Dorothy Levitt
In 2015, Sound Architect was awarded a Heritage Lottery Fund Grant to research the incredible story of Britain’s first female racing car driver, Dorothy Levitt, with local school Helenswood Academy.
Little was known of Dorothy Levitt’s life and career, but her many successes as a female motor competitor, journalist and speedboat racer made her an inspiring individual to uncover. A trailblazing example of female independence Dorothy Levitt was breaking records and social barriers whilst suffragettes struggled to establish women as first class citizens. Born in 1882, she established the record for the longest drive achieved by a lady driver and held both the Water Speed and Ladies World Land Speed Records; all the while showing women to be as dexterous with a spanner as with a lipstick.
The students researched Dorothy’s career, hearing of her 1907 race along the seafront of Britain’s very own Home of Racing – Bexhill and read extracts from her diary and car manual The Woman and The Car. The students were trained in interviewing and document research techniques and worked with both Bexhill Museum and Bexhill 100 Motoring Club to find out about their local heritage. They visited Filching Manor Motor Museum, interviewed a female racing driver, and conducted guided research. The project culminated in a short film of the Helenswood students, featuring dramatizations of their research, which was screened alongside an exhibition of the material and evidence collected.