Visionary Women of Fitzrovia
Nancy Cunard, by Man Ray © Centre Pompidou
This Women’s History Month we spotlight two Visionary Women of Fitzrovia, who will be featured in an upcoming guided walk by SeekOut London, who have kindly offered us a free ticket for one of our readers! Keep reading to find out how to enter.
Una Marson (1905-1965)
Una Marson © BBC
Una Marson has been called the ‘forgotten mother of Caribbean poetry’ but she was much more than that. She was a feminist, social activist and global political activist, and made history as the first black woman producer at the BBC, and the first black woman playwright to have a play produced with an all black cast in the UK. ‘At What a Price’ was performed at The Scala Theatre on the corner of Charlotte Street and Tottenham Street in Fitzrovia in 1933.
In fact, she began her career setting records; in 1928, she became Jamaica’s first woman editor-publisher. She proudly proclaimed: “This is the age of woman: What man has done women may do”.
Una came to London in 1932, where she met Dr Harold Moody. Moody had started, in Fitzrovia, the League of Coloured Peoples, and she became its secretary and editor of its journal, The Keys. It was a crucial voice for the pan-African and anti-colonial movements of the time.
She joined the BBC full-time in March 1941 as a Programme Assistant in the ‘Empire Programmes’ department. Her interest in poetry soon led her to develop Caribbean Voices, a weekly slot within the Calling the West Indies series, which started towards the end of the War and continued until 1958. It gave a platform to Caribbean writers, who were either unknown or in the early stages of international recognition. Sadly, her role in the show was cut short; in 1946 she had a mental breakdown and returned to Jamaica. Some speculated it was the pressure of representation that had been the cause.
Nancy Cunard (1896-1965)
Nancy Cunard was an English poet, heiress, fashion icon, publisher and political activist. Starved of attention as a child, she started to rebel and dream of escaping her life, reading incessantly and writing secret stories and poems. At the start of World War One, she met and found kindred spirits in the writer and avant-garde artist Wyndham Lewis and American poet Ezra Pound. The Eiffel Tower restaurant on Percy Street in Fitzrovia was a hub for artists, poets and writers, and Nancy finally felt she was in her element. Nancy decided to rent a secret studio in Fitzrovia, where she could enjoy her newfound freedom; working on her poetry by day and partying to excess by night.
It was in Paris in the 1920s that Nancy flourished and created her striking signature look: turbans or berets, dark eye makeup, scarlet lipstick and African bangles worn on both arms from wrist to elbow. Her look was visually compelling subject matter for photographers of the day, and she was famously photographed by Man Ray (above).
Later, she launched herself as a small independent publisher, The Hours Press. Her inherited wealth allowed her to take risks and she offered a platform to new and experimental writing. In 1928 she met a black American jazz pianist, Henry Crowder, who became her lover, at a time when in America a man could still be lynched for being with a white woman. She became an activist in racial politics and civil rights in the USA, and in 1934 she published the Negro Anthology, a ground-breaking collection of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction primarily by black American writers. However, it would be another 35 years before the anthology was recognised as a pioneering publication and a prime resource for black studies.
Nancy returned to Fitzrovia with Henry and rented rooms at the Eiffel Tower, which led to her estrangement from her mother after outing her in a pamphlet as a racist and bigot. Later, she became involved in the anti-fascist movement against Franco. Sadly, her relationship with alcohol led to her demise and in 1965, she died in Paris after being found on the street, emaciated and delirious.
To learn more about the fascinating lives of these two and other notable women of Fitzrovia, join the SeekOut London guided tour, Visionary Women of Fitzrovia, on 25th March 2023. The tour is part of a women’s history month series focusing on different parts of Camden.
For a chance to win the free ticket to the Visionary Women of Fitzrovia guided walk, go to SeekOut London’s Eventbrite page and click ‘Follow’. Next, email seekoutlondon@gmail.com to join the mailing list, giving your name and quoting ‘Fitzrovia community giveaway’. The winner will be notified on Wednesday 22nd March 2023.