Women murdered by Jack the Ripper could get Whitechapel mural, thanks to author Hallie Rubenhold

Zoe Paskett11 February 2020

The five women murdered by Jack the Ripper could get a commemorative mural in Whitechapel, thanks to historian and author Hallie Rubenhold.

Rubenhold, who won the Baillie Gifford prize for non-fiction for her book The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper, has gained the support of local councillors in having the mural created.

“The five women he murdered have been reduced to mere clues in a parlour game about discovering his identity. Every day and night, hour after hour, the details of their brutal murders are repeated, while most people don’t even know their names; Mary Ann ‘Polly’ Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes and Mary Jane Kelly," Rubenhold told the Standard.

“I believe that it’s time to redress this balance and to place these women back in the heart of the community and back at the centre of their own stories.”

She says she would like to see a mural painted with vivid colours, featuring their faces alongside scenes from their lives: “If it is their death that brings tourists here, then visitors should also see their images full of animation and life.”

Rubenhold had the idea when a temporary promotional mural for her book went up on Ebor Street in Whitechapel. She shared it on Twitter and was overwhelmed with responses: “People seem to agree that this sort of memorial feels right and is long overdue.”

She has since been in touch with two councillors for Tower Hamlets, as well as descendants of the victims and local community members, to have the mural painted in Whitechapel.

The mural would go some of the way to “restoring justice” after the opening of the Jack the Ripper Museum, she says. The museum was originally billed as a museum of East End women’s history, but ended up being dedicated to the notorious killer.

London street art through the years

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