Leading Women magazine

OPENING ACCESS 150 years of women in higher education

‘ At the University of London, we take our commitment to women’s education seriously and we have spread this ethos around the world where our distance and flexible programmes enable women to study around family and work life.’

Professor Mary Stiasny University of London Pro Vice-Chancellor (International) and Chair of the Leading Women celebration

LEADING WOMEN 1868 – 2018

Preface

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n 1868 nine female candidates sat the ‘special examination’ for women here at the University of London, changing education forever.

We began our Leading Women celebration in January 2018 to mark this momentous anniversary. 150 years have passed since this day, when women first entered the UK higher education system, and we are proud that this milestone took place at the University of London.

Leading Women was recognised with the 2019 Guardian University Award in the category ‘Marketing and Communications Campaign’ and the 2019 ContentEd Award for ‘Best Content-led Campaign’, achievements we are immensely proud of.

The aim of our campaign was not only to raise awareness of this important date but to highlight the incredible work of women around the globe, starting with 150 women affiliated with the University.

Year of the woman

From authors to crystallographers, presidents to botanists, all of these women made their mark on culture and society and were pioneers in different ways.

Engaging with the public Over the course of the year, we enjoyed a packed schedule of celebrations, lectures, festivals, workshops, screenings and much more, the highlights of which you will read about in this magazine. We spoke to members of the public at the Women of the World festival and Open Garden Squares weekend, we toasted Mary Shelley at the immersive public engagement event ‘Living Frankenstein’ and unveiled a permanent sculpture here in Bloomsbury, a memorial dedicated to those first women students. Discussions were started and questions posed at ‘Worldwide Conversations’, a series of international events that spread our message and goals across the globe.

At our annual Foundation Day in November, we honoured and highlighted the achievements of five of our remarkable Leading Women, an event at which all of our honorary fellows and graduands were women.

Extended celebrations University of London member institutions joined the celebrations also, with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine hosting a ‘Women in Global Health’ lecture, a ‘Fawcett Lecture’ at Royal Holloway, a ‘Women and Music’ exhibition at the Royal Academy of Music and a ‘Beatrice Webb panel discussion’ at the London School of Economics.

2018 also marked the 100th anniversary of some women’s right to vote in the UK, a culmination of the long fought suffrage movement. 2018 saw many more cultural shifts towards gender equality too. Workplaces employing over 250 employees are now required to publish their gender pay gaps; a statue of Millicent Fawcett was unveiled in Parliament Square – the first statue of a woman, by a woman, in that space; the Women’s March returned in cities across the world for a second year and the #MeToo movement raised a huge amount of awareness for abuse against women.

Now that there is broad and growing determination to advance the equality and rights of women, we must continue this momentum. We must make space not just to talk but to act, to develop policy in education, the workplace, communities, business and parliament. We must expand and open opportunities for women inside and outside of education. Equal gender representation everywhere makes a fairer society for us all.

Leading Women legacy But the true legacy is perhaps the renewed commitment of the University to the importance of education and to pursuing access to education for all. What we are working towards now reflects that ground-breaking decision taken 150 years ago. We had then a vision which was far-seeing; and we are now renewing our commitment to give opportunities to all groups in society who have been and continue to be under-represented (or indeed underachieving) in higher education and employment because of their gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, disability; because they are coming out of care or because of their faith – to all of these groups we will re-emphasise our mission and we will reflect this in our next strategic plan.

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Contents 1 Preface Professor Mary Stiasny

University of London Pro Vice-Chancellor (International) and Chair of the Leading Women celebration

Chapter

Chapter

Chapter

W H AT

WOMEN WANT 2.0

Chapter

TALKING ‘BOUT A

REVOLUTION TALKING ‘BOUT A

Page 5

Page 17

Page 31

REVOLUTION

6 ...not on the whole less difficult

18 From gloom to bloom

32 The Portia effect

44 May ‘68

22 Open garden squares

34 Women of the World festival

45 Weaving women’s stories

8 Oh Pioneers!

10 Women’s education pioneers 12 A voice for freedom 14 A woman is powerful even in stillness

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24 Musician, author, princess, spy 26 Cracking the codes of gardens 28 I am rooted but I flow

