The Repton Historian

THE REPTON HISTORIAN About the newsletter… This month’s edition of The Repton Historian surrounds the theme of women, as the month of March is dedicated to celebrating women's accomplishments throughout history. We felt it was important to focus on strong, independent women who each have remarkable stories to tell, some of which may have been overlooked. We also took this opportunity to share with you the thoughts from the first girls at Repton, who paved the way for the co-educational school we have today. We hope you enjoy reading! From Lijana Cope and Lucy Williamson, Field House U6th Contents: Book recommendation: - The People’s Princess By Hearts and Minds by Francesca Lightfoot, 4G, p2-3 Jane Robinson. - This month's film review: A Call to Spy, By Izzy Archer, L6M A fascinating account of - Historical Figure of the Month: one of the lesser known Margaret Hamilton, By Ellen moments in the 1910s Clark, 3M ‘suffragist’ movement, - Have you heard of… Mata Robinson tells the story of Hari, By Ella Anastasiou, L6M, p8-9 the six-week protest march - A piece of Repton dubbed ‘The Great history: Recollections of girls at Pilgrimage’ as women in Repton School, By Ava Marriott, Britain demanded the right 4F, p10-11 to vote. Using primary sources to bring the event to life, the story if dramatic and emotional and a must- read for anybody interested in women’s history in 20th century Britain. Themed Article of the Month: The People's Princess- Princess Diana – Article by Francesca Lightfoot, 4G The ‘People’s Princess’, better known as Princess Diana, was the Princess of Wales, and was married to Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne. In 1996, Princess Diana and Prince Charles divorced, after having two sons together, Prince William and Prince Harry. Diana died on August 31st, 1997, after sustaining injuries after being involved in a car crash. A prominent philanthropic force, Princess Diana, used her fame to help to create awareness on many humanitarian issues and worked for many charities. One of the humanitarian issues she actively worked for was HIV and AIDS. HIV/AIDS was first ‘discovered’ properly in the early 80s, and patients were disdained and stereotyped because of the disease’s stigma attached to it. However, Princess Diana was not apprehensive about creating awareness for HIV/AIDS. One of Princess Diana’s most memorable moments was when she used her influential platform to send a bold message to the world. When shaking the hand of a HIV positive patient, without gloves, she proved that the disease could not be transmitted by touch. This selfless act of kindness to the people suffering from being stigmatised with HIV or AIDS, widely changed people’s perceptions towards the disease. Princess Diana had many outstanding qualities, one of them being altruism: “Anywhere I see suffering, that is where I want to be, doing what I can”. Princess Diana wanted to spread kindness all around and believed that giving a little gives you more happiness and fulfilment than taking. Another one of Princess Diana’s selfless work branches was becoming the patron of Centrepoint; this helped the young and homeless to stay off the streets. The Princess frequently visited shelters, taking her two boys with her. Whilst doing this she used her fame to raise money for the young and homeless. The Princess was passionate about the mission she set out to do, which was to create a future for young adolescents and end youth homelessness, poverty, and raise awareness of mental health. Princess Diana wanted the people to know that she didn’t use her fame in a negative way, but instead to exhibit problems in the world “Nothing brings me more happiness than trying to help the most vulnerable people in society. It is a good and essential part of my life, a kind of destiny.” Diana did this by manifesting her kind-hearted and thoughtfulness on to others; this key quote proffers a crucial moral to be learnt and a moral which Diana wanted to share - she wanted the public to be more cautious of other people around them, and how your actions can have a big effect on others, good and bad. In 1997, Diana walked through one of `halo’s minefields’, which is an organisation that helps countries recover after conflict. Princess Diana helped the Angolan landmine issue evelate to international prominence, which spiralled into the signing of the Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty, calling for all countries to unite to rid the world of landmines. Similar to the visit Diana made to the active landmines in Angola, she also visited Sitanala Leprosy Hospital in Indonesia; this was also highly controversial, just like HIV/AIDS were. The princess unbothered about the naysayers, proceeded to sit on the beds of patients with leprosy in the hospital; she would shake their hands, touch the wounds of the patients. However, by