The Ragged Schools Museum connects to identity and belonging through William Blake's poem, The Chimney Sweeper, by showing how poor children were treated in society. The Ragged Schools Museum shows some of the real-life conditions of poor children during the time that William Blake wrote this poem. The museum used to be a part of an actual ragged school for very poor families, a majority of whose students worked in dangerous jobs, like chimney sweeping. These schools were built to try to give the students a basic education, food, and a safer environment to be in.

Mount Tambora erupted in 1815, sending ash into the atmosphere that blocked the sunlight and lowered global temperatures across the world. This led to the dark and gloomy conditions of 1816, now known as "The Year Without a Summer." This volcano's eruption affected places all across Europe, like Switzerland, where Mary Shelley and a few of her friends were located at the time. Because of the bad weather, Mary Shelley and her friends started telling ghost stories and started writing contests, overall inspiring Mary Shelley to write Frankstein.