The sixth National Women’s Liberation Movement conference, held in Edinburgh in 1974, was a significant one. It led to the adoption of the fifth and sixth demands of the WLM: for legal and financial independence for all women; and the right to a self-defined sexuality.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the conference a number of organisations, including GENDER.ED at the University of Edinburgh and Women’s History Scotland, have come together to organise a series of public engagement events and blog posts on the history of the 1974 conference and its relevance for feminist activism today. The project involves collecting memories of the event and situating them within wider historical and contemporary contexts; and to connect past with present and future campaigns. More information about the project.

One of the events is an evening reception and panel discussion with speakers including writer Zoe Fairbairns and Furrah Riaz from the Muslim Women’s Resource Centre. It is taking place on Friday 21 June in Edinburgh. More information and booking.

Author Ajay Close is returning to Leeds in June to discuss her novel What Doesn’t Kill Us, about feminists in Leeds at the time of the Peter Sutcliffe murders. Her talk is part of the Leeds Lit Fest and takes place at the Leeds Library, 4pm on Saturday 15 June. Tickets £6. Information and booking.

 

We are delighted to have received a donation of two prints of Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp by the artist Helen C. Houlston. They were donated by Tony Hall, who bought them in 1984 at a fundraising event for Greenham held in Northumberland.

Ajay Close did some of the research for her latest novel at Feminist Archive North. What Doesn’t Kill Us explores the story of Reclaim the Night and the Women’s Liberation Movement in Leeds, and reveals just how much the world has changed since the 1970s – and how much it hasn’t.

Ajay will be in conversation with Diana Muir, a junior reporter on the Yorkshire Evening Post in 1978, and copies of the book will be available on the night.

Wednesday 13 March, 6.30pm-7.30pm, Leeds Central Library, Room 700. Tickets are pay as you feel. Booking

 

If so, a new research project would love to hear from you!

A new research project at the University of Birmingham is exploring the history of sexual health in Britain from 1918 to 1980. A big part of this project involves the collection of oral history interviews with people who used or worked in sexual health clinics in this period.

At the end of the project in 2025, the oral histories will be deposited with the British Library and will form an exciting new collection on sexual health and wellbeing. This research will also help improve training and patient care today. More information about the project can be found here.

If you are interested in participating, or would like more details about the project, please contact Dr Claire Martin at c.martin.6@bham.ac.uk.