35 More seats at the table 36 Equal pay for equal work 38 The Worldwide Conversation 40 Lots and lots of very small changes lead us to where we are

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Page 43

46 Living Frankenstein 48 Pioneers of progress 50 Senate Women 52 Leading Women take centre stage 55 The Leading Women legacy

Editorial team Editors-in-chief Lucy Jordan and Dr Laura Pritsch

Graphic design Robert Kelly

Editorial assistants Isabel Ciudad Fontecha and Kyle Dougherty

Illustrations Alex Goddard (From gloom to bloom), Dorothee Olivereau (Pioneers of progress)

Contributors Julie Allinson (Lots and lots of very small changes lead us to where we are) is lead developer at CoSector, University of London.

Lucy Jordan (A voice for freedom; A woman is powerful even in stillness; The Leading Women Legacy) is content producer at the University of London.

Dr Emma Bridges (Weaving women’s stories) is the public engagement fellow at the Institute of Classical Studies within the School of Advanced Study, University of London.

Uneesah Khalil (Women of the World) is digital marketing manager at the University of London Worldwide.

Dr Philip Carter (Oh! Pioneers; From gloom to bloom) is the head of IHR Digital and senior lecturer in Digital History at the Institute of Historical Research, School of Advanced Study, University of London.

Dr Maria Castrillo (Women’s education pioneers; Pioneers of progress) is head of special collections and engagement at the University of London’s Senate House Library.

Dr Elizabeth Dearnley (Open Garden Squares; Musician, author, princess, spy; Cracking the codes of gardens; Lots and lots of very small changes lead us to where we are; Senate Women; Leading Women take centre stage) teaches within the School of European Languages, Culture and Society at UCL, is visiting research fellow at the Institute of English Studies within the School of Advanced Study, University of London and former communications and engagement assistant for the Leading Women celebration.

Professor Jo Fox (Equal pay for equal work) is the director of the Institute of Historical Research, School of Advanced Study, University of London.

Ellie McGuffog (More seats at the table; May ‘68) is development communications manager at the University of London.

Laura Noakes (The Portia effect) is a PhD student at the Open University.

Dr Amanda Phipps (Living Frankenstein) is public engagement officer for the School of Advanced Study’s Being Human festival.

Binda Rai (The Worldwide Conversation) is associate director of external relations, media and PR at the University of London Worldwide.

Patrick Sandford (Lots and lots of very small changes lead us to where we are) is a writer and theatre director.

Professor Mary Stiasny OBE (Preface) is the University of London’s Pro Vice-Chancellor (International) and chief executive of University of London Worldwide.

Arielle Tse (I am rooted but I flow) is a graduate of the Slade School of Fine Art at UCL.

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LEADING WOMEN 1868 – 2018

Chapter

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ur year of Leading Women has been a celebration of pioneers. Those in the fields of Medicine, Literature, Equality, Law, Education and more. We celebrated women who faced endless barriers, injustice and criticism and who nevertheless persisted.

Founders of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), Annie Kenney and Christabel Pankhurst

The women in our campaign broke boundaries and challenged the status quo and by doing so forged a path for others. Among them are the first nine women to take the ‘special’ examination here at the University of London. In this chapter we explore their stories, along with the journeys of three other remarkable women who have shaped history: ‘Hurricane Jessie’, who put herself forward as a candidate for examinations in 1856, eight years before women were permitted entry, then went on to join Garibaldi’s Italian Revolution; Sarah Parker Remond, who travelled to the UK with her antislavery message before the American Civil War; and Millicent Fawcett, the founder of the suffrage movement in the UK and the first woman to be commemorated with a statue in Parliament Square, by Leading Woman Gillian Wearing.

These women paved the way for us and their role in shaping today’s society cannot be overestimated.

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... not on the whole less difficult

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n 1868, nine women took the new ‘special examination’ for women at the University of London. This marked the day when women formally gained access to university education in the UK a hugely significant moment for higher education and women’s equality.

Candidates were required to pass at least six papers across a wide range of subjects: Latin, English Language, English History, Geography, Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, Greek, French, German and Italian, and either Chemistry or Botany.

