| Discrete Collections | The Women's Library |
| Title | Records of Essex Road Women's Centre |
| Ref No | 5ERC |
| Box Fetch No | Boxes 1-2, Box 1 |
| Level | Collection |
| Date | 1970-1976 |
| Extent | 2 A boxes |
| Admin Biographical History | The Essex Road Women's Centre (1973-1977) was set up by a group of women who refurbished a disused shop at 108 Essex Road, London N1 in 1973 and the Centre opened in March 1974. It followed on from the York Way Women's Centre in King's Cross which had been closed down. The Centre aimed to provide information and advice for local women, to create a consciousness-raising group, as well as acting as a site for community action. It focused its activities on four main areas; housing, work, childcare and women's health. The Centre aimed to provide women with an alternative to the forms of help offered by the welfare state, and received no funding from any statutory body, but was run purely on voluntary labour and contributions. It operated through a collective of women, and attempted to resist the hierarchical structures associated with local government. It was involved in a number of campaigns, such as the Prebbles Campaign and those run to spearhead action around Holloway Prison and Adult Literacy, as well as Women's Refuges and Women in Manual Trades and the campaign to save Liverpool Road Maternity Hospital. The centre was the longest running Womens Centre of its time. The centre ultimately became unsustainable, and closed in Jul 1977. |
| Description | The archive consists of records relating to the information and advice services offered by the centre on housing, childcare, health, and work issues. It includes photographs of women in the workplace, minutes of the Housing Committee, and information from other organisations. |
| Related Material | The Womens Library also hold the personal papers of Sheila Rowbotham (7SHR) - former member of the Essex Road Women's Centre - and records of similar organisations in London: Hackney Women's Aid (5HWA ), Barnet Women's Place (5BWP), Mothers in Action (5MIA), Kingsgate Place Women's Centre (7TAK) |
| Related Record | 7EAW |
| Access Status | Open |
| Access Conditions | This collection is available for research. Readers are advised to contact The Women's Library@LSE in advance of their first visit. One item (Ref: 5ERC/5/2) is closed under the Data Protection Act until Jan 2061. |