On New Year’s Day 1875, Louisa Henson, a warder or prison officer at the City House of Correction in Holloway, spent a long dreary day on duty before writing the first entry in her new diary. Over the next 18 months she recorded her increasing unhappiness at work alongside personal and national news. Faith was an... Continue Reading →
Blog
Object Focus: Red Book
The Echoes of Holloway Prison project collected stories and objects from Holloway Prison. As part of our Object Focus series, Katherine Roberts, a project volunteer, tells us about her personal reaction to the Holloway Red Book. 'Motherhood' has come to the fore over and over again as a key theme in the stories from Holloway Prison and, from my perspective, has been a source of frequent... Continue Reading →
Blackguards and Bonnets
Curator Roz Currie writes about the Jewish suffragettes held at Holloway Prison. In 2015, while working at the Jewish Museum, I put on the exhibition ‘Blackguards and Bonnets’ exploring the story of Jewish suffragettes. I found myself inspired by the many stories of women who had fought for the vote. These included Dora Montefiore who... Continue Reading →
Talk: Minnie Lansbury – her life and times
Author and activist Janine Booth presented a illustrated talk at Finsbury Library on the life and times of one of her heroines, former Holloway prisoner Minnie Lansbury (1889-1922). Susan, a project volunteer, recaps the event: Janine opened the talk by outlining Minnie's background and upbringing in the immigrant Jewish community of the East End of London.... Continue Reading →
Workshop: The Empty Space of Holloway Prison
The workshop ‘The Empty Space of Holloway Prison’ was run by sociologist Carly Guest and criminologist Rachel Seoighe of Middlesex University. Carly and Rachel recap the experience of leading the session: We have been researching the lived experience of Holloway and the impact of its closure since 2016, and have been involved in various ways... Continue Reading →
Talk: Bad Girls by Caitlin Davies
Caitlin Davies, novelist, award-winning journalist and author of 'Bad Girls - A History of Rebels and Renegades', gave a talk at the Cat and Mouse Library and Finsbury Library about 'Suffragettes at Holloway Prison'. Volunteer Susan writes about the event. Caitlin opened her talk by discussing about her long-standing fascination with Holloway Prison and how she had always wondered... Continue Reading →
Dirt EP Launch
Artist in Residence Hannah Hull produced an EP, called DIRT, as part of the Echoes of Holloway Project.Volunteer Sam Marland writes about the EP Launch Event: Artist in Residence of the Echoes of Holloway Prison project, Hannah Hull, took to Newington Green’s historic Unitarian Church with her band Burning Salt to launch their concept EP... Continue Reading →
Holloway: a network
Many of our volunteers have undertaken research to develop our understanding of Holloway and the stories we are collecting. Meg Deschamps writes about some of the organisations which sprung up around Holloway: One of the overriding themes taken away from the Echoes of Holloway Prison project, is the idea of Holloway as a network –... Continue Reading →
Sisters Uncut ‘Reclaiming Holloway’ Workshop
Volunteer Meg Deschamps writes about her experience of attending a workshop led by Sisters Uncut in 2018: As part of the Echoes of Holloway Prison exhibition events programme, a North London Sisters Uncut representative ran a ‘Reclaiming Holloway’ workshop at Islington Museum, to address issues surrounding women’s prisons, as well as the group’s occupation of... Continue Reading →