Some questions included in these exams were: ‘Draw a plan of the city of Rome’, ‘Extract the square root of 1245456’ and ‘Give a brief account of the Second Punic War, with the dates of the principle battles’. Nine pioneering women took the examination, and, of these, six passed, progressing on to fields including politics, law and teaching.

It would be another 10 years before women were permitted to take the same degree programmes and examinations, however, this event was hugely significant for the University, for women and for society as a whole.

Here you will find a selection of the broad range of questions that candidates were presented with.

As Philip Carter notes in his article about the ‘London Nine’, the University ruled that the special examination would not be ‘on the whole less difficult than the existing Matriculation Examination’. And indeed the first nine students faced a testing ordeal.

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Remembering the London Nine

By Philip Carter

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t 2pm on Saturday, 15 May 1869, the 17 examiners of the University of London gathered at Somerset House on the Strand. Their task that afternoon was an unusual one: to assess and grade the University’s first ‘special examination’ for women which nine candidates had sat earlier that month.

The examiners (all men) awarded Honours to six of the nine women: Sarah Jane Moody, Eliza Orme, Louisa von Glehn, Kate Spiller, Isabella de Lancy West and Susannah Wood. The remaining three students–Mary Anne Belcher, Hendilah Lawrence and Mary Baker Watson–did not pass the examination, though Belcher re-sat successfully the following year. Regardless of these results, all nine were pioneers in women’s higher education.

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Leading women In June 1868 the University of London’s Senate had voted to admit women to sit the special examination, so becoming the first British university to accept female candidates. 150 years on, the University of London celebrated the admission of its first nine women students, and the many thousands who’ve since followed.

Women’s higher education in London dates from the late 1840s, with the foundation of Bedford College by the Unitarian benefactor, Elisabeth Jesser Reid. Bedford was initially a teaching institution independent of the University of London, which was itself an examining institution, established in 1836. Over the next three decades, London University examinations were available only to male students.

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Demands for women to sit examinations (and receive degrees) increased in the 1860s. After initial resistance a compromise was reached. In August 1868 the University announced that female students aged 17 or over would be admitted to the University to sit a new kind of assessment: the special examination for women.

Certificates of Proficiency Candidates were required to pass at least six papers across a range of subjects: Latin, English Language, English History, Geography, Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, two from Greek, French, German and Italian, and either Chemistry or Botany. The University ruled that the special examination would not be ‘on the whole less difficult than the existing Matriculation Examination’, and indeed the first nine students faced a testing ordeal.

Questions ranged from ‘extracting the square root of 384524.01’, to an ‘enumeration of the principal rivers in North America’, and an essay on the character of Queen Elizabeth.

However, unlike their male peers, on passing the special examination successful women didn’t receive a degree but a ‘Certificate of Proficiency’.

It would be another decade before women were admitted to the University’s degree programme, with the University of London again the first British institution to offer this option to female students.

Independent spirits Of the nine women who sat the first special examination, several went on to distinguished careers. Louise Hume von Glehn (1850–1936) became a campaigner for working women and a writer of popular histories–published under her married name, Louise Hume Creighton. Eliza Orme (1848–1937) took a law degree, enjoyed a successful legal career and was active in the suffrage and prison reform movements. Known for her pragmatism, she later championed ‘sound-minded women who wear ordinary bonnets and carry medium-sized umbrellas’.

Given their commitment to education, it’s no surprise that three of the successful candidates went into teaching.

Sarah Moody and her sisters established a preparatory school in Guildford, while Susannah Wood–having graduated BSc–taught maths in Cheltenham, Bath and Cambridge. In 1891 Wood was appointed Vice-Principal of the Cambridge Training College for Women which later became Hughes Hall, Cambridge.

Kate Spiller, meanwhile, returned to her native Bridgwater, in Somerset, where she too was an active member of her local school board.

Spiller was not the only candidate who travelled to London for the examination: Susannah Wood came from Cheltenham and Sarah Moody journeyed from Hertfordshire. The potential hazards of metropolitan life did not go unnoticed. On hearing of the University’s plans, a Home Office official recommended steps be taken ‘to prevent the excitement…which might arise from bringing these young persons up to London for examination’. A lady matron was duly on hand in case of emergency.

