Sue Blundell and Nick Bailey will discuss the “black swan”, the “red virgin” and other women writers, musicians and activists of Fitzrovia’s past in this free lunchtime talk, part of a new series on the Women of Fitzrovia.
This summer Sue Blundell, with the assistance of Nick Bailey, will be giving a series of three talks on the women – some famous, some anonymous – who have featured in the history of Fitzrovia.
The Black Swan and the Red Virgin: women writers, musicians and activists of Fitzrovia
Virginia Woolf was the most famous but by no means the only female scribbler who lived in Fitzrovia. Among them we can count Fanny Holcroft, eighteenth century playwright and anti-slavery campaigner; Nancy Cunard, poet, founder of a modernist Publishing Press, and an activist in racial politics; and Una Marson, also a playwright, and the first black woman employed by the BBC.
The Black Swan was Elizabeth Greenfield, a former American slave and a brilliant singer brought to Fitzrovia in the 1850s by its greatest impresario, Sir George Smart, and the first in a long line of female musicians who frequented our neighbourhood when it was home to Britain’s premier concert hall, the Queen’s Hall.
Campaigners are not hard to find among Fitzrovian females: the Red Virgin was the nickname of one of the earliest, Louise Michel, a refugee from the Paris Commune who founded the International Anarchist School in Windmill Street in the 1890s, and then accompanied it to Fitzroy Square.
The Fitzrovia Chapel is wheelchair accessible. For accessibility needs, please contact freya@fitzroviachapel.org
ABOUT
Sue Blundell has lived in Fitzrovia since 1975. Before her retirement she taught Classical Studies at Birkbeck College, University of London, and for the Open University, specialising in the history of women in the Greek and Roman worlds. Recently she has been turning to her own neighbourhood in her pursuit of real-life and remarkable women.
Nick Bailey taught for many years in the Faculty of Architecture and Cities at the University of Westminster and is the Emeritus Professor of Urban Regeneration. He is a long-term resident of Fitzrovia and has written extensively on its history and urban development. He is actively involved in several local community organisations.
VENUE HIRE
Accessability
Outside the Chapel, there are two steps, which have a built-in wheelchair lift. The Chapel is wheelchair accessible. The majority is on one level, and there is a ramp that can be used to access the chancel (altar area). We have a fully accessible toilet. View more accessibility information
