Strand: Women Make History

She Settles in the Shields

Published by Glasgow Women’s Library in 2011, She Settles in the Shields is a powerful oral history collection that honours the lives and stories of migrant women who made their homes in Pollokshields, Glasgow.

March of Women

In March 2015 a procession of women from Glasgow and beyond gathered at Glasgow Women’s Library to march through the streets of Bridgeton to celebrate the achievements of women past […]

Stride with Pride: LGBTQ Heritage Trail

LGBTQ+ people have been a part of Glasgow’s history as long as the city has existed. Although the histories of the LGBTQ+ community are often ignored or not recorded in […]

Vote 100: The Moving Story

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Representation of the People Act, GWL has developed an animated web resource highlighting the forgotten heroines who have campaigned for women across the world to have the right to vote.

These films are unique animations that showcase not only the achievements of these often overlooked women but also the rich talents of up-and-coming animators from across Scotland. An educational toolkit to accompany the animations will be launched later in the year.

Vote 100: The Films

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Representation of the People Act, GWL has developed an animated web resource highlighting the forgotten heroines who have campaigned for women across the world to have the right to vote.

The Vote 100: The Moving Story films are unique animations that showcase not only the achievements of these often overlooked women who campaigned for women’s right to vote, but also the rich talents of up-and-coming animators from across Scotland.

Vote 100: The Map

Explore the Vote 100: The Moving Story map to find the women who have campaigned for women’s right to vote around the world.

Vote 100: The Moving Story – Toolkit for Schools

Do you work with secondary school students? Would you like to use the Vote 100 films as a multimedia approach to the history of suffrage? Then check out our free, downloadable Vote 100: The Moving Story Toolkit!

Clydeside Women’s Heritage Bike Ride

  We launched our first Women’s Heritage Bike Ride in June 2014, as part of Glasgow Cycle Festival, and we hope to develop more in the future as there are […]

East End Women’s Heritage Bike Ride

Explore Glasgow’s vibrant East End by bike, following established cycle paths to landmarks linked to women’s cycling adventures, exploits and achievements.

One Small Step

Two women discover the Women Make History project and start their journeys towards becoming a Tour Guide and a Women’s History Detective. One Small Step from Glasgow Women's Library on […]

East End Women’s Heritage Walk

The women of Glasgow’s East End have always had to be industrious and resourceful simply to survive. This walk focuses on some of their achievements and struggles, and the radical nature of the area which gave birth to them.

Glasgow’s Women and the Necropolis

This walk based in the Glasgow Necropolis looks at the stories of both the notorious and the forgotten women who are buried in these atmospheric and ethereal surroundings.

Garnethill Women’s Heritage Walk

Garnethill is at the heart of Glasgow’s city centre but remains an unknown quarter for many. This walk takes in its grand tenements, painted gables, miniature park, synagogue and world […]

Suffragette City East Trail

To mark Vote 100, our Women Make History detectives have been researching Scottish suffragettes and have developed two trails round the east and west of Glasgow. In the early 1900s, […]

Suffragette City West Trail

Suffragettes have been honoured with trees and buildings (albeit temporarily) in the west of the city, but who were they? Our Suffrage City West Trail tells the stories of these women and more.

Women of the Gorbals Heritage Walk

The Women of the Gorbals Heritage Walk will take you on a time travelling journey from the Napoleonic Wars to the modern day New Gorbals.

Women of the Merchant City

The Merchant City’s hidden history is uncovered in this walk around Glasgow’s cosmopolitan hub, revealing the female stars that stud the fabric of this famous quarter.

West End Women’s Heritage Walk

This pioneering women’s heritage walk reveals a hidden history of the West End of Glasgow: pipe-smoking forewomen, revolting schoolmistresses, and the unique car made by and for women. A unique […]

Women Make History Group

This page is about the Women Make History research group – for information about our full range of current Women Make History events and projects, please visit the new Women […]

Heritage Walk Audio Tours

The West End Women’s Heritage Walk Audio Tour Following the huge success of our West End Women’s Heritage Walk and Map the Women Make History team has made history again […]

East End Women’s Heritage Walk Audio Tour

Following the huge success of our East End Women’s Heritage Walk and Map our Women Make History team has developed this into an audio version of this women’s heritage walk […]

French Spoken East End Audio Tour (Français)

