Four Stories for Beyond Notability

By Amara Thornton (Co-Investigator)

When we applied for funding way back in 2020, we developed a strand within our public engagement programme that included working with Vanessa Woolf on four specially commissioned stories, based on our research. This storytelling strand would commence in 2023 and end with the stories being performed at a workshop at the Society of Antiquaries on 8 March 2024.

The development process started in May 2023 with a long-list – a mix of women specialising in different disciplines, from different parts of the UK (what made up the UK for the majority of our project period, anyway) and with different family circumstances. We wanted to have a good range of experiences represented in the project, and also be able to connect to cultural institutions holding collections that were directly or indirectly relevant to these women. After discussion with Vanessa, we settled on five women for whom Vanessa would craft stories: Alice Gomme, Elizabeth Hodgson, Jessie Mothersole, Edith Blake, and Charlotte Stopes. Jessie Mothersole and Elizabeth Hodgson would be featured together in one story.

The stories evolved through a series of conversations and meetings between Vanessa and I, and through our meetings with other experts relevant to each story. As Vanessa worked on drafts, shaping the stories organically to suit the themes we wanted each story to cover, we discussed how the source material available might be best utilised to inform the creative narrative she was developing. At the end of the day, the story had to work for her as a creative practitioner as much as it needed to meet the themes we as a project team had outlined. It wasn’t always easy! Links to Vanessa’s personal blog posts which reflect on the creative process for each story can be found on our previous post: https://beyondnotability.org/events/stories-of-women-and-the-past-international-womens-day-2024-2/

The storytelling strand of our project was always meant to be an oral performance. You can hear Vanessa performing the stories at our International Women’s Day workshop. You can also hear Vanessa and I discussing the story development process (timecodes for each performance and our Q&A are on the link above).

Link to the recording of Beyond Notability’s International Women’s Day Workshop at the Society of Antiquaries of London.

There are also two other versions of the stories – an audio-only recording and a text version. For two stories, “Changing Times” and “Five Stones for Alice”, the text and audio won’t be the same as the oral performance. That’s because Vanessa performed these two stories as oral stories – she told them from memory, using the frameworks she had developed for the narratives but drawing on the reception of the audience to shape the story within those frameworks through tone and gesture. 

Vanessa’s separate audio recordings for each story have been turned into audio-only videos for YouTube, and are now accessible through the Institute of Classical Studies Podcast page.

“Changing Times” (Charlotte Stopes) https://ics.sas.ac.uk/podcasts/changing-times

Changing Times (audio recording by Vanessa Woolf)

Suggested citation: Woolf, Vanessa, 2024. “Changing Times”. Commissioned for the Beyond Notability project (AHRC Ref: AH/V01384X/1) [Audio recording] School of Advanced Study YouTube: https://youtu.be/ZucmZSfsXjs

“Five Stones for Alice” (Alice Gomme): https://ics.sas.ac.uk/podcasts/five-stones-alice

“Five Stones for Alice” (audio recording by Vanessa Woolf)

Suggested citation: Woolf, Vanessa, 2024. “Five Stones for Alice”. Commissioned for the Beyond Notability project (AHRC Ref: AH/V01384X/1) [Audio recording] School of Advanced Study YouTube: https://youtu.be/GCXU0Y1kj3w

“Island Song” (Edith Blake): https://ics.sas.ac.uk/podcasts/island-song

“Island Song” (audio recording by Vanessa Woolf)

Suggested citation: Woolf, Vanessa, 2024. “Island Song”. Commissioned for the Beyond Notability project (AHRC Ref: AH/V01384X/1) [Audio recording] School of Advanced Study YouTube: https://youtu.be/ZEm2oTxRaLA

“Wall of Stories” (Jessie Mothersole and Elizabeth Hodgson): https://ics.sas.ac.uk/podcasts/wall-stories

“Wall of Stories” (audio recording by Vanessa Woolf)

Suggested citation: Woolf, Vanessa, 2024. “Wall of Stories”. Commissioned for the Beyond Notability project (AHRC Ref: AH/V01384X/1) [Audio recording] School of Advanced Study YouTube: https://youtu.be/Hvt3mQ8Drmk

We will publish the text versions of these stories in a separate post, so stay tuned!

Stories of Women and the Past: International Women’s Day 2024

Recording of Stories of Women and the Past, a full day workshop at the Society of Antiquaries, 8 March 2024

We had a great time at the Society of Antiquaries on 8 March, welcoming a fantastic range of speakers to the Society for our final public engagement event of the project, a full day workshop “Stories of Women and the Past”.

This event was recorded, and you can now watch it via the Society of Antiquaries YouTube account.

Approximate timecodes for the talks are as follows:

1.22 | Introduction and Housekeeping (Amara Thornton, Beyond Notability)

6.54 | STORY PERFORMANCE: Changing Times – Charlotte Stopes (Vanessa Woolf):

23.18 | AI and Women on the Edge of the Archive (Catherine Clarke, Institute of HIstorical Research)

38.13 | 19th Century Bloomsbury Women who Changed our Lives (Julia Pascal, Pascal Theatre Co.)

51.00 | Q&A (Catherine and Julia)

1.24.02 | STORY PERFORMANCE: Five Stones for Alice – Alice Gomme (Vanessa Woolf):

1.37.00 | Illuminating Knowledge (Kath Van Uytrecht and Katy Drake)

1.52.22 | “Walking Images” – Caribbean Social Forum (Pamela Franklin, Caribbean Social Forum)

2.07.53 | Q&A (Kath & Pamela)

3.15.11 | STORY PERFORMANCE: Wall of Stories – Jessie Mothersole & Elizabeth Hodgson (Vanessa Woolf)

3.27.54 | Approaching the Goddess – Grimes Graves & Archaeological Search for Female Devine (Jennifer Wexler, English Heritage)

3.48.00 | Rome Play – Reimagining history and myth for Children (author Marie Basting in conversation with Debbie Challis)

4.01.49 | Q&A (Marie and Jennifer)

4.30.00 | STORY PERFORMANCE: Island Song – Edith Blake (Vanessa Woolf)

4.43.21 | Shebmut: the search for missing mummy stories (Emma Anderson & Bryony Renshaw, The Silk Museum, Macclesfield)

5.04.54 | Historical Costumes and Storytelling (Jo Badger in conversation with Debbie Challis)

5.28.57 | Q&A (Emma, Bryony and Jo)

5.50.00 | Vanessa and Amara on creating the stories for Beyond Notability, in coversation with Katherine

Vanessa has written a series of posts her personal website sharing some of the process of creating the stories:

On the story for Edith Blake – https://londondreamtime.com/beyond-notability-edith-blake/

On the story for Alice Gomme – https://londondreamtime.com/beyond-notability-alice-gomme/

On the story for Jessie Mothersole and Elizabeth Hodgson – https://londondreamtime.com/beyond-notability-hadrians-wall/

On the story for Charlotte Stopes – https://londondreamtime.com/beyond-notability-charlotte-stopes/

And her reflection on our International Women’s Day workshop is here: https://londondreamtime.com/international-womens-day-at-the-society-of-antiquities/