Rooms Of Our Own
A project to reveal the hidden ‘herstory’ of the Pankhurst Centre at Manchester Histories' brand new permanent space at Manchester Central Library
October 11 2022 – January 3 2023
We are delighted to be partnering with The Pankhurst Trust for a brand new exhibition – Rooms of Our Own
Rooms of Our Own is a National Lottery Heritage Funded project to reveal the hidden ‘herstory’ of the Pankhurst Trust. The exhibition displays the Pankhurst Trust’s organisational archive, now preserved for the public to access for the first time in Archives+. It will also premier a film Is the Fight Over? made by young people in response to the archive. You can also view the film below, or on our YouTube Channel.
Although now recognised internationally as a site of historic importance, as the former home of Emmeline Pankhurst and the place from where the suffragette movement was born, for many years the Pankhurst Centre’s significance was overlooked. It was thanks to women’s activism that the quest began in the 1970s to save the building, which faced the very real threat of demolition in 1978. This hard-fought campaign, and the vision that led to the creation of a museum and feminist hub, has never been fully explore until now.
The key focus of Rooms of Our Own project is the Pankhurst Centre archive, with volunteers aged 18-25 working on the documents and photographs which already exist, as well as capturing the stories and voices of campaigners and project workers from the 1970s to 2014. You can listen to the oral history interviews here. As it progresses the project will use the archive to inspire creativity, including the making of original digital artwork, music and film.
The Manchester Histories Hub is our brand new welcoming and inspirational space that has a focus on wellbeing and will highlight lesser-known histories and heritage through exhibitions, performances, installations, workshops, and events. It is a place for people to come together to reveal and celebrate Greater Manchester’s rich and diverse histories. Rooms of Our Own is the first of many exhibitions that will feature in the Hub, along with a full programme of events.
The hub is located on the lower ground floor of Manchester Central Library, next to the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre.
