Order of the Crown, a prestigious civilian award that could be bestowed on non-Belgians.
Mounting exhibitions has provided me with the exciting opportunity to research the archive material held by the LSE Library. As an archivist, I have catalogued numerous collections which has involved the skills of skimming and summarising what is there quickly. As a curator, however, I now have greater scope to examine the content of the collections, seeking the best exhibition pieces to tell people’s stories, or things that have outstanding visual appeal.
Exhibitions provide the Library with a “shop window” to promote the many collections that it holds. People might expect to see material related to women peace activists included in an exhibition entitled “Women, Peace and Equality”. Such material, from the Greenham Common collection, had already featured in Library’s first exhibition “Campaigning” but the Library holds many other collections on disarmament. One such collection is European Nuclear Disarmament (END) which Mary Kaldor, Professor of Professor of Global Governance at LSE, was instrumental in setting up in 1980. A choice item from this collection is Mary’s memo saying she was unable to attend a meeting because she had to finish her book. Her memo then went on to outline what was needed to create a democratic British END.
“Women, Peace and Equality” is about rather more than campaigning for nuclear disarmament. It is focussed on the simple human rights of women in war. Other interesting and colourful items in the exhibition are the leaflets and posters from UN conferences that mark important milestones in the history of the women, peace and security campaign. They hold significant messages and themes relating to women’s peace activism which still hold resonance today – “Looking at the world through women’s eyes” and “Making the world better for women”.
Posts about LSE Library explore the history of the Library, our archives and special collections.
