We have three events to look forward to in March, beginning with a special afternoon at the Foundling Museum on Sunday 8 March to celebrate International Women’s Day. We hope you can join us for an afternoon of talks on the theme of 18th-Century Women: Struggle, Fame or Fortune.
Covering topics such as mothers and children, women and the army, actors and writers, risk, sensation and exposure, and the law and society’s attitudes to transgression, these talks will shine a light on women’s history through the lens of the Museum’s Collection. The talks are free with Museum admission.
The talks will be taking place in the Picture Gallery between 2 – 4pm, followed by half an hour of informal discussion and refreshments in the Study Studio.
Itinerary & speakers (2pm to 4pm):
Miriam Al Jamil Introduction
Julie Peakman ‘From Streetwalkers to Courtesans: Sex in 18th-Century London’
Ellie Gregory ‘The Experiences of London Foundling Hospital Mothers, 1739-1782’
Emma Piercy-Wright ‘An Aspirational Elegy: Memory and Hope in a Mother-of-pearl Pineapple Token’
Trudie Messent ‘Oceans Apart: A Mother’s Dilemma’
Carolyn Williams ‘Abandoning Her Baby to Save Her Reputation: Tom Jones’s Real Mother’
Julia Martins ‘The Pen and the Scalpel: Fanny Burney and the Female Experience of 18th-Century Surgery’
Miriam Al Jamil ‘The Lure of a Redcoat’: Women and the Militia’
Nora Rodriguez ‘Isabella, Duchess of Manchester’
Jean G-Owen ‘Readings of Poetry: Risk, Sensation, and Exposure’
Charmian Kenner ‘Writing Our Own History: A Feminist Memoir for My Granddaughters’
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In March we will also be hosting two online seminars in our usual Thursday evening slots. Please visit our seminars page and scroll down for full abstracts. In summary:
Women's Studies Group 1558 - 1837 