Conference: Voices of Women in the Great War and its Aftermath

The Black Country Living Museum

2 Tipton Rd, Dudley DY1 4SQ

13-14 April 2018

Although the Great War is often seen as a time of change, offering new opportunities for women and culminating in 1918 in the extension of the franchise to many, the conflict was not experienced in the same way by all. Class, region, age and marital status all shaped women’s lives during the war and after.

Working opportunities on the land, in munitions, clerical work, transport services and the armed forces gave young women in particular a chance to experience a modicum of freedom.

The majority of women were housewives in wartime, supporting and worrying about their loved ones in the armed forces and undertaking voluntary work. The war created new problems as women struggled to feed their families, care for children and make ends meet; struggles which often continued in the inter-war years.

This conference seeks to explore the multiplicity of women’s voices during the war and in the years that followed. It will look at the mundane and the extraordinary, the domestic and working worlds, the political and private, in order critically to examine elements of continuity and change and to consider what was to become the legacy of the Great War for women.

You can watch a short video about the conference. The draft programme is available here.

We are delighted to announce that our KEYNOTE speakers will include ELIZABETH CRAWFORD, independent researcher; DR DEBORAH THOM of Robinson College, Cambridge; and Dr SIAN ROBERTS of the University of Birmingham.

On the Friday evening, you and your families are invited to join us for our 1918 Centenary Jamboree!

During this social evening, the museum will be open to all for a family friendly evening exploring what life was like in the West Midlands in 1918, the last year of First World War, as women were enfranchised and peace came to the area at last. Visitors can view films, exhibitions and re-enactors, enter our quizzes or the Suffrage Bake-off, taste the Black Country Museum’s famous fish and chips and listen to live music from Merrie Noise and the Trench Choir.

Details for entering the Suffrage Bake-Off can be found here.

For more information and to book please visit Eventbrite