Mae Chwefror bob blwyddyn yn Fis Hanes LHDT+, gyda digwyddiadau gydol y mis yn helpu i hyrwyddo hanes a phrofiad bwyd pobl LHDT+. Fel arfer, mae thema wahanol ar gyfer y mis, a'r thema eleni yw ‘Gwleidyddiaeth mewn Celf’.
Mae Amgueddfa Cymru wedi trefnu nifer o ddigwyddiadau ar gyfer Mis Hanes LHDT+ 2022:
Drwy gydol y mis bydd cynllun gwreiddiol bathodyn Lesbians and Gay Men Support the Miners Jonathan Blake o 1985 i'w weld yn Sain Ffagan Amgueddfa Werin Cymru. Bydd yn cael ei arddangos yn oriel Cymru... yn Sain Ffagan ar y cyd â bathodyn gwreiddiol LGSM. Grŵp oedd Lesbians and Gay Men Support the Miners fu'n codi arian ar gyfer glowyr de Cymru oedd yn dioddef yn ystod streic fawr 1984-85. Erbyn diwedd 1984 roedd unarddeg o ganghennau LGSM ar draws y DU. Roedd pob cangen wedi 'gefeillio' â chymuned benodol, a changen Llundain yn cefnogi cymunedau yng nghymoedd Nedd, Dulais a Tawe Uchaf. Anfarwolwyd yr hanes hwn, ac ymweliad LGSM ag Onllwyn, yn 2014 yn y ffilm Pride. Mark Ashton, un o sylfaenwyr LGSM ym 1984, oedd un o wynebau Mis Hanes LHDT+ 2021 ac mae'n fraint dathlu eto eleni lwyddiannau rhyfeddol ymgyrch Lesbians and Gay Men Support the Miners.
Rydyn ni hefyd yn datblygu project cyffrous ar gyfer Mis Hanes LHDT+. Diolch i nawdd Cyngor y Celfyddydau, bydd LGBTQ+ History Wales Songbook gan Gareth Churchill yn cael ei berfformio yn Sefydliad y Gweithwyr Oakdale yn Sain Ffagan yn ystod y mis. Bydd y perfformiad cerddorol i lais a phiano/allweddell yn dathlu a rhoi llais cerddorol i gasgliad hanes LHDTQ+ Sain Ffagan. Perfformiad caeëdig fydd hwn i ddechrau, yn cael ei ffilmio a'i ddarlledu ar-lein fel diweddglo i Fis Hanes LHDT+ a'i hysbysebu ar bob un o sianeli cyfryngau cymdeithasol yr Amgueddfa.
Wrth gwrs, nid am un mis yn unig y dylai hanes LHDTQ+ gael ei ddathlu. Cadwch lygad drwy gydol 2022 am ragor o arddangosiadau a digwyddiadau yn safleoedd Amgueddfa Cymru. Dyma rai o'r cynlluniau sydd ar y gweill:
Yn Sain Ffagan mae nifer o wrthrychau LHDTQ+ bellach yn cael eu harddangos yn orielau Cymru... a Byw a Bod... Yn ogystal â'r bathodynau LGSM, mae tebot a phadl yn perthyn i Fenywod Llangollen (o bosib y pâr lesbiaidd enwocaf erioed) a chopi o gerddoriaeth We'll Gather Lilacs a gyfansoddwyd gan Ivor Novello.
O ganol mis Mawrth bydd gwrthrychau o'r casgliad LHDTQ+ i'w gweld yn Amgueddfa Genedlaethol y Glannau fel rhan o arddangosfa Trawsnewid. Project gan Amgueddfa Cymru ar gyfer pobl ifanc LHDTQ+ rhwng 16-25 oed yw Trawsnewid. Mae'n edrych ar ffigurau queer, neu sydd ddim yn glynnu at rywedd ddeuaidd yn hanes Cymru ac yn cefnogi cyfranogwyr i greu gwaith wedi ei ysbrydoli gan brofiad bywyd.
Gyda'r cynnydd yn lefelau carbon deuocsid yn yr atmosffer a thymheredd byd-eang, mae taclo newid hinsawdd yn bwysicach nag erioed.
