July 13th
Last night Islington Museum launched its exhibition on Holloway Prison, with a focus on ‘the voices which remain unknown and unrecorded’. The exhibition includes oral recordings from former prisoners and staff – many of whom feature in Bad Girls – as well as archive documents and objects such as a prison cell door from 1903.
Sybil Morrison (below), peace campaigner, was jailed at Holloway in 1940 after delivering a message from Mahatma Ghandi at Speakers’ Corner. The magistrate informed her, ‘you are extremely dangerous.’ Here she returns to the prison in the 1980s when the old castle jail was torn down.
Also on display was a prison diary (below) written by Susanna Friedmann, a Jewish refugee jailed at Holloway in 1940 for being an ‘enemy alien.’ She was initially jailed with her two young children, until they were removed and sent to children’s homes. Her daughter Eva tells the full story in Bad Girls.
Echoes of Holloway runs until October 6th, Islington Museum, Clerkenwell, London EC1V. Admission is free.
The project includes a film, workshops and talks, and is run by Islington Heritage in collaboration with Holloway Prison Stories and the University of Middlesex.
The Mayor of Islington attending last night’s launch.