There are certain subject matters that are poorly represented in our collections. We would like to change this, so that in the future our successors will have objects with which they can tell these stories. We have started by addressing three areas in particular - women’s health and LGBTQ+ stories and representation of persons from diverse ethnic backgrounds. We have asked different groups to come forward with their objects or to create an artwork and put on displays to tell their stories in their own words.

Part One: Menstruation Maternity Menopause

Menstruation

In general menstruation in the past is not well documented. This is largely because historic records were written by men and due to the taboo around menstruation that continues even today.

In the 4th century the first known female mathematician, Hypatia, is believed to have thrown a menstrual cloth at a man to send him away. This tells us that the use of cloths and free bleeding onto clothes was the main form of period care for thousands of years.

In the 19th century the sanitary belt was introduced, an elastic waistband with clips to which cloths would be attached. This was the main form of menstrual care until the 1970s.

In 1920, World War One nurses saw the benefits of cellulose bandages for menstrual blood and Kotex developed a pad for commercial sale. However they were more expensive than many women could afford.

In 1931 Earl Haas invented the modern tampon with applicator which became Tampax in 1933. They were considered not suitable for unmarried women due to the belief that using one would affect their virginity.

In 1937 American actress Leona Chalmers invented the first modern menstrual cup.

In the 1980s disposables became the dominant form of menstrual care.

Today the average lifetime spend on period products is about £4800 and 11000 disposable items. Many are switching to reusable sanitary pads, period pants and menstrual cups for environmental reasons and the long-term financial benefits.

Maternity

Maternity is an area better represented in our collection. However as we look at the objects below we might consider whether they fully represent experiences of pregnancy, childbirth and early motherhood in the Stroud District. For example while Stroud Maternity Unit has played an important role in many women’s experiences, we don’t currently have any objects relating to it in our collection.

The glass bottle in the photograph below is an Allenbury’s Feeder. It was made between 1901 and 1950 and used for feeding babies formula. Glass feeding bottles were used from the mid-19th century, replacing devices made from wood, metal, ceramic and cow horn, that were harder to clean.

The tin of Ostermilk baby formula with feeding schedule on the side, probably dating from the 1930s. Formula was first commercially available from the 1860s. Previously women who couldn’t breastfeed relied on cow’s milk which didn’t have the right balance of nutrients for babies.

The Omega Breast Reliever was made by Ingram’s of London in the first half of the 20th century. Mothers would squeeze the rubber pump to express breast milk into the glass sphere. Breast pumps were first patented in 1854. Since then they’ve been used by mothers to provide breastmilk for babies who couldn’t feed, to relieve breast discomfort, to allow mothers to continue breastfeeding as they return to work and for partners to assist with feeding.

The obstetric forceps were used by Dr. Newton and later Dr. Lamb when assisting mothers to deliver their babies at home. Dr. Newton was a GP in Stroud from the 1930s and set up a practice with Dr. Lamb in the 1960s. Dr. Lamb also worked at Stroud and Standish Hospitals, retiring in 1993. Before the foundation of the National Health Service in 1948, families had to pay for medical fees and medicine required. For poorer families a local woman might attend rather than a trained professional. While these forceps tells us a little about births with complications in the Stroud District, mostly they tell us about the male doctors who attended births rather than the mothers’ experiences of giving birth.

Menopause

The menopause was first given a name in 1821 by French doctor Charles-Pierre-Louis de Gardanne.

In 1857 ‘The Change of Life in Health and Disease’ by Edward John Tilt, in 1857 listed over 100 possible symptoms that included insanity. Victorian doctors were keen to offer treatments for all of them ranging from drinking sherry to using chloroform.

In 1873 American woman Lydia Pinkham began to sell her home remedy for menstrual and menopausal issues. She championed women’s health and offered an important source of information to the thousands of women who wrote to her.

In the early 20th century doctors began giving women experiencing severe menopausal symptoms a powder made from animal ovaries. Advances in science lead to the identification of oestrogen in 1929 and the development of hormone-replacement therapy within 10 years.

In 1966 American gynaecologist Robert A. Wilson published a best-selling book, ‘Feminine Forever’, that depicted the menopause as a deficiency disease that could be cured. He advocated women to have oestrogen replacement therapy as they approached the menopause and to continue for the rest of their lives. He suggested this would prevent women losing their femininity and becoming “dull and unattractive”.

In the early 21st century the Women’s Health Initiative linked HRT with increased incidence of heart disease and cancer. However, the results of the study had been incorrectly reported. Prescribing rates for HRT declined all over the world, along with funding for midlife women’s health in general.

Current advice from the NHS today is:

“Many studies on HRT published over the past 15 years highlight the potential risks…But recent evidence says that the risks of HRT are small and are usually outweighed by the benefits.”

For more information visit https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/hormone-replacement-therapy-hrt/risks.

We currently don’t have any objects relating to the menopause in our collection.

The Baby Makers: Making History

In response to the Museum’s call out to tackle missing histories of menstruation, maternity and menopause, The Women’s Art Activation System – artists Sarah Dixon and Sharon Bennett - created the workshop Baby Makers: Making History. (The workshop was made possible by The National Lottery Community Fund.)

Together with the Museum they created a workshop for mothers and one for midwives. 19 women came to share their stories of motherhood and menopause, and to create a piece of bunting to represent their story. Alongside this they wrote down their stories or were recorded speaking about them. The bunting went on display and then the individual pieces were stitched together. Both the bunting and the stories have gone into the Museum collection as a snapshot of a moment in time. This means that in the future our successors will be able to tell some of the stories that were previously missing.

However we’d like to do more.

Have you experienced menstruation, maternity or menopause in the Stroud District? Do you have objects that you feel would tell a story of your experiences, or those of your family in the past? Are you a trans or non-binary person who would like your experiences in these areas represented?

If you can help us, please get in touch.

Part Two: LGBTQ+ Stories

2022 marked 50 years of Pride in the UK. Yet LGBTQ+ stories are poorly represented in our collections, so we didn’t have any objects with which to mark this occasion. In order to address this we invited Stride - the LGBTQ+ group from Stroud District Council – to put on a display. They brought in personal objects that reflected their experiences of finding and celebrating their identities, of challenges faced and love found.

Since the display opened we have managed to collect some objects from the Stroud Pride Picnic which reflect some of the LGBTQ+ groups in the district. However as the objects above were only on loan to us, we still have very few relevant objects in our collection.

Can you help us? Do you have LGBTQ+ stories that you would like to be represented in the Museum? Do you have objects that you feel would tell a story of your experiences, or those of your family in the past?

If the answer is yes and you live (or lived) in the Stroud District, please get in touch.

Part Three: Diverse Ethnic Backgrounds

Our collection does not currently represent the full diversity of the Stroud District in the past or in the present. For example we have been unable to put on displays to celebrate Black History Month because we don’t have any objects in the collection to tell these stories. We would like to change this.

Can you help us? Are you a person from a diverse ethnic background with stories that you would like to be represented in the Museum? Do you have objects that you feel would tell a story of your experiences, or those of your family in the past?

If the answer is yes and you live (or lived) in the Stroud District, please get in touch.