‘Hands off our Gertrude’ blast
PLANS to commemorate a noted explorer and writer in London have sparked criticism from those who say she’s being “appropriated” from the North East.
English Heritage announced plans to set up a blue plaque in honour of 19th-century explorer Gertrude Bell as part of their drive to recognise more of history’s most impressive women.
Bell, who helped establish the state of Iraq along with many other remarkable achievements, will be honoured at a house she was “associated with for over 40 years”, the charity says.
But their choice of location dismayed some of Bell’s admirers.
The plaque will be installed on a house in Knightsbridge, London but Bell was born in Washington, her family home was in Redcar and she never lived full-time in the capital. Even her archive is held in the North East – at Newcastle University.
Graham Best, who wrote a biography of Washington-born Bell, told The Guardian: “She didn’t really have anything to do with London apart from her grandmother living there in a lovely house in Cadogan Square.
“Is this a case of cultural appropriation?”
“The thing with Gertrude Bell is that everyone is trying to appropriate her as a person. She is deeply misunderstood,” he told the paper.
Permission is still being sought from the owners of the building to erect the plaque, but it is expected to happen in 2019.
Howard Spencer, senior historian at English Heritage, told The Guardian: “When considering anyone for a blue plaque, English Heritage undertakes extensive research on that person’s achievements and their connections with London buildings. This is then reviewed by the independent experts who make up the blue plaques panel.
“In the case of Bell, the London address selected was a family home where she stayed regularly, and with which she was associated for over 40 years.”
Playing a key role in shaping the Middle East today, Bell toured the deserts of what was then Mesopotamia, now Iraq, and after the First World War was instrumental in establishing the modern state.
Born in 1868, in Washington, she grew up wealthy thanks to the family fortune, made in iron.
She became the first woman ever to achieve a first class degree in Modern History from Oxford University and became wellknown as an explorer, archaeologist and expert in Arabic and Middle Eastern culture.
When in 1921 Winston Churchill, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, held a conference in Cairo of senior British officials to discuss the Middle East, Gertrude was the only woman present.
Despite her status as a pioneering female, she was a firm opponent of women voting: she was secretary of the northern branch of National League for Opposing Woman Suffrage as well as being on its national executive committee.