Action Women: the real story of the Women's Institutes

The Women's Library holds the archives of the National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI), which were catalogued and made accessible to the public in 2004.

In order to promote this fascinating collection, an touring exhibition was developed, called Action Women: the real story of the Women’s Institutes.

With generous support from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, the exhibition toured to:
- The Museum of English Rural Life, Reading (30 May - 27 August 2006)
- The Borthwick Institute for Archives and Central Library, York (16 September - 15 December 2006)
- Newport Museum and Art Gallery, South Wales (3 February - 31 March 2007)

At each venue the project team worked with local WI members to add a local dimension to the exhibition. Members from the Berkshire, North Yorkshire East, Gwent and Glamorgan Federations all took part in contributing to the exhibition in their regions.

A small-scale version of the exhibition was on show in the foyer of The Women’s Library during the summer of 2007.

Action Women Exhibition Toolkit
The Women’s Library and NFWI have launched a toolkit which has been developed to extend the life of the Action Women exhibition beyond this initial tour.

Available to Women's Institutes and Federations to support members in developing their own version of Action Women, it is a comprehensive guide to mounting the exhibition in your region. The documents are available below.

The original exhibition panels and other material can be borrowed on the condition that the exhibition team works in collaboration with a partner venue (museum, library or archive), who will provide space for the exhibition and support its development.

This condition is made to encourage partnerships between WIs and cultural organisations in their area and to make the exhibition available to a wide public audience.

If you are interested in finding out more about showing Action Women in your region, contact Jeanette Booth at Denman College: tel: 01865 391991 or by e-mail: info@denman.org.uk

Action Women Exhibition Toolkit

Appendix 1: Images of core exhibition panels

Appendix 2: Sample partnership contract

Appendix 3: Images of regional exhibition panels

Appendix 4: Guide to writing exhibition text

Appendix 5: Guide to writing object labels

Appendix 6: Images of archival material and objects displayed in previous Action Women exhibitions

Appendix 7: Example events and activities programme

Appendix 8: Sample Press Release

Appendix 9: Example Action Women posters

Appendix 10: Action Women poster template

Appendix 11: Example Action Women leaflet

Appendix 12: Example visitor questionnaire

Appendix 13: Example visitor comments form

Appendix 14: Action Women evaluation report