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As the new Director of The Hypatia Trust I have inherited many things from nearly thirty years of collecting, curating, and connection. Among them, our beautiful space on Chapel Street in Penzance filled with papers, books, art, and objects; a team of colleagues and volunteers with vision and conviction; a lasting legacy of wonderful projects and partnerships, and all of it supported by a network of people who have shaped the atmosphere and aims of this unique Trust. I have also inherited many questions about our purpose and vision in this moment in our own and world history. What does it mean to be an organisation dedicated to preserving and prioritising women’s stories now compared to when the Trust began its work? Where shall we put our energy as we enter our 30th year in 2026 to honour the needs of this society and the aims of our organisation, while remaining aligned with the vision of our founder, Melissa, and our figurehead, Hypatia of Alexandria? As a team, Cat, Alice, Lally, Maggi, Marisela, and I have been taking these questions seriously, and this winter we decided to close our doors and take stock of all that has been gathered and held here over the years. We wanted to really understand what we are working with and come to a shared sense of what we are working for. We have read the original articles of association and tested them against the passage of time, we have held feedback, suggestions and complaints up to the light, and we have done a deep dive into the history of Hypatia, to find out what she means to us and why Melissa chose her as the namesake for this work. Our understanding of Hypatia’s life and reputation has given us courage in our conviction that The Hypatia Trust is an important place of welcome for many, shaped by women who saw a need and met it with effort, intellect, and care. What we found was inspiring. Hypatia was renowned for challenging what society said a woman could do or be, for pursuing a lifestyle shaped by the pursuit of knowledge instead of marriage. She was assassinated, not for being a woman, but for going against the dominant religion of her time. When the time came for Hypatia’s parents to buy her a dress to celebrate her coming of age, they instead bought her a satchel for her books and an outfit suitable for her to conduct her experiments. There is nuance here, and in a world that feels increasingly polarised, nuance feels very welcome to us. This rediscovery of the qualities that made Hypatia so remarkable in her time has become our starting point as we re-open this Spring and begin planning our work for the rest of the year, and for the 30th anniversary of The Hypatia Trust in 2026. We wonder ‘what would Hypatia do now?’ The Hypatia Trust has come to be recognised as a place where women who are not used to being listened to are heard. Not only heard but amplified; taken seriously, invested in, supported, published, offered space to meet and share ideas and experiences, or a speaking spot on our sanctuary-like stage. We intend to continue in this way, and in the spirit of generosity for which we have become known under the leadership of my predecessor, Miki Ashton. Through this process of questioning and searching through our own history, we have noticed the gaps and silences in our archival collections and the books on our shelves. The limited representation of working-class lives, queer and trans stories, and voices from the global majority. These questions and gaps cannot and should not be answered or filled by only us. It matters who makes the choice of what constitutes a place in history and a space on the shelves. The next step in The Hypatia Trust’s journey is to invite more and different people in to decide and change ‘who and what makes history’. To do this, The Hypatia Trust will be extending its welcome to include the voices and stories which have not been listened to in the past or are being discredited in this contemporary moment. We are proud that this organisation moves forward with inclusion at the heart of its mission. This reopening is an invitation. We have made room for new collections, new books, new papers, new voices, and new ideas. We are so looking forward to what you bring. I hope to meet many of you in person in the weeks, months, and years ahead – whilst acknowledging that the reach of our supporters is global, and you will not all be able to attend our in-person events and workshops. Rest assured that we are shaping our offer to meet both the local and the global interest in our work and are excited to bring the two together through our residency programme when it launches this summer. For those of you who find yourselves far from Cornwall, look out for the upcoming call out for writer, artist and academic residencies, and for details of our new membership scheme which will launch in June. For those of you who are nearby or visiting soon, we look forward to seeing you grace the bookshop again this month, or perhaps we’ll see you out and about at our Ithell Colquhoun inspired writing workshop at Tate St Ives in May. Thank you for your ongoing interest in our work. I look forward to our next chapter. Dr Jen McDerra
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