At the height of the London Blitz in 1941, Esther Bruce, who was then a young woman aged 28, became part of my family. Her Guyanese father had just died, so their neighbour, 63-year-old Granny Johnson (my great-grandmother), ‘adopted’ her.…
Category: Women’s History
Black Women in Britain During the Great War By Stephen Bourne
With only a few exceptions, such as the Crimean war ‘doctress’ Mary Seacole, black and dual-heritage women have been ‘written out’ of British history. This is true of the many books published about Britain and the First World War and…
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…
Diane Leather and the sub-five-minute mile by Katie Holmes
In another special women’s history month blog we hear from Katie Holmes about the remarkable Diane Leather, the first woman to run a sub-five-minute mile Diane Leather made athletics history when, on 29th May 1954, she ran a mile in…
‘Elizabeth’s Group: Bringing a Heroine to Life’ By Dr Maureen Wright, University of Chichester and Susan Munro, Chair, Elizabeth’s Group, Congleton, Cheshire.
We can think of no better way to kick-off women’s history month than hearing about a campaign to commemorate the Vicwardian suffragist and suffragette, Elizabeth Wolstenholme Elmy. It gives me the greatest pleasure to introduce this blog by Susan Munro…
#WE WERE THERE TOO! By Dr. Carolyn Jefferson-Jenkins
In our latest fascinating blog, Dr Carolyn Jefferson-Jenkins examines the role of, and reception to, women of colour in the history of The League of Women Voters of the United States. On February 14, 2020, The League of Women Voters…
What does beauty mean to you? By Dr Daisy Payling
In November 2019, the University of Essex’s Body, Self and Family project put on a series of health and beauty-themed events as part of the Being Human Festival. In my work as a post-doctoral research assistant on this project investigating…
Feminist solidarity in the archive: Marie Granet, the Resistance, and me. Emily Hooke
Just like the personal is political, so too is the archive. Here Emily Hooke reflects on Marie Granet, and histories of the French resistance. Last October, I went to the Archives Nationales in Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, slightly north of Paris, to examine…
The letters of Dr. Edith Pechey by Dr. Namrata R. Ganneri
In our latest fascinating blog, Dr. Namrata R. Ganneri examines the archive of one of the ‘Edinburgh Seven’, Edith Pechey. On 6 July 2019, the ‘Edinburgh Seven’- Sophia Jex-Blake, Isabel Thorne, Edith Pechey, Matilda Chaplin, Helen Evans, Mary Anderson Marshall…