Who is Amy Flagg? South Shields wartime photographer given blue plaque on International Women's Day
A new commemorative blue plaque paying tribute to local historian and wartime photographer Amy Flagg has been unveiled on South Tyneside.
Amy Cecilia Flagg, who lived between 1893 and 1965, was a well-known photographer in South Shields.
Her most notable work showed the devastating impact of enemy air raids on the town during the Second World War.
Fascinated by the town’s changing landscape, she joined the South Shields Photographic Society in 1930 and started photographing the house clearances along the riverside as a social record of its development.
Sadly, Amy lost her father in 1936 and her mother died during the war.
With her life and her beloved town crumbling around her, her work photographing and documenting the bomb damage to buildings during WWII gave her renewed strength and purpose.
A plaque to remember her achievements has now been placed on her former family home, Chapel House in Westoe Village and was unveiled by the Mayor of South Tyneside, Councillor Pat Hay.
The Mayor said: “Amy Flagg was a remarkable photographer and historian who pictured and researched the town she loved during times of huge social change.
“But it was the pictures showing the trauma around her and the effect of the air raids on South Shields which marked a defining moment in her life and gained her much respect and recognition.
"Through her images she captured the human spirit of those tasked with clearing up the damage.
“Amy was also an incredibly generous and selfless person, who donated much of her time volunteering in her local community.
"It’s only right that Amy and her story of courage and determination is honoured with a blue plaque.”
Amy's photos, which she processed herself in a dark room in Chapel House, have come to be an important and unique record of the impact of the war on the town.
As well as photography, Amy had a passion for researching the town’s history and had notes on the shipbuilding heritage published in 1979, many years after her death.
Councillor Joan Atkinson, Deputy Leader of South Tyneside Council with responsibility for Culture and Leisure, said: “We have a rich and proud heritage in South Tyneside.
"Through the blue plaque scheme, we can honour the life and work of those wonderful individuals who have made a significant contribution to the Borough’s cultural, industrial and civic legacy.
“We are delighted to be able to celebrate Amy Flagg’s life and work with a blue plaque at her former family home.
"It is particularly fitting that this takes place on International Women’s Day, an important day to recognise and celebrate the incredible achievements of women.
“As one of very few female photographers working in the UK and being a single woman, Amy Flagg was ahead of her time during a period when a women’s role was defined as being a wife and a mother.
"She will forever be remembered as one of the town’s most important photographers and local historians and for the incredible legacy she left behind.”
The blue plaque is one of three being unveiled this year as part of a scheme in South Tyneside in which members of the public can nominate people and structures to be recognised.
Eileen O’Shaughnessy, educator and first wife of George Orwell, and Gary Gillespie Davison, entertainer, choreographer and showman, are also set to be commemorated over the coming months.