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…
Category: Blog
The Women’s History Network blog
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…
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…
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…
Helen Cox: A pioneering accountant – Lizzie Broadbent
Increasing socio-economic diversity in the professional services sectors is currently a hot topic. In November 2020, a City of London socio-economic diversity taskforce was launched and last year two of the Big Four accountancy firms published firm-wide socioeconomic pay gaps,…
Uncovering sexual assault and harassment in an early nineteenth-century letter – by Natalie Hanley-Smith
Harriet Ponsonby, Countess Bessborough (1761-1821), is perhaps best-known today for being the younger sister of the celebrated Duchess of Devonshire, Georgiana Cavendish (1757-1806). Although not as famous as her sister, Bessborough was a fascinating woman in her own right. As…
Sex and the City: Gender and the City of London – Emma Barrett
While discussing her career trajectory, an oral history participant disclosed her cancer diagnosis. Thrown, I said I was sorry. Her reply was shocking: ‘Don’t be, in many ways it was a good thing…it made me get off the hamster’s wheel’.…