Brick Lane Bookshop Sunday Strolls: Activists, Militants, Pioneers: Women of the Radical Jewish East End

The first wave of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe towards the end of the 19th century, were mainly men but their families soon followed. In a period when many women fought for political and social equality in British society new immigrants were engaged too in everyday struggles in their workplaces, and on the streets in many campaigns within and beyond their community. On this walk you will discover the leading role played by women activists in the old country before emigration, and how their activism and pioneering spirit was recreated in the East End from the 1880s to the 1930s. You will meet trade union militants, anarchists and suffragettes, housing activists, health pioneers and social workers, communists and anti-fascists. They had diverse backgrounds but shared a refusal to accept second-class status in their own community and in society at large.

David Rosenberg is an educator, writer, activist and tour guide specialising in London’s radical history. He is the author of Battle for the East End (2011) and Rebel Footprints (2nd edition 2019).

Receive 10% off David’s books in-store when you purchase a ticket!

Tours to start from Brick Lane Bookshop.