In truth, the Home Office need not have worried. The London Nine were characterised by an independent spirit and made their own way–professionally and personally– in adult life. Kate Spiller and Sarah Moody lived with their sisters into old age and–along with Eliza Orme and Susannah Wood–chose not to marry and to live ‘by their own means’.

The London Nine were characterised by an independent spirit and made their own way–professionally and personally.

Between 1869 and 1878, more than 250 women sat the special examination, of whom 139 passed and 53 were awarded Honours. They came from Bedford and other London colleges, as well as schools such as Cheltenham Ladies’ College. A further 40 successful candidates prepared with ‘private tuition’. During the 1870s, candidates arrived from across Britain, including girls’ schools in York, Liverpool, Bradford and Kendal.

Today their successors come to London from countries worldwide or continue to study remotely. The University of London Worldwide has more than 50,000 students across the globe on its distance learning programmes.

Their achievements featured prominently in the Leading Women celebration. The Leading Women website features a gallery of 150 notable London alumnae and staff active from the 1860s to the present day. They include Elisabeth Jesser Reid and Louise von Glehn, alongside other educational pioneers who drew inspiration from the original London Nine.

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Women’s education pioneers

By Maria Castrillo

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long with the centenary of the first women’s right to vote, 2018 marked the 150th anniversary of the ‘special examination’ for women at the University of London. This important milestone in history was celebrated throughout the year with a full programme of events aimed at raising awareness about the University of London’s crucial role in extending higher education to women. Senate House Library marked the occasion with an exhibition and programme of events exploring 150 years of women’s fight for equal rights in the areas of education, politics, employment and reproduction, with a focus on the achievements of London’s pioneers of progress.

Jessie Jane Meriton White, public domain

Leading the way for change

Following in the

footsteps of Hurricane

Jessie 10

Women came up against many barriers and prejudices in their demands for access to university education.

Some of the surviving correspondence in the University archive affords brief glimpses into these difficulties. An early example is that of Jessie Jane Meriton White, who, in 1856, upon her return from Italy, presented herself as a candidate for the examination. Meriton White applied to the Senate of the University of London for permission to obtain a diploma in medicine. Her request was refused in a lengthy legal opinion based on a literal interpretation of the University’s foundational charter that only contemplated awarding degrees to male candidates.

Meriton White later became famous as ‘Mad Mario’, following her marriage to an Italian Count, or ‘Hurricane Jessie’ because of her participation in Garibaldi’s Italian Revolution, as the leader of a group of women who nursed the sick and wounded in the hospitals of Naples.

Her case is referred to in some letters dealing with the issue of women’s examinations.

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Into the University of London Archive The University of London Archive holds the key to many stories behind the quest for equality in women’s education. Petitions, minutes of Senate meetings, legal opinions and correspondence afford a unique perspective on the introduction of the special examination for women in 1868. They illustrate how this modest scheme paved the way for greater reform and led to the establishment of the general examinations and the admission of women to degrees a decade later.

Among the documents kept in the archive, the two supplemental charters granted to the University in 1867 and 1878 are records of great significance. They officially sanctioned fundamental reforms in the higher education system at the time, but more importantly they are part of the collective memory of the University of London as a pioneering force in advancing access to education.

Debating matters The changes that led to the establishment of the special examination for women in 1868 took place in the context of a wider contemporary debate inside and outside the walls of the University. The voices of leading advocates of female education resonate in the records that have survived. One of these early advocates was Joshua Girling Fitch, assistant commissioner for the Schools Inquiry Commission in Yorkshire and prominent educationist who devoted much of his energy to improving the education of women. In a lengthy letter addressed to the ViceChancellor of the University, George Grote, in 1866, Fitch comments on the recently approved special examination for women and ponders whether such a scheme could cause more harm than good by ‘attempting to settle authoritatively what women ought, and what they ought not to learn’. Fitch is also rather critical of the inequalities in the provision of education for boys and girls in schools, which he considers the root of the problem.

