It is Spring 1984 in Britain: 24 million Britons have just watched Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean figure-skate their way to Winter Olympics gold on the BBC, Colin Baker is the sixth Dr Who and The Price is Right recently…
Category: Blog
The Women’s History Network blog
Bettie Thompson and the James Street Holiness Church by Sonja Ingram
Bettie Thompson was a young African American woman who, in 1891, despite opposition, founded the James Street Holiness Church in Danville, Virginia during a time when African Americans, women, and the religious movement she embraced were all being excluded and…
Catholic Nuns and Sisters in a Secular Age by Dr Carmen M. Mangion
In 1972, Alan Whicker, presenter of the widely watched ‘Whicker’s World’, together with his television crew, entered the silent and hidden world of the cloister. As part of a series ‘Whicker within a woman’s world’, he had astoundingly secured permission…
American Women War Correspondents of World War I by Chris Dubbs
On 3 August 1914, one day into World War 1, the writer Corra Harris received a telegram from George Lorimer, editor of the Saturday Evening Post, America’s largest circulation magazine: “How would you like to spend a few days in…
Where was Florence Nightingale? Developing municipal health visiting after 1900 by Dr Pamela Dale
In this blog Dr Pamela Dale tells us about the history of health visitors and their relationship to Florence Nightingale. Today health visiting is an elite branch of nursing: only registered nurses and midwives can train as health visitors. Nurses…
Sexual Progressives: Reimagining Intimacy in Scotland, 1880-1914 by Dr Tanya Cheadle
In our latest great blog we hear from Dr Tanya Cheadle about her new monograph: Sexual Progressives: Reimagining Intimacy in Scotland, 1880-1914 In October 1890, the feminist freethinker Jane Hume Clapperton and maverick scientist Patrick Geddes walked together through the…
Imagining Caribbean Womanhood: race, nation and beauty competitions, 1929-1970 by Dr Rochelle Rowe
In our latest fascinating blog we hear from Rochelle Rowe about her book Imagining Caribbean Womanhood: race, nation and beauty competitions, 1929-1970 I recently enjoyed the ‘feel-good’ movie Misbehaviour, which tells the story of feminist protests at the 1970 Miss…
Florence Nightingale: a pioneer of hand washing and hygiene for health by Dr Richard Bates
Florence Nightingale, who was born 200 years ago, is rightly famed for revolutionising nursing. Her approach to caring for wounded soldiers and training nurses in the 19th century saved and improved countless lives. And her ideas on how to stay…
Hiding in Plain Sight: Black Women, the Law and the Making of a White Argentine Republic by Dr Erika Denise Edwards
In our latest great blog, Dr Erika Denise Edwards gives us a tantalising glimpse into one story in her new monograph. On December 26, 1793 the ecclesiastical notary Tomas Montano informed don José Lino de León, a vicar of the…