doing this Diana influenced a spark of cognizance around the world. Princess Diana was the Patron of The Leprosy Mission in England and Wales from 1990 until 1997. I think her main aim was a non-prejudice society “the greatest problem in the world today is intolerance. Everyone is so intolerant of each other”. People, from all backgrounds and classes, respected her all throughout her career and viewed her as the ‘People’s Princess’ because of her charitable work. She was a majorly influential woman because she was the embodiment of a person who just wanted to do good for others; Diana famously said, “carry out some random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you”. She made people feel welcome, loved, and wanted to portray a normal person to the public “call me Diana, not Princess Diana”. Diana was a role-model to children, women, men, parents, and everything in-between. Her dedication and effort put into her charitable work made her the ‘People’s Princess’ because she cared about equality and wanted to remove stigmatization of all accounts. Film Review: A Call to Spy - Article by Izzy Archer, L6M ‘Get used to lady spies’- SOE officer to grumbling male intelligence agents. A Call to Spy is a propulsive historical drama, inspired by true events, written by Sarah Megan Thomas and directed by Lydia Dean Pilche. This film is particularly fitting for the theme of this month’s newsletter of Women’s History. The film explores the lives of three remarkable women who courageously and effectively served as spies for the Allied nations during WWII, and the sheer culture of sexism which existed during the second world war, in society’s attitudes to the role and capabilities of women. With Winston Churchill becoming desperate in the losing fight against the Nazis, in 1941, he ordered the recruitment and training of women spies into the Special Operations Executive – a secret organisation created in 1940 out of necessity after the fall of France to the Nazis. Secretary of the Special operations, Vera Atkins, manages to successfully persuade her male colleagues to recruit Virginia Hall, an American and aspiring diplomat with a prosthetic leg, which fails to define her capabilities as a spy, and Noor Inayaat Khan, a Muslim pacifist, talented wireless operator and India-born Sufic mystic respectively. Hall is first to be sent into action and is located in Vichy France, to contact agents and help them escape, and is soon sent to Lyon, where she organises attacks and assists agents as they pass through. Whilst Khan soon follows, despite being underprepared, her specialism in signals proves absolutely vital to the war effort, and she heads to Paris where disaster unfortunately awaits. With forged papers, elaborate cover stores, and almost zero organisational support from back home, they are truly on their own. Both women are incredibly courageous and in an inexplicably dangerous environment, where one in three British spies in France were killed, and they prove themselves crucial assets to the French resistance. The production of the film is particularly impressive in recreating the setting of the time depicted. With period interiors and ephemera truly allowing the audience to dive deep into the 1940’s. The film evidently creates a clear feminist statement for the liberation of women in the arts. With a mostly female cast and production team, A Call to Spy, effectively focuses on the skills and capabilities of women, in whatever situation they are in. It is also important to note that all three central characters had very clear aspirations and dreams in life, with Hall wishing to be the first diplomat with a prosthetic leg, Khan a Muslim pacifist children’s book writer, and Atkins to gain British identity as a Jewish- Romanian in an anti-Semitic Britain. It is clear that these women had aspirations, but the war ultimately transformed their lives, for the better; these women are now remembered for helping to change the course of history and undermine the Nazi regime in France. The film went on to win the Audience Choice Award in record numbers at Whistler Film Festival, and it also received an award from the Alliance of Women Film Journalists. As well as this, the film achieved awards at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, the Santa Barbara International film festival and the UK Jewish Film Festival respectively. My favourite quote from the film is definitely, ‘Don’t you know yet? It is your light that lights the world’. I believe it’s vital that we remember the courageous and dedicated people who were willing to put their lives at risk to defeat the Nazis, in particular these women, who defied the stereotypes of spies and demonstrated the sheer impact women could have in regard to war effort, proving highly inspiration to all women for years to come.

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