On Friday, 2nd August, a group of GFS ‘veterans’ took a trip to the GFS archive at The Women’s Library based at LSE.
The group consisted of Pam Hutchison (England President), Catriona Charlesworth (Wales President), Poppy Winks (England Vice President), Margaret Winks (Former England President), and Iana Vidal (Former Chair of the Board of Trustees).
Collectively, they have over 150 years of experience in GFS. It was an exciting visit, especially since only Iana had been there before.
Gillian Murphy, the Curator, welcomed us and explained the plan for our visit. First, we would enter the vault, where many GFS banners were stored. Then, she had selected several exhibits for us to view.
The vault was heaven, not just because it was cold on a 29°C day, but also because the banners were beautiful.
There were banners from every era of GFS, including Art Deco ones from the 1920s, painted ones from the 1910s, and more plain post-war ones. Some banners looked familiar to us, as they were like the ones we had in our own Branches growing up. However, most of them were like nothing we had ever seen before.
The embroidery and painting were stunning, and the passion and creativity put into making them showed how important GFS was to the generations of women before us.
After looking at the banners, including a non-GFS suffragette banner, we moved on to look at the artefacts that Gillian had organised for us. Gillian put together a wonderful assortment of items, each with its own unique story from different parts of the world.
From journals documenting the Princess Mary Caravan’s adventures to badges representing different eras, the collection truly brought GFS history to life.
The diocesan leaflets and scrapbooks from international travels, gave us a glimpse into the amazing experiences and connections made over 150 years. It was like a treasure trove, spread across four tables, just waiting to be explored!
As we approach our 150th year, it’s amazing to see our history laid out in front of us. From the original reason for GFS starting on 1 January 1875 to what GFS is today – women have always been at its heart.
We’ve been its leaders, its funders, its cheerleaders, but mainly GFS has been our support. We have made friends for life, spent time with our family, found a chosen family, and changed for the better because of the organisation we all hold dear.