Yr wythnos hon cynhelir Cynhadledd Newid Hinsawdd y Cenhedloedd Unedig (COP26) yn Glasgow er mwyn ceisio uno'r byd i ymladd newid hinsawdd, ac dyma ni'n manteisio ar y cyfle i weld sut i greu amgueddeydd mwy gwyrdd.
Ym mis Medi 2019 dyma ni'n ymuno ag eraill i ddatgan argyfwng hinsawdd ac ecolegol byd-eang. Dros y 10 mlynedd nesaf a thu hwnt byddwn yn lleihau ein hôl-troed carbon a'n heffaith ar yr amgylchedd.
Ein hyfforddiant
Rydym wedi datblygu cwrs hyfforddi ar lythrennedd carbon, wedi ei achredu gan yr Ymddiriedolaeth Garbon. Mae dros 100 o staff bellach yn garbon llythrennog, ac rydym yn edrych ymlaen i ddarparu'r hyfforddiant i weddill ein staff dros y flwyddyn nesaf.
Rydym hefyd wedi derbyn statws Sefydliad Carbon Llythrennog Lefel Efydd am ein hyffroddiant, a byddwn yn cymryd rhan yn y Diwrnod Gweithredu Lythrennedd Carbon cyntaf ar 1 Tachwedd. Fel rhan o'r hyfforddiant, gwnaeth staff addewidion i leihau eu hôl-troed carbon, a recordio fideo byr:
Ein Staff
I'n helpu i ddod yn garbon niwtral, rydym wrthi yn recriwtio Cydlynydd Datblygiad Cynaliadwy. Byddant yn llywio ein hymateb i'r argyfwng amgylcheddol drwy ddatblygu ein cynllun gweithredu rheoli carbon a phrojectau lleihau carbon a rheoli tir gwyrdd. Edrychwn ymlaen at rannu mwy gyda chi'n fuan!
Ffyrdd o weithio
Ar hyn o bryd mae’r ymgynghorwyr GEP Environmental yn cynnal Adolygiad Carbon ym mhob amgueddfa. Bydd yr adolygiad yn dangos beth yw ein hôl troed carbon presennol, ac yn adnabod cyfleon i leihau ein carbon ym mhob agwedd o'n gwaith. Bydd hefyd yn cyfrannu at nod Llywodraeth Cymru o greu sector cyhoeddus carbon niwtral erbyn 2030.
Arddangosfeydd ac Allestyn
Bydd newid hinsawdd a chynaliadwyedd yn dod yn rhan o'n rhaglenni arddagnosfeydd ac addysg cyhoeddus. Bydd yr arddangosfa mwynau sydd ar y gweill yn edrych ar effaith amgylcheddol gwrthrychau bob dydd fel ffonau symudol.
Ein digwyddiadau
Rydym wastad yn chwilio am ffyrdd o wneud ein gweithagreddau yn fwy cynaliadwy. Byddwn unwaith eto yn cynnal y digwyddiad cynaliadwyedd Olion i sbarduno eraill i weithredu.
Ein hymgysylltu
Diolch i 700 o wirfoddolwyr a 100 o bobl ifanc greadigol (Cynhyrchwyr Amgueddfa Cymru) rydym yn hyrwyddo llythrennedd carbon drwy gydweithio â phobl ifanc. Drwy gydweithio â chymunedau gobeithiwn greu Cymru fwy gwyrdd a gwneud yn siŵr fod popeth a wnawn yn llesol i'r amgylchedd.
Craft Volunteers at St Fagans National Museum of History , 15 Hydref 2021
The Craft group of volunteers had been “coasting” for some time waiting for our next assignment from the museum. We’d made rag rugs for the houses at Rhyd y Car, we made mediaeval costumes for the children visiting Llys Llewellyn and we’d used the lavender grown in the castle gardens to make lavender bags to sell in the shops. For a few other meetings we’d been doing our own crafting projects in Gweithdy, talking to visitors, showing them how we made our various quilts, rugs, throws, and tapestries, but we were ready for a new project.
None of us had been familiar with the term Tip Girls, or the work they did in the mining industry when Noreen and Ceri from Big Pit visited us to ask for help in setting up a new temporary exhibition at the big pit Museum.
