This month, Rochester’s smallest art gallery, the Medway Art Box, proudly hosts a new exhibition presented by the 111 Years Forward Project. This creative display commemorates the 111th anniversary of the Great Suffrage Pilgrimage of 1913, when approximately 50,000 women marched from across the country, converging in Hyde Park to demand the right to vote.
The exhibition aims to capture the significance of the pilgrimage, celebrating both the collective achievement and the individual journeys that shaped this historic event. A central feature is the recreation of an original women’s suffrage banner, expertly crafted with guidance from Dr. Gillian Murphy of the London School of Economics Women’s Library. The display also includes replicas of historic literature, photographs, and artefacts, offering a glimpse into the lives of the women who paved the way for equality.
The 111 Years Forward Project team invited people of all ages to contribute decorated footprints for the exhibition and this included Medway and Maidstone Soroptimists.
Wanda Wright painted two footprints as our contribution and labelled them, ’Medway and Maidstone Soroptimists following in the footstep’s of Vera Conway-Gordon 1874 – 1955’.
Many of the footprints have been paired with the names of real women’s suffrage campaigners who participated in the 1913 pilgrimage, including Rochester’s own Vera Conway-Gordon, who led fellow pilgrims through the High Street to a service at the Cathedral.
We chose Vera as Soroptimists have been volunteering at the Suffrage Sensory Garden on the Esplanade, just a short walk from the Art Box, in tribute to Vera Conway-Gordon’s legacy. The photographs show Nellie Adjaye, Stella Barnes and Jane Barnes visiting the Medway Art Box after their October volunteering gardening session.
Jennifer Godfrey, author of Suffragettes of Kent, commented:
“We are incredibly grateful to Medway Art Box, LSE Women’s Library, Friends of Rochester Churchfields & Esplanade, Medway Libraries, and all those who contributed footprints and shared their support on social media. This collaboration has been such a rewarding experience for us, and we deeply appreciate everyone’s involvement.”