University of Portsmouth receives £73k for new feminism study

The University of Portsmouth was awarded the money by the Heritage Lottery Fund. The project will look at how women battled to improve the quality of life in the city.

The project – The Hidden Heritage of a Naval Town: Women’s Community Activism in Portsmouth since 1960 – is particularly concerned with issues connected with women in the naval community but will document the activism of women from a range of backgrounds.

Dr Sue Bruley will be leading the research with senior lecturers Laurel Forster and Terese Jonsson. She said: ‘The impact of feminist movements in Britain since the 1960s has been enormous.

‘This is an essential part of our post-war social and cultural history. We need to record these changes for women and society at a local level.

‘This is particularly so in Portsmouth with its distinct naval heritage.’

Researchers are looking for 50 oral history interviews from city women acting in promoting positive change for women in Portsmouth.

Interviews will be conducted by volunteers trained in oral history.

The project goes live in September. E-mail [email protected] for more information.