We were asked to design and make an outfit suitable for a Tip girl as would have been worn in the Welsh coal fields. Little research has been done on these girls in Wales but some records were kept of those girls working in the coal fields of Nottinghamshire and Durham. There were similarities between the two but also some distinct differences; most notably the names: Tip Girls in Wales and Pit Girls in the north of England
We obviously needed to research these Tip Girls and the period in which they were working, to find out the type of clothes they wore in order to undertake our task.
Until 1842 women and children had regularly worked underground, but after a dreadful mining disaster in Barnsley, Queen Victoria demanded an enquiry. This resulted in the Mines and Collieries Act banning women, girls, and boys under 10 from working underground.
This was a blow to many women who earned their living, or supplemented their household income from working underground, but women who needed to work adapted. They worked at loading wagons or hauling tubs up from the pithead and some became Tip Girls, sorting rocks and stones from the coal when it had been brought up from the mines below ground.
In our research we found that Tip girls developed a distinctive style of dress and different areas develop their own distinctive styles
The work was cold and wet and very dirty and the girls’ dresses catered for this. In Wales, W. Clayton had taken photographs of these women; although they were posed and in a studio setting we still get a good idea of how they were dressed. They wore long flannel skirts or frocks covered by leather aprons. Some wore breeches under their skirts, but this was frowned on in some mines, although it was commonplace in the mines in the north of England. They clothed their heads in hats and scarves, ensuring all of their heads were completely covered to prevent the coal dust saturating their hair.
Several members of the Craft group luckily have experience in costume design and they shared their expertise with us, helping us to design the costume.
We needed to decide what fabric we could use for the costumes, and we were lucky to be allowed the opportunity to see the museum exhibits in storage that would help us in designing the costume. We saw skirts, aprons, petticoats, stockings, socks and even boots that were all being carefully conserved by the museum.
We had been given a shop-window mannequin to use as the Tip Girl and were expected to dress her. However, her solid hands and feet posed a problem in that we needed to give her gloves and boots, and her elegant pose made making her resemble the Tip Girl very difficult.
It took some time to work out that she couldn’t be used and something else had to be sorted out. There was no other mannequin available from the museum, so our resourceful team got together and manufactured one from various sources. (It does help having costume designers in the group!)
We used the original mannequin as the basis to design the clothes and even used our own members as models. The tip girls hats seem to have been of special interest to the girls. They were all decorated quite lavishly with beads, ribbons, bows, flowers, and even birds and cherries and other fruit. This seems to have been their gesture to glamour in the midst of the grime of the pit head.
We were getting on nicely with the manufacture of the clothes when Covid hit and we were locked down. We carried on our monthly meetings over Zoom but the Tip Girl project was side-lined for a while, while we made masks and protective clothing for the NHS. Edwina however was still working on our model and when a year later we resumed, we were nearly there with our very own Tip Girl, who we had nicknamed Brenda, for some unknown reason!
In discussion with a friend who is also doing research on the Tip Girls of the Welsh mines, I discovered that these girls were not the lowly workers they seem to be from their photos. In fact, they were quite well-paid and regarded themselves as better off than girls who had to go into service at the local “big houses”. Photographers also wanted to take their photographs and make them into postcards to sell to the public which made some of the tip girls into minor celebrities.
During lockdown we have made headscarf, skirt, chemise and socks. We’d made hands (ready for gloves) hats, bloomers and a bodice. On returning to face-to-face volunteering, we collected what we had been working on and found we had been quite productive during lockdown.
The home-made mannequin was coming along at pace and caused some hilarity when we first assembled the legs and body as they weren’t quite compatible. Caroline, our expert in period costume, had knitted a wonderful pair of stockings that fitted the homemade legs perfectly.
The figure of the mannequin at the beginning caused much hilarity, and the arms and legs both had to be considerably altered. Having it made by different people in different places had its difficulties!
Our next meeting was at Big Pit, when we collected the disparate pieces of the costume and put them on the model. Our home-made model was not in use, and the museum was using another mannequin that was being altered to fit the brief. It was rather tall for the display case, but the staff intended shortening it discreetly.
