Every year, 8 March marks International Women’s Day – a day where we celebrate women’s achievements, raise awareness about discrimination and take action to drive gender parity. In today’s blog Louise Henrard, Project Coordinator for PATH project shares some of the work they have been doing with Aberdeen Archives, Gallery & Museums, University of Aberdeen and Central Library Archives to re-discover existing archival materials which are not part of our current local history narrative.
I have been working on the PATH Project for almost two years and it has been a pleasure to learn and share stories from communities who are often under-represented in mainstream history. The PATH project a community-led heritage project led by GREC (Grampian Regional Equality Council) and Four Pillars. Both organisations work respectively with Grampian's ethnic minority communities and LGBT+ communities. PATH stands for Prejudice and Solidarity Achieved Throughout History.
Over the last 2 years, we have worked with volunteers to focus on topics which were of interest to them and their communities. One of these topics was centred around the experiences and lives of ethnic minority women in Aberdeen during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries (specifically, from the late 1980s to the early 2000s). Jolanta, a PATH Volunteer, who started the research particularly focused on the historical significance of the Aberdeen Women’s Centre.
Leaflet for Aberdeen Women's Centre, c. 1989 - 2004, Aberdeen City & Shire Archives
The Aberdeen Women’s Centre provided a safe space for women in the city, offered various classes, provided specialised information and organised events and conferences on women’s issues. It opened in 1989 and successfully ran for more than 10 years before closing its doors in 2004. It was one of the first organisations in the city dedicated to supporting women from minority ethnic backgrounds.
English classes were provided every week, international cooking classes and group discussions for black and minority ethnic women were publicised regularly in the newspapers.
In 1995, a group of women from the centre organised “A Step Forward”, a one-day conference giving voice to the challenges and difficulties facing Black and Minority Women at the grass-roots level. They wanted for black and ethnic minority women’s needs to be taken seriously by service providers around the city.
photograph of Aberdeen Women's Centre c. 1989 - 2004, Aberdeen City & Shire Archives
I arrived in Aberdeen long after the Aberdeen Women's Centre closed but I am glad I learned about the centre and the initiatives organised by women for women. Learning about past campaigns, highlighting how they approached issues which still affect women today, as well as seeing how they overcame challenges can inspire us to continue to work towards equality.
“We believe in creating a world in which all women can achieve their full potential free from oppression. ”
Aberdeen Women's Centre philosophy statement
As part of PATH, we want to learn from the past but also have an impact in the present. Join us on Saturday 9 March for our International Women's Day 2024 event at Aberdeen Art Gallery (Learning Space). We'll be hearing from women of faith about their experiences and will be discussing this year's theme of Inspiring Inclusion. You can register on Eventbrite or email myself at lhenrard@grec.co.uk for more information.
PATH is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