Setting the record straight The record of the women who sat the special examination for the first time is probably one of the most potent reminders that access to higher education was the preserve of the few only 150 years ago. The names of the female candidates appear neatly written in the volume of the minutes of the examination for women that took place in May 1869. Next to them we can see the subjects they took up. Only six candidates passed but their identities are more revealing that it could appear at first

sight. In this first list we can find Leading Women such as Elisa Orme, who became the first woman to qualify as a lawyer in England and who also became an advocate for women’s rights. It is no coincidence that the struggle for equal access to higher education and the fight for equal civil rights and liberties were often entwined. In fact, it could be argued that they were two sides of the same coin.

The Rights for Women: London’s Pioneers of Progress exhibition and related events revealed these and other hidden stories of women’s struggle for equal rights, as told in their own words, and brought to life unique items from Senate House Library collections rarely seen before.

The exhibition highlighted the many issues that these pioneers of progress encountered throughout their lives and, in so doing, demonstrated that despite significant steps taken in the direction of full equality, these topics remain as relevant and current today as they were 150 years ago.

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The life of Sarah Parker Remond

By Lucy Jordan

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eading Woman Sarah Parker Remond started speaking publicly about slavery in the USA at just 16 years old. Her lectures took her around America, the UK and Europe, where she became a well-known figure and agent of change in the anti-slavery movement.

‘I appeal on behalf of four million men, women and children who are chattels in the Southern States of America,’ declared abolitionist Remond, to an audience in Liverpool in 1859, two years before the outbreak of the American Civil War,‘…not because they are identical with my race and colour, though I am proud of that identity, but because they are men and women.’

Sarah Parker Remond was an African American slavery abolitionist, lecturer and physician. Her anti-slavery campaign took her across the globe, where she tirelessly condemned the atrocities happening in her country.

Born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1815, Remond was one of eight children. Massachusetts was by this time a ‘free state’ and centre of the abolition movement. The Remond family owned a successful catering and hairdressing business and Remond’s mother, Nancy, was a major influence on her life.

Education and prejudice Remond was largely self-educated and took advantage of a house full of books and newspapers, many from the Anti-Slavery Society, in which members of her family were active. The Remond home was a meeting point for black and white abolitionists. Her brother, Charles Lenox Remond, had begun speaking publicly and was the American Anti-Slavery Society’s first black lecturer.

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©1865, Courtesy of the Phillips Library, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA

A voice for freedom In 1859 Remond enrolled at Bedford College for Ladies, where she is thought to have been the first black student.

‘While our mother never excused those who unjustly persecuted those whose only crime was a dark complexion, her discipline taught us to gather strength from our own souls; and we felt the full force of the fact, that to be black was no crime.’

Salem, despite being a centre of anti-slavery activity, was not free of hostility. In theory, black people in the non-slave owning northern states were free and equal citizens, however, in actuality, they were subject to regular prejudice, abuse and racism. One of the ways this affected Remond was through access to education.

In 1835, after passing an entrance examination, Remond and her sister were admitted to Salem High School. Within a week, after protests from parents, the segregationist school committee decided to remove all black children and establish a separate school for them. This injustice affected Remond greatly. ‘Years have elapsed since this occurred, but the memory of it is as fresh as ever in my mind…engraved on my heart.’

As a result of this enforced segregation, the family moved to Rhode Island, where the children were again refused admittance to public schools. After some time, Remond

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received some education at a private school that had been established by a group of black residents of the town. Remond’s father campaigned to desegregate schools in Salem and won in 1841.

Influenced by the atrocities she had witnessed and persuaded by her friends, Remond started speaking publicly in the community and around the north-east United States. On these tours she also faced prejudice and had to stay in private homes, being refused hotel rooms.

Fear not the wind nor the waves Following extensive tours of America as an engaging and persuasive speaker, Remond was asked to bring her anti-slavery message to the UK, to gather support for the abolitionist cause. She took the steamer ferry Arahia from Boston to Liverpool on 28 December 1858, a 15 day journey not for the faint hearted. Before embarking, Remond told her friend Abby Kelly Foster that she feared not ‘the wind nor the waves, but I know that no matter how I go, the spirit of prejudice will meet me’. The ship, covered in ice and snow after a treacherous journey, arrived in Liverpool on 12 January 1859.