Le tour guidé A la Découverte de l’Héritage Laissé par les Femmes dans l’East End de Glasgow a eu un tel succès que l’équipe dirigeant le projet intitulé ‘Les Femmes […]

Polish Spoken East End Audio Tour (Polski)

Po ogromnym sukcesie naszego Spaceru po East End śladami dziedzictwa kobiet (wraz z mapą), nasz zespół “Kobiety Tworzą Historię” postanowił stworzyć wersję audio tego spaceru po Glasgow. Jeśli chcesz dowiedzieć […]

German Spoken East End Audio Tour (Deutsch)

Aufgrund des riesigen Erfolges unseres Glasgower East End-Frauenspaziergangs mit Karte hat unser ‚Women Make History Team‘ eine Audioführung daraus entwickelt. Wenn Sie mehr über die Frauen erfahren wollen, die in […]

Women Making an Exhibition of Themselves

Glasgow Women’s Library is a unique resource in Scotland, housing a huge collection of materials by, for and about women. Until recently, the most visible aspect of the Library was […]

Women of Scotland

All over Scotland, in towns, villages and in the countryside, there are many types of memorials, large and small, commemorating the lives and achievements of women.

The Women of Scotland website was set up by Women’s History Scotland and Glasgow Women’s Library to record and map these memorials and the women they celebrate.

Women’s History Unwrapped with the Travelling Gallery Project

In August 2017, Travelling Gallery and Glasgow Women’s Library launched a new exhibition by artist Lauren Printy Currie. Travelling Gallery is a contemporary art space inside a bus, touring exhibitions […]

The Histories of Women in West Dunbartonshire in the 1950s and 1960s

Women Making History in West Dunbartonshire: About the Project Explore the Memory Box Memories: A Girl’s Career Memories: Those Were the Days Memories: A 1960s Wedding Memories: Home Life The […]

Explore the Memory Box

Women Making History in West Dunbartonshire: About the Project Explore the Memory Box     Leaving School     Entertainment     Fashion and Beauty     Home Life   […]

Voices from the Belvidere

Stories of Women from a First World War Fever Hospital Typhoid, Smallpox, Bubonic Plague, the Belvidere Fever Hospital on London Road treated them all. In our Heritage Lottery funded project, […]

Badges of Honour

How Badge-Wearing Women Changed the World Badges of Honour is a new Heritage Lottery funded project from Glasgow Women’s Library which will show how women wearing badges have changed the […]

Speaking Out

The Speaking Out Publication40 Years of Women’s Aid in Scotland Scottish Women’s Aid Archive History SafeA Toolkit for Preserving the History of Women’s Aid in Scotland The Speaking Out Learning […]

LGBTQ Collections Online Resource

Early Lesbian and Gay Publications Feminism and Lesbian Politics We Recruit!Campaigns and Organisations The Personal is PoliticalLesbian Life LGBTQ Life in Scotland Bibliography Welcome to our new online resource which […]

Explore Our Collections

An accredited museum, lending library and archive, the Library holds a rich and diverse collection of books, artefacts and archives exemplifying the lives of women, charting their historical and contemporary achievements and contributions, all donated by users, supporters, members and publishers.

The Archive Collection

The Archive collection is broadly comprised of three elements: Archives donated to GWL, the Lesbian Archive (formerly the LAIC), and GWL’s own archives. Archives Donated to GWL GWL collects the […]

Women Make History

A rich array of ways to discover the hidden histories of women.

Women’s Heritage Walks

Our Women’s Heritage Walks highlight the hidden histories of trailblazing, hardwork and ingenious women who have inhabited Glasgow over the centuries, from housewives to hawkers, artists to activists, and entrepreneurs to entertainers.

Discovering Women’s Heritage in Dennistoun

In October 2021, Glasgow Women’s Library and Lingo Flamingo invited women from Dennistoun to tell us about their own history and share their ideas about what parts of women’s history and lives in Dennistoun could be celebrated.

Women Making History in West Dunbartonshire

Women Making History in West Dunbartonshire is a year-long project that ran from 2014-2015. Previous to this, in 2009, a group of wonderful women met every Wednesday in a community centre in Clydebank and had invited Glasgow Women’s Library down to talk to their group about the library and women’s history. What became obvious during this meeting was that these women had a wealth of stories and life experiences rich with anecdote and humour that was its very own unique narrative, and that this narrative was often under-represented in the traditional view of West Dunbartonshire history.

