A Few Forgotten Women Fridays
Every few months we host a collaborative research day known as A Few Forgotten Women Friday. The aim is to work collectively, together with others who are interested in our work, to research a group of women from an institution, a group of institutions, or data set. Some will be very difficult to trace and little if anything will be found, others we hope will become full stories for our website.
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We announce each A Few Forgotten Women Friday on our blog and on social media, asking volunteers to contact us to say that they would like to accept the challenge. Each volunteer is allocated one of the women or girls from our chosen institution or data set. They then use their research skills to find out as much as possible about that woman during A Few Forgotten Women Friday and the few days that follow. When they feel that they have found all they can, they write up the details and report back to us by the deadline given. We do appreciate that it might not be possible to find anything beyond the single snapshot of the women in the record set we are using. You can look at the stories from our website for examples. All the stories remain the copyright of the author and can be used elsewhere but we may add to, or amend, the stories if more information comes to light.​
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Volunteers receive details of their allocated woman or girl by an email that is sent at 6am (London time) on the appointed day. Volunteers don't have to start at 6am; we appreciate that some people have different availabilities and time zones. Hopefully, the quest can begin at some point during the appointed day; even if the research continues for a few days afterwards. Volunteers can keep in touch with their progress during the day on X (Twitter), Mastodon or Facebook, where we ask that they please use the dedicated thread, rather than starting a new comment. We hope that volunteers will tag us on social media, using the hashtag #FewForgottenWomen. Participants will also be sent a Zoom link and can, if they wish, drop in and out for advice, support and general chat about progress. The Zoom room is open from 8am until 9pm. Some will stay all day and research alongside us. Volunteers can also email for help at any time.
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If you can't wait for the next A Few Forgotten Women Friday, then how about taking part in our perpetual collaborative project A Few Forgotten Women Friday Everyday.
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Here are the institutions and data sets that have been the subject of A Few Forgotten Women Fridays. Click on the institution below to find the biographies that resulted.
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Leeds Girls' Industrial School, Leeds, Yorkshire 1856-1871 - January 2023
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St. Joseph’s Inebriate Reformatory, Ashford, Middlesex and Farmfield Reformatory for Inebriate Women, Horley, Surrey - March 2023
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Cheshire County Training College - August 2023
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The School of Housewifery at The Grange, Street, Somerset - November 2023
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The Fleming Children's Hospital, Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne - April 2024
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Refuges for Fallen Women - 8 November 2024
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Inmates of Dorchester Prison, Dorset - forthcoming 4 April 2025
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Women born in 1819 - forthcoming 11 July 2025
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Women working in the linen industry in Northern Ireland - forthcoming 17 October 2025
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Institutions that are part of A Few Forgotten Women Friday Everyday
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