Whilst researching for my recent dissertation, which focused on the career choices available to young women in post-war Britain, I came across a genre of books known as ‘career novels’ targeted at young female readers. The 1950s presented a unique…
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4th May 2022: Women and Sports in the Twentieth Century
Join us for the first seminar of our Summer series! Dr Katie Taylor (Nottingham Trent) and Dr Lydia Furse (Rugby Union Coach and Referee) will be presenting papers on women’s involvement in sports and sporting history, respectively titled ‘Professionalising Women’s…
Summer 2022 Seminar Series Programme
Our Women’s History Network Seminar Series continues in the Summer 2022 term! Most events take place on Wednesdays at 4pm (UK) on Zoom. Details about each seminar and the registration link can be found here, usually two-three weeks before each scheduled…
The Modern Venus de Milo – Michelle Johansen
The Modern Venus Competition In February 1924, an unusual beauty contest took place in London to promote a new film called The Temple of Venus. The Modern Venus Competition set out to find the British woman whose figure best matched…
Celebrating Women’s Histories: WHN Midlands online conference, 30 April
Saturday 30 April 2022 marks the relaunch of the Midlands Region branch of the Women’s History Network. The branch will hold two conferences each year, one in April (usually at a museum or heritage site, with a modest charge for…
Deeds With Words – play reading in Soho, 4th May
Hello WHN members, Hope you all had sunny Easter weekends. In 2020 I started an online suffrage play reading group to read and discuss plays written for and by members of the Votes for Women movement. Over twenty reading sessions…
A Citizenship Crisis: Anglo-German Marriages in First World War London – Lucy Blackburn
The 1870 Naturalisation Act transferred a woman’s right of nationality to their husband’s upon marriage. Thus, in terms of Anglo-German marriages, a British woman became German and a German woman became British. This issue had profound consequences during World War…
27th April 2022: Women’s History Month – Homes of Women Writers Lunchtime Roundtable
For the second of our special Women’s History Month seminars, we invite you to join us for a roundtable session with several key figures from museums and collections centred around celebrated women writers. We’ll be sitting down with Sally Jastrzebski-Lloyd,…
Going Round the Daily Mirror Shopping Clock – Mary Feerick
Towards the end of my teaching career I knew I had become part of History. Not surprisingly I had to halt videos of the Poll Tax Demonstrations to give an eyewitness account that varied from Andrew Marr’s narrative. However it…