Poster - Witches: Healers & Midwives (Women's History Series: 2)

Category: Education; Feminist Activism; Feminist Archive North; History; Poster; Violence
Date: Thursday 19 September 2013

Tags: 1980's; Artwork; Domestic Work; Education; Feminism; Health; Housework; Maternity; Midwifery; Persecution; Violence; Witches; Women's History Poster Series; Women's Liberation Movement; Working-class

By the Poster-Film Collective, 1983. Part of a series of posters on Women's History.

This poster gives information about the persecution of women as 'witches' in feudal society and the violent 'witch purges' of the 16th, 17th and 18th Centuries in Britain. Often these were women who worked as healers and midwives or lived alone and worked independently.
During the Women's Liberation Movement the symbol of the witch was reclaimed by some feminists - here are some examples held at the Feminist Archive North. The poster also gives some information about working class living conditions and uprisings during this period.

Click on images to view them full size.

To find out more about the Poster-Film Collective, click here.

Source: Feminist Archive North