Recently I have been thinking about the stories we don’t tell. I have seen the musical ‘Six’ twice now and as a fan of musical theatre, it is a great show. I love the music and the costumes, and it makes for a great night out, but it is more than that. Most Brits have heard of Henry VIII. We can describe his appearance, his personality, how he changed religion in this country. We have so many sources, from art, to books, films and TV series. A lot of people can tell you he had six wives. We remember them with the little rhyme ‘Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.’ Some of us can tell you the names of these six women, but a lot less people can go beyond that.
These six women have always been framed as part of Henrys story. Very few people, including me, knew about who they were away from him.
Similarly, I am currently reading ‘The Five’ by Hallie Rubenhold. These are the five women who were possibly murdered by Jack the Ripper. I am sure most people have heard about Jack the Ripper. We all know the name even though we don’t really know if the person was real. There are lots of theories, but we don’t know if it was a man, a collection of people or even if the murders were related.
I had heard the names of the women before, but I could not have recalled them if asked. All I ever knew was that they were prostitutes. Why? Because that’s what I was told. In history books, in documentaries, these women have always been presented as prostitutes. What Rubenholds book is teaching me is that I know so little about these women.
Why have these stories been untold? There are eleven women here in just two sources and in the past few months I have found out about each of them. Their stories are being reframed. They are individuals, with their own lives and own history.
What other untold stories are out there? People that we have heard about, think we know, but actually are just an accessory to someone else’s history? How can we at Yesterday’s Story, tell these stories?
