Staff Profile

Cultural Partnerships

I work closely with cultural organisations to develop collaborative programmes and partnerships with the University. I build strategic relationships that promote knowledge exchange and public benefit, working closely with the Dean of Culture and Creative Arts.

With particular expertise and experience within the heritage sector, I lead ambitious partnerships with the National Trust and with Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums.

Wider Cultural Practice

I am a curator and writer.

I sit on the Collections Management Group for Queer Britain, the UK’s national LGBTQ museum. I am a co-founder and the strategic lead of the Queer Heritage and Collections Network, a UK-wide network governed through a partnership between Historic Royal Palaces, English Heritage, National Trust, the University of Leicester and Historic England, supporting museums to explore LGBTQ heritage and engagement.

I am a Trustee of Red Hills Miner's Hall in Durham.

My new book, Wedded Wife: A Feminist History of Marriage, will be published by Aurum Press in April 2023.

Background

Having graduated from Newcastle University with a MA in Heritage Education and Interpretation in 2011, I worked for a range of regional and national museums and galleries. In 2014, I joined the National Trust, later becoming its first Senior Curator for National Public Programmes and National Specialist for Inclusive Histories. In 2017, I curated Prejudice and Pride, a national programme of exhibitions, publications, events and activities exploring LGBTQ heritage. In 2018, I led the national curation of Women and Power, marking a centenary of women's suffrage. I coordinated partnerships with the University of Leicester and the University of Oxford.

My programmes and partnerships have won a number of awards, including Museums and Heritage Partnership of the Year Award (2021) and Pink News Third Sector Equality Award (2018); and been shortlisted for Museum of the Year (2018).

• Authored Book

  • Duncan S, Lennon R. Women and Power: The Struggle for Suffrage. London: The National Trust, 2018.

• Book Chapters

  • Lennon R. For Ever, For Everyone?. In: Sandell, R; Lennon, R; Smith, M, ed. Prejudice and Pride: LGBTQ Heritage and Contemporary Implications. 2018. In Preparation.
  • Lennon R. Challenging Histories: Exploring gender and sexuality in the National Trust. In: Ashton J, ed. Feminism and Museums: Intervention, Disruption and Change. Edinburgh: MuseumsEtc, 2018.
  • Lennon R. Challenging Prejudice and Celebrating with Pride. In: Hillel R; Houlbrook M; Iglikowski V; Lennon R, ed. Queer City: London Club Culture 1918-1967. London: The National Trust, 2017.

• Edited Book

  • Sandell R, Lennon R, Smith M, ed. Prejudice and Pride: LGBTQ Heritage and it's Contemporary Implications. Leicester: University of Leicester, 2018.