Women's History Month

In this new online exhibition on Google Arts & Culture in association with Imperial War Museums, we take a look at women's contribution to the war effort, focussing on eight women whose lives changed when they started undertaking work in traditionally male roles over the course of the Second World War.

This used new research, and untold stories from women in Tyneside as part of the Imperial War Museum's Second World War and Holocaust Partnership Programme (SWWHPP) across the UK to engage with new audiences and share hidden or lesser-known, local stories. 

The Female Form Though Time examines how women have been artificially changing the shape of their bodies for centuries to follow fashion, through Discovery Museum's Costume collection.

An online exhibition in association with Google Arts & Culture - click here to view.

This 4 minute films delivers a unique behind-the-scenes perspective and curator's insight into the intricacies of Victorian underwear.

In this blog post Assistant Keeper of History Gemma Ashby takes a look at the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS). The recruitment posters urged women to ‘Join the Wrens & free a man for the fleet’. The messaging worked to such a great extent that some women believed they would be directly taking the place of a man within the Royal Navy. 

Read it here. 

This new blog post Women at work during the Second World War is by Katie Wright, Digital Intern from the Second World War and Holocaust Partnership Programme (SWWHPP) with the Imperial War Museums (IWM). 

As part of this project we have been examining diverse stories of war on Tyneside. This blog takes a look at the new roles and challenges women undertook when a large part of the wartime male workforce was unavailable due to the ongoing conflict.

Read Women at work during the Second World War here.

Here in this short film acclaimed author Henrietta Heald highlights Discovery Museum's largest exhibit - Charles Parsons’ Turbinia, the world’s first steam turbine powered ship, which changed the face of maritime history and in 1897 was the fastest ship in the world.

Henrietta highlights the main contributions of Rachel Parsons, his daughter, who was the first woman to study Mechanical Sciences at Cambridge University and who co-founded the Women's Engineering Society  in 1919 with her mother Katharine and Caroline Haslett.