Prof Nadia Valman and Dr Vivi Lachs, 'Radical Women of the Jewish East End'

Part of the Vera Fine-Grodzinski Programme for Writing Jewish Women’s Lives

What sources can we turn to in order to uncover the radical lives of Jewish women in Britain? In this event, Professor Nadia Valman will explore the queer history of Jewish women in Victorian England and the challenges involved in recovering both elite and working-class women’s experiences. She will then shift focus to the twentieth century, highlighting the lives of Jewish anarchist and communist women in London’s East End during the 1930s. Nadia’s talk will delve into the pivotal moments of anti-fascist activism, such as the Battle of Cable Street and the Stepney Rent Strikes, which played a crucial role in shaping the East End's resistance movements.

Dr Vivi Lachs will explore the overlooked voices of Jewish women in the Yiddish press of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Although male voices dominated the Yiddish press, a handful of female writers managed to make a mark, candidly addressing the difficulties faced by women. Vivi’s talk will provide background on the “feuilleton” (urban sketch) section of the Yiddish press and analyse how the fictional works of writers like Katie Brown and Esther Kreitman reflected the struggles of immigrant women in the East End, as well as the intergenerational conflicts within the community.

Professor Nadia Valman is Professor of Urban Literature at Queen Mary University of London and the author or editor of eight books on the literary and cultural history of British Jews. She has held Leverhulme and British Academy Research Fellowships, focusing on the history of east London, and has collaborated with local schools, museums, and led public guided walks based on her research. She was the Principal Investigator for the recent AHRC project ‘Making and Remaking the Jewish East End’, and curated a sound installation at Tower Hamlets Archive as part of the project.

Dr Vivi Lachs is a Yiddishist and historian of the Jewish East End. Her books Whitechapel Noise and London Yiddishtown explore Yiddish popular culture and the writers of the period from the 1880s to the 1950s. She is a researcher at Queen Mary University of London and directed the performance “Secrets of the London Yiddish Stage” as part of the AHRC project ‘Making and Remaking the Jewish East End’. In 2019, she was a Yiddish Book Centre Translation Fellow. Vivi also performs with the bands Klezmer Klub and Katsha’nes, co-runs the Great Yiddish Parade, and leads East End guided tours.

This event is free and open to all.

If you wish to attend the event via Zoom, please register and select the 'Online via Zoom' attendance option. A meeting link will be sent to you on the day of the event. This event will be recorded.