Weekday Wonder: The Electrical Association for Women in Glasgow

A hundred years ago the Electrical Association for Women was formed, to help British women to play direct roles in the domestic electrification of the nation. From housewives social groups to training schemes for Lady Demonstrators who would tour the rural back-roads of Scotland and also staff the gleaming new electricity showrooms in the cities, the EAW was unprecedented in its reach and achievements. At a time when women were not expected to be capable of technical thinking, when the few women professional engineers had to fight a constant battle to be taken seriously, the EAW enabled thousands of women (and Girl Guides) to be comfortable with the new power in their homes. They learned what was inside an iron or a cooker, how to change a fuse or wire a plug and - to make it all seem familiar and domestic and some of the teaching materials were made of actual material, in the form of charts on tea-towels!

Engineering historian Nina Baker will discuss what we know of the history of the EAW from the items held in the Glasgow Life Museums collection.

Host or Publisher Glasgow Museums at Kelvin Hall