The turn of the twentieth century was a time of intense social change in London. The role of women in society was rapidly evolving, as they moved from the purely domestic sphere into areas previously only occupied by men. This talk explores the role of women’s clubs of the era, the spaces they inhabited, and their collective impact on progressive social movements such as suffrage and workers’ rights.
Bio: Bethany Claus Widick is an architectural historian with a special interest in women’s spaces, domestic and otherwise. Her work is interdisciplinary, studying the confluence of architectural and social history in the long nineteenth century. She examines how spaces for women have evolved over time, the degree to which women self-curated their environments, and how those spaces influenced the advancement of progressive social movements. She teaches at the Courtauld Institute of Art, where she is a PhD researcher, and at UCL. Before moving to the UK in 2017, she served as a Public Service Intern for Landmarks within the City of Chicago’s Planning, Design & Historic Preservation Department, as well as working as an independent architectural historian after completing her M.S. in Historic Preservation at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Until 2014 she practiced as a regulatory attorney, focusing on financial services compliance.
