Community helps bring Dagenham's history to life
A new public artwork has been unveiled at Dagenham Green to honour the Ford Dagenham sewing machinists whose fight for equal pay changed history.
Published: 25/06/2026
The Dagenham Agates celebrates the women who took strike action in 1968 and 1984-85, helping pave the way for the Equal Pay Act. Commissioned by us and The Hill Group, and delivered with public art organisation UP Projects, the artwork stands close to where the original picket lines were, at the heart of Dagenham Green, our new neighbourhood on the former Ford factory site.
Created by artist Ruth Ewan, the sculptures were made with local residents and students from Barking and Dagenham College. Together, they created colourful layers inside the sculptures, with each one representing a woman who took part in the strikes.
The colours are inspired by the cars made at the Ford factory at the time of the strikes, while the shape of the sculptures takes inspiration from "Fordite" - layers of hardened car paint that some factory workers turned into jewellery.
The project brought local people together to learn about an important part of Dagenham's history and pass those stories on to a new generation.
Adriana Marques, Assistant Director of Cultural Programming and Strategy at Peabody, said: "Places are shaped by the people and stories that came before us. It was important that local people helped create this artwork so the history of the Ford Dagenham women continues to be shared as this new neighbourhood grows."
The artwork also sits alongside streets named after some of the women who led the strikes, helping keep their legacy part of everyday life in Dagenham Green.
An exhibition, Materiality of Memory, is also running at the Women's Museum in Barking, where visitors can explore archive material about the strikes and the women behind them.
The artwork was unveiled by Justine Simons OBE, London's Deputy Mayor for Culture and the Creative Industries, alongside artist Ruth Ewan, local students and representatives from Peabody, The Hill Group and UP Projects.
Dagenham Green is a new neighbourhood on the site of the former Ford stamping plant, with much-needed new homes, parks and community spaces. The first homes have already welcomed residents. As the neighbourhood grows, projects like The Dagenham Agates and streets named after the women who led the strikes will help ensure the area's history remains part of everyday life.
