Open Stores Launch for Black History Month

For Black History Month 2025 the theme is ‘Standing firm in power and pride’, and at Royal Holloway we couldn’t think of a better way to mark the event than by working with our Cultural Services team. Our archive collections are housed in the basement of EWD and include some of the earliest documents on the foundation and development of higher education for women, uncovering the fascinating stories of past colleagues and students.

Our Cultural Services team have put together a new exhibition, Open Stores, which is being launched in conjunction with Black History Month. On Thursday 30 October from 3 – 6pm colleagues from Cultural Services, the BGM Network, BGM Student Community, ACS, and the EDI team will be in the Events Space in the Davison Building for the official launch of the Open Stores. Head of Cultural Services, Naomi Leben, will also be saying a few words.

The Open Stores offer a way for students and colleagues to see our diverse history through our archives and art collections. Through looking back at our past alumna and colleagues, we can take pride in our community and see the influence that we had. The Open Stores also gives our current community a chance to continue building our archives by contributing to them as well. This Black History Month, in keeping with the theme of power and pride, we encourage all Black colleagues and students to come along and share a story, a memory, a picture, or an artifact of their time at Royal Holloway. It could be about something you are proud of, something that stands out to you, a fond memory, or something meaningful. That way our future students and colleagues can look back and see the impact we had, the values we held, and the work we were doing to move towards equity for our Black community.

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This is a free event!