Trailer – On the Record: Working women in history

Jessamy Carlson:

They say a woman’s work is never done... but it has evolved over time.

To mark Women’s History Month, I want to take a very long view of working women, their jobs, their conditions, their struggles and their resilience.

This is On The Record at The National Archives, uncovering the past through stories of everyday people.

I’m Jessamy Carlson, the family, local and community history specialist at The National Archives.

In this episode of On the Record, I’m asking three historians to join me in the studio to explore the lives of working women over the centuries, using some of the collections we hold here at The National Archives in Kew.

From medieval women....

Kath Maude:

She's kind of advertising her widowed status by having the widow's headdress. And she also is wearing quite a low-cut dress on her seal. So there's this image of her kind of saying, I am I am financially independent.

Jessamy:

...to the first women police officers...

Lisa Berry-Waite:

But before 1923 women didn't have the power to arrest anyone. So Lillian talks about how if she wanted to arrest anyone, she had to then go and very quickly find a male police officer to come and help her arrest someone.

Jessamy:

....and the women who went on strike for better pay and conditions.

Vicky Iglikowski-Broad:

“We are fighting a great fight equal pay for women. We at Fords have started the ball rolling. Our unions are backing us. Funds are coming in. We're all set for battle. Fords is the beginning. Soon it will be every industry in Britain out because of us women of Fords.”

The episode is coming soon, so hit follow or subscribe wherever you listen.