In my work on non-heterosexual Jewish women’s lived experiences and practices in contemporary England and Israel, I have been struck by the many stories that have referenced involvement with NGOs and activism (especially feminist, LGBTQ+, and climate change groups). To…
Category: Blog
The Women’s History Network blog
Breaking the Glass Chamber: Women, Politics and Parliament 1945-1997 September 15-17th at Queen Mary University of London
Registration is now open for this exciting conference being held at the Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London, from the 15-17 September 2022. See the full programme here and register here. 2022 marks a series of historic anniversaries…
6th July 2022: Academic Fellowship Celebration – Independent Research Fellows’ Roundtable
Don’t miss the first of two seminars celebrating the Women’s History Network’s Academic Fellows! Our WHN Independent Research Fellows 2021/2022 will be speaking about their seminal work and research, ranging from the groundbreaking activism of British South Asian women in…
George I’s Forgotten Consort: Melusine von der Schulenburg, Duchess of Kendal
In 1720, leading politician Robert Walpole confided in his colleague Earl Cowper that he “did everything” by the Duchess of Kendal and that she was “in effect as much Queen of England as ever any was.”[i] The Duchess was Melusine…
‘But why this here and now only when I loved I knew’: Remembering Kathleen Raine (1908-2003)
‘If hate were love, if love were hate, It could not make our tale untold…’[1] Few poets have the honour of providing the title for an international bestseller. Even fewer watch the words they wrote grace subsequent film posters and…
22nd June 2022 Seminar: Dr Hannah Telling – “Villainous Harpies”: Women, everyday violence, and justice in Scotland, 1850-1914
22nd June 2022 with Dr Hannah Telling, a seminar focusing on Women’s Violent Crimes in Scotland! Join us for this seminar our Summer Series, featuring Dr Hannah Telling with the paper titled: ‘“Villainous Harpies”: Women, everyday violence, and justice in…
Who was Joan Conquest? – Michelle Johansen
Miss Conquest is a fully qualified nursing sister, a Ju-jitsu practitioner and a crack revolver shot. She can ride, drive anything on wheels or legs, swim, fence, fly and climb.[1] Joan Conquest (1883-1941) was an adventurous character who possessed courage…
Getting to Know Ireland’s Revolutionary Republican Women – Andrew Himmelberg
On Easter Sunday 27 March 1921, two young women from County Cork, Margaret Crowley and Margaret O’Neill, set out on a bicycle journey across the county to deliver an important message to their Irish Republican Army (IRA) comrades who were…
The ‘Splendid’ Mrs McCheyne and the East London Federation of Suffragettes – Jane McCrystal
In 2018 I carried out some research at Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archive for the Women’s Hall Exhibition, an event staged to showcase the incredible work of the East London Federation of Suffragettes (ELFS). Set up by Sylvia…