We were very sorry to hear of the death of Pauline Alden in August. She was a valued member of Clements Hall Local History Group and made a significant contribution to the Group's activities, especially in its early period. She had a strong interest in highlighting the role of women in history, and this was expressed in her research and writing.
As part of the Group's WW1 centennial project she researched the lives of a number of local women, and subsequently wrote about these in a series of blog posts. These included the lives of Betty Stevenson, a driver for the YMCA, volunteers at Southlands Methodist Church, and Mrs Lindberg, a Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse at Nunthorpe Hall Auxiliary Hospital, providing nursing care for military personnel. She also researched Nunthorpe Hall itself. Pauline's pioneering work can be read here. In more recent years Pauline has contributed researches for our books project, with work on Nunnery Lane and Bishophill.
Pauline served on our group’s Management Committee and played an important role in managing our finances at the time of our Heritage Lottery Fund project in 2016/7.
Her interest in women's history was also reflected in her prominent role in developing the York Herstory Project. This community history project aimed to reveal and celebrate women's stories. It had an exhibition 100 Women Changemakers in 2022, and produced a walking trail and educational resources for schools and libraries in the city. Follow this link for their memories of Pauline.
Unfortunately in recent years Pauline had to limit her engagement with all the activities in which she took an interest, because of increasingly poor health.