Remond was surprised by her reception in the UK, telling a friend, ‘I have been received here as a sister by white women for the first time in my life. I have been removed from the degradation which overhangs all persons of my complexion…I have received a sympathy I never was offered before.’

At her overflowing UK lectures, Remond told audiences of thousands of the horrors of slavery and of the discrimination and indignities suffered by ‘free black’ people in America, shocking listeners and raising a large amount of money for the anti-slavery cause. She also spoke of corrupt American politics and the corrupt church. Her tour was followed closely by the British and American press, spreading her message even further.

Remond’s time in the UK was especially important as she was thought to be the first woman to discuss slavery in front of mass audiences.

Remond also spoke fearlessly of the sexual exploitation of enslaved black women, a topic generally deemed too taboo to discuss in public at the time, even in newspapers. ‘They are exposed for sale and subjected to the most shameful indignities. The more Anglo-Saxon blood that mingles with the blood of the slave, the more gold is poured out when the auctioneer has a woman for sale because they are sold to be concubines for white Americans.’

The American Civil War During the American Civil War, British workers were vehemently pro-Union, but the bourgeoisie, many of whom attended Remond’s lectures, wanted to retain their profitable trading relationship with the South. Remond knew that forcing the British public to confront the atrocities being committed across the Atlantic would be hugely advantageous for the cause. She urged Britons to buy cotton from India as opposed to slave-harvested cotton from America’s southern states and worked to build British support for the Union blockade of the Confederacy.

The Union succeeded and the war ended 1865 with the surrender of the South. Four million slaves were freed. After the war and the emancipation of slaves, Remond turned her attention to the ‘freedmen’, ex-slaves in need of support and funds, and continued her speaking engagements with this message.

It was in 1859 that Remond enrolled at Bedford College for Ladies, where she is thought to have been the first black student. She studied History, French, Latin, Music, English Literature and Elocution in her two years there, continuing her lecture tours whilst on school breaks. At this time, Remond became friends with Elizabeth Jesser Reid, a women’s education pioneer, philanthropist, and founder of Bedford College. During her time at the college, she also became a founding member of the Ladies’ London Emancipation Society.

Later life in Italy Remond moved to Florence, Italy in 1866. Here she began to study medicine at one of Europe’s most prestigious medical schools, Santa Maria Nuovo, at the age of 42.

She flourished in Florentine high society, married a Sardinian painter named Lazzaro Pinto Cabras and went on to practise medicine for more than 20 years.

Remond died in Florence in 1894 at the age of 79 and was buried in Rome, where, in 2014, a memorial plaque was put up in her memory. Little is known about her later life but her legacy is one of passion, bravery and determination. Remond challenged the perception of women as submissive victims of slavery and segregation, not fit for public platform, and her significant contribution to progress and emancipation paved the way for radical change.

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Millicent Fawcett statue unveiled in Parliament Square

By Lucy Jordan

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hilst running between meetings through Parliament Square on International Women’s Day 2016, Caroline Criado-Perez suddenly realised that among the 11 statues of men, there was not one of a woman.

Shocked by the reality of having no female representation in this historic public square, she knew immediate action had to be taken. Having successfully campaigned to get Jane Austen on UK banknotes in 2017, Criado-Perez knew where to start and did so with an online petition and an open letter in the Telegraph to newly appointed Mayor of London and self-proclaimed proud feminist, Sadiq Khan.

Among the 11 statutes of men in Parliament Square, there was not one of a woman.

85,000 people signed the petition, Khan called the decision a ‘no brainer’, and on 24 April 2017, a statue of suffragist Millicent Garrett Fawcett was unveiled in the square, before a crowd of party leaders, politicians, campaigners and the public.

Fawcett, who died 90 years ago, was a major force behind the campaign for women’s right to vote, favouring nonviolent protest, and was president of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies.

The unveiling also made history for a second reason in that it was also the first statue in the square created by a woman – the sculptor being University of London Leading Woman and Goldsmiths alumna Gillian Wearing.

Wearing’s bronze casting of Fawcett depicts the campaigner at 50 years old, holding a banner that reads ‘Courage calls to courage everywhere’. The statue is also

adorned with portraits of 59 other men and women who supported the fight for women’s right to vote, including Leading Women Louisa Garrett Anderson and Emily Wilding Davison.