The main reason for visiting Big Pit was to make the costume look as realistic as possible for the exhibition. They all looked newly made and pristinely clean, and we had to make them look as grubby and dirty as possible. So, after dressing up the model, we then undressed her again, and took the clothes over to the Forge where we had a good time rubbing them into the dirtiest and most filthy parts of the machinery.
It’s finished now, and we are waiting eagerly for the opening of the exhibition. We’ve left the clothes with the museum, along with both models, and it depends on which model best suits the display cabinet. When we visit the exhibition we will be very interested to find out more about the Tip Girls, and proud to see the small contribution we made to the exhibition on display.
It’s been a little while since my last blog post and since then there has been a lot of exciting things happening! The scientific paper I have been working on that describes a new species of marine shovelhead worm (Magelonidae) with my training year supervisor Katie Mortimer-Jones and American colleague James Blake is finished and has been submitted for publication in a scientific journal. The opportunity to become a published author is not something I expected coming into this placement and I cannot believe how lucky I am to soon have a published paper while I am still an undergraduate.
There are thousands of scientific journals out there, all specialising in different areas. Ours will be going in the capstone edition of the Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, a journal which covers systematics in biological sciences, so perfect for our paper. Every journal has its own specifications to abide by in order to be published in them. These rules cover everything from the way you cite and reference other papers, how headings and subheadings are set out, the font style and size, and how large images should be. A significant part of writing a paper that many people might not consider is ensuring you follow the specifications of the journal. It’s very easy to forget or just write in the style you always have!
Once you have checked and doubled checked your paper and have submitted to the journal you wish to be published in, the process of peer reviewing begins. This is where your paper is given to other scientists, typically 2 or 3, that are specialists in the field. These peer-reviewers read through your paper and determine if what you have written has good, meaningful science in it and is notable enough to be published. They also act as extra proof-readers, finding mistakes you may have missed and suggesting altered phrasing to make things easier to understand.
I must admit it is a little nerve wracking to know that peer reviewers have the option to reject all your hard work if they don’t think it is good enough. However, the two reviewers have been nothing but kind and exceptionally helpful. They have both accepted our paper for publication. Having fresh sets of eyes look at your work is always better at finding mistakes than just reading it over and over again, especially if those eyes are specialists in the field that you are writing in.
As you would expect, the process of peer-reviewing takes some time. So, while we have been waiting for the reviews to come back, I have already made great progress on starting a second scientific paper based around marine shovelhead worms with my supervisor. While the story of the paper isn’t far along enough yet to talk about here, I can talk about the fantastic opportunity I had to visit the Natural History Museum, London!
We are currently investigating a potentially new European species of shovelhead worm which is similar to a UK species described by an Amgueddfa Cymru scientist and German colleagues. Most of the type specimens of the latter species are held at the Natural History Museum in London. Type material is scientifically priceless, they are the individual specimens from which a new species is first described and given a scientific name. Therefore, they are the first port of call, if we want to determine if our specimens are a new species or not.
The volume of material that the London Natural History Museum possesses of the species we are interested in is very large and we had no idea what we wanted to loan from them. So, in order to make sure we requested the most useful specimens for our paper, we travelled to London to look through all of the specimens there. We were kindly showed around the facilities by one of the museum’s curators and allowed to make use of one of the labs in order to view all of the specimens. The trip was certainly worth it. We took a lot of notes and found out some very interesting things, but most importantly we had a clear idea of the specific specimens that we wanted to borrow to take photos of and analyse closer back in Cardiff.
Overall, I can say with confidence that the long drive was certainly more than worth it! I’m very excited to continue with this new paper and even more excited to soon be able to share the results of our first completed and published paper, watch this space…
Thank you once again to both National Museum Cardiff and Natural History Museum, London for making this trip possible.
