Viewpoints – Placecloud

London, United Kingdom. Recounts the story of Thomas Griffin who, in 1899, was scalded to death at a Battersea sugar refinery while trying to rescue his mate.

London, United Kingdom. Recounts the story of Richard Farris, who lost his life in the Grand Surrey Canal in Peckham in 1878 while trying to save the life of a woman.

London, United Kingdom. Recounts the story of Alice Ayres who, in 1885, perished in a fire in Southwark while attempting to rescue three children.

Vilnius, Lithuania. Brothel madams mediated between the police and women who sold sex, so they were essential for the functioning of the state regulation of prostitution. This viewpoint explores some of the responsibilities given to brothel madams working under the state regulation system.

Irkutsk, Russia. The construction of the Trans-Siberian railway increased the visibility of prostitution in Siberia. This viewpoint explores the impact of transportation development and war on efforts to police prostitution in the Siberian region.

Arkhangelsk, Russia. Understandings of prostitution, and methods of policing it, hinged upon the social, economic, and environmental characteristics of a particular place. This viewpoint looks at how policing prostitution was influenced by the landscape and environment of Arkhangel'sk, a city just outside the Arctic Circle.

St Petersburg, Russia. What was a secret prostitute and why did the tsarist police deem them so concerning? This viewpoint answers these questions by examining an anonymous denunciation of a woman living at 25 Bol'shoi Prospekt in St Petersburg that was sent to the city police in 1905.

Vilnius, Lithuania. Brothels were everywhere in urban centres of the Russian Empire, and reactions to them were complicated and varied. This viewpoint focuses on one street in Vilnius in the early 1900s to examine the complex relationships between landlords, brothel madams, and the tsarist police.

Krāslava, Latvia. The Russian imperial authorities struggled to regulate the bodies of its populace in the chaos, dislocation, and destruction of the First World War. This viewpoint explores this challenge using the case study of Evgeniia Trifonova, a woman who snuck into the military barracks at Krāslava disguised as a military nurse in order to sell sex.

Liepāja, Latvia. Venereal diseases in the military were extremely concerning for the Russian imperial authorities. This viewpoint examines responses to epidemic rates of venereal infection in one port of the Empire, the Port of Emperor Alexander III in Libava (now Karosta, near Liepāja in Latvia)