While the economic growth of Hughesovka was pioneered by the choices and actions of men, the community that grew around Hughes’ steel works was cultivated by the families of the workers he employed. The women of Hughesovka, who followed their husbands or fathers to a foreign land, cultivated families and homes on a land previously untouched by modern civilisation.
A generation of women was also born in the Donbass. British by blood but born and raised in Hughesovka, speaking their language, attending their schools, dealing with their politics and weather and war.
The voices of the women of Hughesovka give specific insight into the lived experiences of this expat community. The biographies they left behind tell a far more intimate story than any contract or court document ever could, portraying their unique perspectives in a time and place that now feels so far removed from our reality.