Yr Athro Kirsti Bohata, Prifysgol Abertawe , 15 Gorffennaf 2021
Fel rhan o'n dathliadau PRIDE Abertawe eleni, byddwn yn ymchwilio i hanes hynod ddiddorol yr awdur a'r diwydiannwr llwyddiannus, Amy Dillwyn, ac yn cyflwyno darn perfformio am ei bywyd ar 16eg Gorffennaf. Dyma'r Athro Kirsti Bohata o Brifysgol Abertawe i ddweud mwy wrthym amdani. I ddarganfod mwy am hyn a'n holl ddigwyddiadau PRIDE Abertawe, ewch i amgueddfa.wales
Roedd Amy Dillwyn yn berson arloesol. A dyna, oedd ei llysenw ymhlith ffrindiau: ‘The Pioneer’. Yn awdur, yn ymgyrchydd ffeministaidd ac yn ddiwydiannwr llwyddiannus (peth prin iawn i fenyw yn yr 1890au) gwnaeth y gorau o'i llwyfan cyhoeddus i eiriol dros hawliau menywod. Trwy ei hysgrifennu a'i phersona cyhoeddus, dangosodd y gallai menywod fod yn wydn, yn anturus ac yn glyfar. Gwrthododd normau benywaidd, gan osgoi unrhyw ddiddordeb yn ffriliau cyfyngol ffasiwn menywod (heblaw am daflu llygad gwerthfawrogol dros y ffurf fenywaidd). Yn lle hynny fe feithrinodd hunaniaeth rhyw cwiar (yn ei dyddiaduron roedd hi unwaith yn meddwl tybed a allai fod yn ‘hanner dyn’) a daeth ei het Trilby, esgidiau trwchus, sgert ymarferol a’i ‘sigar dyn’ yn symbolau eiconig o’i honiad i ymreolaeth.
Portread o Amy Dillwyn. Delwedd trwy garedigrwydd teulu Morris
Er iddi ddisgrifio'i hun fel 'dyn busnes', a dal rolau cyhoeddus amlwg gan gynnwys Cadeirydd Bwrdd yr Ysbyty, canfu fod ei mynediad i ganolfannau pŵer economaidd (fel Ymddiriedolaeth Harbwr Abertawe) wedi'i gwahardd gan y rhai a oedd yn gwrthwynebu ei rhyw ac, mae un yn amau, y rhai a oedd wedi derbyn ei siarad plaen. Ni ddioddefodd ffyliaid. Fe ddadnoethodd rhagrith, aneffeithlonrwydd ac anghymhwysedd ymhlith y pwyllgorau dynion y bu’n gwasanaethu arnynt gan ennill ei pharch mewn rhai chwarteri ond yn anochel gwnaeth elynion mewn eraill. Cafodd ei herlid o Fwrdd yr Ysbyty yn union wedi iddi godi'r arian ar gyfer ysbyty ymadfer newydd, mater a gafodd ergyd drafodaeth fanwl dros gyfnod yn y wasg.
Fel ymgyrchydd ffeministaidd, nid oedd ganddi ddiddordeb mewn ennill y bleidlais drosti ei hun yn unig - er iddi roi’n hael i Gynghrair Rhyddid Menywod militant a dod yn llywydd cangen Abertawe o National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) - siaradodd o blaid cyflog teg ac amodau ar gyfer menywod dosbarth gweithiol. Ym mis Mawrth 1911 rhannodd blatfform gyda’r undebwyr llafur Mary MacArthur (1880-1921) a Margaret Bondfield (1873-1953), a ddaeth yn AS Llafur yn ddiweddarach, mewn protest yn erbyn ‘llafur caeth’. I gynulleidfa o winaduresau trawiadol a'r cyhoedd, dadleuodd Dillwyn 'Nid oes gan gyflogwyr hawl i ... falu [pobl dlawd] i gymryd cyflogau annheg neu i wneud iddynt dderbyn amodau llafur annheg' a galwodd ar Abertawe i foicotio'r siop, Ben Evans. Trafodwyd yr ymgyrch (a amlygodd arferion anghyfreithlon yn ogystal ag anfoesegol) yn Nhŷ’r Cyffredin.
