Our Projects

OUTWORK

October 2022 – September 2023

Photographs of K&J colleagues, from participant Caron’s personal collection

“There was a saying in West Brom, for a long, long time: ‘If you didn't work at K&J, you knew someone that did’.” Karen Radburn, employee at Kenrick & Jefferson

OUTWORK was an social arts project that told the stories of women employed at Kenrick and Jefferson (K&J) Print Works on West Bromwich High Street. Funded by Historic England’s Everyday Heritage Grants, the project sought to share the often-overlooked histories of women’s work, at home as well as in the workplace.

Artist Sophie Huckfield, who is from Walsall and whose family historically worked in industries across the Black Country, spent a year interviewing women who worked at K&J, along with family members who have memories of their mothers, grandmothers, aunties and friends who worked there.

K&J was an expansive printing factory and office supply company that was built in 1883 and remained in business for over 100 years. It was one of the largest local employers in West Bromwich and the surrounding regions, employing generations of families, and remains an important landmark to local people today. Whilst both men and women worked at K&J, the print works employed a large number of women in the factory, offices and as casualised ‘outworkers’ from home.

OUTWORK is rooted in the heritage of women’s oral storytelling, referencing how working women's herstories are often shared anecdotally and passed down through a spoken tradition, while being left out of official archival records. Sophie met people employed in a variety of roles, bringing them together to discuss their experiences and stories of their time at K&J, alongside their memories of West Bromwich.

The resulting book (designed, printed and hand bound by Joseph Lilley / Holodeck Birmingham and available as a free PDF from Multistory’s website) and the outdoor exhibition assemble images from the project participants’ personal archives; quotes from their interviews; and creative outcomes from two workshops, charting the history of these working women’s lives. Launching alongside a new podcast produced by sound artist Dr Natalie Hyacinth and narrated by Wolverhampton City Poet Laureate (2020-2022) Emma Purshouse, OUTWORK seeks to explore how women can make space to debate what work is and could be.

Public programme

Gathering Press screen printing workshops, Dartmouth Park Pavilion. 6 & 20 September 2023.

Outwork publication and hoardings exhibition launch, West Bromwich Central Library. 21 September 2023.

Film screening and talk by Sophie Huckfield: Many Hands Make Light Work, Wolverhampton Arts Centre. 22 February 2024.

OUTWORK was funded by Historic England through their Everyday Heritage Grants: Celebrating Working Class Histories.

Distribution

The print book was shared for free to participants and local community members at a launch event held at West Bromwich library. It is currently available for £10 from our shop, and has been distributed to all of the 19 Sandwell libraries, the Glasgow Women's Library, The Women's Library (London) and the six national libraries.

A new archival box has been donated to the Sandwell Community History and Archives service, containing; the OUTWORK book and open call flyers, documentation from the project and a range of K&J archival material shared by participants (copies of K&J News - a magazine for employees - K&J christmas and birthday cards, letters and books.)

Download the free PDF of the publication here.

Participant reflections

Caron: “It was great coming to the book launch and great being involved, learning how K&J was in the early years through to when I worked there. I loved doing the screen printing and the book is fabulous – plus I feel like a celebrity with all those pics in the book and outside the library!”

Nim: “This is a beautiful and wonderful book that will be passed down the generations in our family, so that our future family members will know the story of their great grandmother.”

Olive: “K&J was a big part of the West Bromwich employment scene and this book importantly reflects that from the working women point of view. The whole experience of taking part has been really rewarding memory wise. My time at K&J and my relationship with both friends and management have been a great influence on who I am today. I would like to thank Sophie and Jess for the opportunity this project has given me.”

Manesh: “I spoke with Sophie Huckfield and all of my dealings with the team were professional, full of enthusiasm and encouragement. They created an environment where you wanted to contribute and showed passion in the work they were producing. Historic England should be comforted by the fact that their funding has helped contribute to a wholesome experience and an end product which has been enjoyed by our family and friends and hopefully generations to come.”

Yvonne: “The event was lovely, library was buzzing! So many people had happy faces remembering that phase of their working life with fond memories. It was lovely to chat about my mom’s time at K and J, a very important local company where so many people from West Bromwich were employed.”

Geoff: “Congratulations on putting together a wonderful cross section of former workers at K&J’s in conversations about their memories whilst there. Factual and humorous in many ways it gives a great insight into their daily lives as they went about their various work practices.”

Many thanks to all involved in the project!

Interviewees: Claire Boddy, Denise Burton, Yvonne Farnell, Lisa Harris, Geoff May, Caron O’Dowd, Manesh Patel, Nim Patel, R.Porter, Patricia Price, Karen Radburn, Jane Talbot, Janet Taylor, Olive Timmins.

Workshop participants: Wendy Hood, Donna Martin, Gillian Miller, Caron O’Dowd, Manesh Patel, Nim Patel, Patricia Price, Jane Palfreyman, Judith Palfreyman, Janet Taylor, Jill Turner.

Stirchley Printworks: James Turner.

Podcast: Produced by Dr Natalie Hyacinth, narration by Emma Purshouse.

Publication Design & Print: The Holodeck Birmingham

Thanks to Historic England for supporting this project, and in particular, to Katy Hoskyn.

The Podcast

Featuring fascinating ‘herstories’, this 1.5 hour podcast reflects on the working lives of women employed at Kenrick & Jefferson printers in West Bromwich, before it closed in 1993. Artist Sophie Huckfield speaks to local women about their contribution to the printworks, alongside family members who have fond memories of their mothers, grandmothers, aunties, cousins and friends who worked there. As well as exploring the roles and duties these women carried out, this podcast seeks to explore the wider topic of how women can make space to debate what work is and could be.

Interviews and Direction by Sophie Huckfield. Produced by sound artist Dr Natalie Hyacinth and narrated by Wolverhampton City Poet Laureate (2020-2022) Emma Purshouse.

Artist Biography

Sophie Huckfield

(she/they) is a cross disciplinary artist and researcher with a background in arts, design and engineering. She employs traditional and experimental modes of production such as craft & making, lens based media, performance, sound, workshops and writings. To deconstruct, subvert and interrogate metaphors & stories around social class, making cultures, technological discourses and labour practices. Her practice is collaborative and she works with a range of organisations and individuals across disciplines to meditate upon the way we think about the world shaped by the tools at our disposal.

Press coverage

Black Country Bugle: Tribute to working women's lives in print

BBC Article: Art project to tell the stories of West Bromwich print workers

The Blackcountryman, Winter Issue 2023

Participant Caron in the ‘tub’ at K&J for her wedding day. From Caron’s personal collection

J workers Pat, Wendy, Caron, Janet and Nim at collage workshop, Oak House in West Bromwich © Sophie Huckfield

Screenprinting workshop at Stirchley Print Works, Sophie Huckfield, 2023 © Multistory

Screenprinting workshop at Stirchley Print Works, Sophie Huckfield, 2023 © SPW

Janet and Nim at collage workshop © Multistory

Work party, from participant Janet’s personal collection

Participant’s collage: ‘The heads at the top represent the K&J ‘bosses’ and the hierarchy between management and workers.’

Staff meal at Kenrick and Jeffersons. Image found by West Bromwich Local History Society. Photographer Unknown.

Launch of OUTWORK at West Bromwich Central Library, Sophie Huckfield, Sept 2023 © Multistory

Participant Olive at public programme screen printing workshops, led by Gathering Press / Laura Onions. Dartmouth Park Pavilion, 2023 © Multistory