The group decided that it was time to create something lasting that was created by the women of West Dunbartonshire for the West Dunbartonshire community. They created two unique memory boxes on the theme of women’s lives in the 1950s and 1960s, and they started gathering stories, including telling their own.

We Deserve a Medal: Militant Suffrage Activism

The fight for women’s suffrage in the UK grew and gained momentum throughout the Victorian era. WSPU activists, known as suffragettes, engaged in all sorts of law-breaking activities to raise the profile of the movement. At the time, these actions were considered shocking and divided public opinion, but suffragettes remained resolute. Thousands were arrested, imprisoned and force-fed.

Invisible women: an exercise in imagination

The Glasgow Women’s Library champions the voices of women who, for various reasons, haven’t been, or aren’t being, heard. Whether that’s refugees coming to Glasgow in the hope for a […]

A history of women in 101 objects: GWL welcomes Annabelle Hirsch

Pauline reflects on a fascinating conversation between cultural journalist and author Annabelle Hirsch, and GWL’s own Donna Moore, exploring Annabelle’s book, A history of women in 101 objects. Wendy welcomed […]

Suffrage Postcards: In the Grip of the Law

When I’m not at my desk at Glasgow Women’s Library, I’m usually working away on my PhD, which I’m undertaking part-time at the University of Glasgow. It’s been a while since I posted about my research, so I thought I would share some of the progress I have been making over the last year.

Story Cafe round-up: Scottish Women’s Land Army

Pauline reflects on a fascinating Story Cafe, inspired by Dorothy’s family history…. Wendy welcomed everyone to this Story Cafe which was led by Dorothy who opened the session by explaining […]

Gender Studies Student Kirstin Murray blogs on The Importance of Feminist Spaces (1 of 3)

Hello! My name is Kirsten, and I am currently undertaking a MSc in Applied Gender Studies. Part of my master’s is a research placement which I am completing at the […]

Gender Studies Student Kirstin Murray blogs on Photographing Lesbian Activism (3 of 3)

Glasgow Women’s Library (GWL) has a rich history and connection to LGBTQ+ activism, specifically lesbian activism. Within GWL’s collection of photographic material there are photographs of the Lesbian Avengers organising […]

Gender Studies Student Kirsten Murray blogs on Who Writes Our Stories (2 of 3)

While looking through and cataloguing Glasgow Women’s Library’s (GWL) collection of photographic material I noticed photographs from book signings and events that authors had attended. Most noticeably there are photographs […]

Gender Studies student Maisie Taylor blogs about Writing the LGBTQ+ Research Guide and The Lesbian Avengers

During the development of the LGBTQ+ research guide, I had the chance to explore a wide variety of collections and topics such as the Lesbian Avengers. The Lesbian Avengers were […]

The power of learning: the link between Mary, Queen of Scots and the GWL

As I embark on my PhD at the University of Glasgow – looking at masculinities within early modern universities – I have been ruminating on processes of learning and thinking […]

Ella’s Student Placement; Edinburgh Women’s Liberation and the Battle of Equality for Women in Work

This blog on the Edinburgh Women’s Centre Archive will explore a couple of the women’s groups that were involved in supporting women in work. Again, such sentiments were intrinsic to […]

Ella’s Student Placement; Edinburgh Women’s Liberation and the Fight for Reproductive Rights

We carry on our blogs on the Edinburgh Women’s Centre Archive by delving into the contentious issue of reproductive rights. As one of its founding demands passed at the 1971 […]

Unveiling Feminist History; Ella’s Student Placement Exploring the Edinburgh Women’s Centre Archive

Hello, my name’s Ella Lyttle, and I am a history student at Glasgow University. I am coming to the end of a short but sweet placement here at Glasgow Women’s […]

Maud Joachim’s Hunger Strike Medal comes to GWL

Through a public fundraising appeal and with support from the National Acquisitions Fund, GWL was able to succesfully bid on a hunger strike medal awarded to suffragette Maud Joachim in 1909 by the Women’s Social and Political Union.

Lost Voices of Partition: workshops, experience and what you can expect to gain from cross-cultural conversations

by Aishwarya Balasubramanian Partition- it never sounded like the great successful glory it was broadcasted as in the history books of India when I was learning from my school. At […]