Er ei bod hi'n arloesi fel diwydiannwr a menyw eiconoclastig a wrthododd gael ei hymddygiad (neu wisgo) yn ôl confensiwn Fictoraidd, etifeddiaeth fwyaf parhaol Dillwyn yw ei ffuglen a'i phwysigrwydd i hanes llenyddol lesbiaidd. Yn fywiog, yn ffeministaidd ac yn dwyn cyffyrddiadau aml o'i hiwmor sych, mae nofelau Dillwyn yn dychanu rhagrith ei dosbarth ei hun ac mae'n ysgrifennu am anghyfiawnder cymdeithasol o safbwynt y dosbarthiadau llafur. Ei thema barhaus, fodd bynnag, yw cariad ac awydd o'r un rhyw. Weithiau mae hyn yn agored: yn A Burglary (1883) a Jill (1884) mae merch ifanc yn datblygu ‘diddordeb rhyfedd’ ac atyniad i fenyw ychydig yn hŷn (ac yn gyfoethocach). Weithiau mae ei phlotiau'n fwy dichell, yn aml yn cynnwys cuddwisg neu drawswisgo: yn The Rebecca Rioter mae dyn dosbarth gweithiol (wedi'i seilio'n rhannol ar Dillwyn ei hun) yn cwympo mewn cariad â dynes dosbarth uwch (tra hefyd yn ffansio dyn arall!) sy'n awgrymu pob math o ddarlleniadau queer, traws a deurywiol.
Olive Talbot a'i thad C. R. M Talbot o Gastell Margam. O gasgliad Amgueddfa Cymru
Gellir olrhain y pwnc dychweliadol o fenywod sy'n caru menywod, a'i diddordeb mewn cariad diwobrwy rhwng pob math o bobl, i fywyd a phrofiad Dillwyn ei hun o serch. Yn 15 oed, syrthiodd Amy Dillwyn mewn cariad â Olive Talbot (1843-1894), merch miliwnydd lleol, C. R. M Talbot o Gastell Margam. Roedd Amy ac Olive yn ffrindiau agos, yn cyfnewid anrhegion, ac yn aros gyda'i gilydd mewn amryw o dai a chyrchfannau gwyliau. Er bod Amy yn galaru na atebwyd ei chariad ‘rhamantus… angerddol… ffôl’ tuag at Olive ond unrhywbeth ond anwyldeb ‘cyffredin’, erbyn 1872 roedd Dillwyn yn cyfeiro at Olive yn ei dyddiaduron fel ‘fy ngwraig’. Parhaodd Olive yn ganolbwynt byd emosiynol ac erotig Amy am y 15 mlynedd nesaf o leiaf (fel y manylir yn ei dyddiaduron unigryw sydd yn anffodus yn dod i ben ym 1875 pan gafodd Dillwyn lawdriniaeth), ac yn ôl pob tebyg yn llawer hirach, os yw tystiolaeth ei nofelau (a gyhoeddwyd yn ystod yr 1880au), yn cael ei ystyried.
Er nad ydym yn gwybod yn union sut y gwnaeth eu perthynas ddatblygu neu ddirwyn i ben - treuliodd Olive flynyddoedd olaf ei bywyd byr yn Llundain tra roedd Dillwyn yn lled-afiach yn Abertawe - mae etifeddiaeth cariad Dillwyn a'i archwiliad creadigol o awydd o'r un rhyw yn gwneud cyfraniad rhyfeddol at lenyddiaeth Fictoraidd queer. Mae ei nofelau, ynghyd â’i dyddiaduron eithriadol o onest (a gedwir ym Mhrifysgol Abertawe ac sy’n cael eu golygu i’w cyhoeddi ar hyn o bryd), yn cynnig mewnwelediad cymhellol i fywyd queer yng Nghymru’r bedwaredd ganrif ar bymtheg.
Am rhagor o wybodaeth am Amy Dillwyn ymwelwch â Geiriadur Bywgraffiad Cymru: https://biography.wales/article/s12-DILL-AMY-1845
Mae ffotograffau o Olive Talbot wedi'u cynnwys mewn casgliad o ffotograffau gan John Dillwyn Llewelyn, sy'n rhan o gasgliad Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Cymru. Mae Mark Etheridge, Curadur NMGW: Diwydiant a Thrafnidiaeth, yn rhoi cyflwyniad i'r casgliad yma: John Dillwyn Llewelyn - Ffotograffydd Arloesi Cymru | Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Cymru
