Beamish is a living open-air museum located in the Durham countryside. The museum celebrated International Women’s Day on the 8th and 10th of March.
On these dates, everyone had the chance to join in with Beamish Museum’s Suffragette rallies at the 1900s town. They could also learn about the role of women and what life was like in North East England during the 1820s, 1900s and 1940s at the different areas around the museum.
Sian Fox, the Community Events Officer at Beamish Museum said: “International Women’s Day has been celebrated in the UK since 1910 and it was just a chance for women to come together. They used to campaign for equal rights, their chance to vote and then it became a global celebration of women on that day, every year.”
She added: “That equality is still a little way off. We need to keep fighting, keep supporting each other. It’s about building each other up, we need to stop tearing each other down.”
Ms. Fox said that her mother is the woman who inspires her. Despite being a single mother, she educated herself in the evenings after finishing her work.
She also added: “International Women’s Day is significant because it is that chance to come together and to celebrate things as a whole across the world, not just in a singular country.”
Jess Eddy, the town and pit life engager at Beamish Museum remarked that we do not have true equality, even though there are laws which should enforce it. She believes that it is our social attitude that needs to change.
Ms. Fox commented that there are problems in the representation of parliament where there is not a 50-50 split between men and women MPs. There is some progress left to be made.
Ms. Eddy remarked: “especially around International Women’s Day, the message is that we need to be inclusive and all work together. That is how we are going to move forward and ensure equality.”