The statue provides a leap forward but by no means a resting point. Addressing the hundreds who had come to pay tribute, Criado-Perez spoke of the lack of female representation in public commemoration.

‘Women are still woefully underrepresented in all areas of British cultural and political life, not least in its statues. When I counted all the statues in the UK’s public monuments and statues database I found that there were more statues of men called John than there were of historical women…less than 3% of British statues feature women who actually existed.’

Prime Minister Theresa May told the audience that she ‘wouldn’t have been standing there as prime minister, no female MPs would have taken their seats in parliament and none of us would have the rights and protections we now enjoy…were it not for one truly great woman, Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett…it is right and proper that today she takes her place at the heart of our democracy’.

‘She was a tireless advocate for equal access to education, pressuring universities to admit women on equal terms and establishing her own Cambridge college. The struggle to achieve votes for women was strong and arduous. Dame Millicent was there from the beginning and devoted her life to the cause.’

It is right and proper that today she takes her place at the heart of our democracy.

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Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said that it was a historic day, and, ‘a moment only tempered by the fact that it really should have happened many decades ago. It’s simply not right that this historic square has been a male only zone for statues, because statues matter, they’re a symbol of our values, a demonstration of the importance we place on hard battles won, both in peace and in war and an expression of who and what we choose to celebrate, so it’s vital that we fix the imbalance and ensure more women are celebrated in our public spaces.’

Fawcett’s legacy now stands proudly in its right place, reminding all those who look on of the struggle for equality, progress made and all that is left to be done.

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© GLA

A poem read at the ceremony, by award-winning poet Theresa Lola, captured the gravity of moment and its legacy. ‘Millicent Fawcett will stand, poised, watching the world from Parliament Square, because a woman is powerful even in stillness, because a young girl will point at her and ask for a story to conjure up, because visibility is a portal for another woman to see and enter.’

© GLA

Chapter Bloomsbury Group member and prolific author Virginia Woolf spoke fondly of Bloomsbury as a ‘site of liberation and feminism’ in her stories and correspondence, most famously perhaps in A Room of One’s Own, with its theme of women’s financial independence, written during her time living in Gordon Square.

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he London neighbourhood of Bloomsbury, home of the University of London, has long been a centre for liberal politics, radical thought and mould breaking. Avant-garde societies such as the Bloomsbury Group set up camp here because of the area’s bohemian reputation, as did other writers, artists and scientists looking to break from the bourgeois habits and conventions of Victorian life.

In the early 1900s, at a time of shifting modern attitudes, the area also became very much interwoven with feminist and women’s independence movements.

Single women began to move to Bloomsbury to escape the interior, domestic lives laid out for them, moving into independent lodgings and subsidised boarding houses where they lived communally with other unmarried women and men – an unheardof arrangement for the time. Here, they could live freely with less judgement, working and financially supporting themselves.

Bloomsbury also became a major centre of the suffrage movement in the 19th century. Clement’s Inn, residence of Emmeline Pankhurst, became the home of the Women’s Social and Political Union, the birthplace of the suffragettes, in 1906. Mecklenburgh Square housed the People’s Suffrage Federation.

Bloomsbury’s streets and squares are nowadays strewn with odes to important and influential women, such as Louisa Aldrich Blake, the country’s first female Master of Surgery, Second World War spy Noor Inayat Khan and suffragist Millicent Fawcett. These statues and blue plaques serve as reminders of the immeasurable impact these women have had on our lives today.

In this chapter we delve further into the lives of Bloomsbury residents Virginia Woolf, Noor Inayat Khan and UCL alumna Mavis Batey. We also reflect on our Open Garden Squares celebration in Bloomsbury’s Gordon Square and the evocative art installation and ode to Leading Women by UCL graduate Arielle Tse, ‘I am rooted but I flow’, in Torrington Square.

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Virginia Woolf in Gordon Square

By Philip Carter

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Several squares in Bloomsbury can therefore lay claim to Virginia Woolf. But these later phases in Woolf’s life came after the important years 1904 to 1907 when she lived at 46 Gordon Square, adjacent to the University of London’s main precinct. It is Gordon Square – to which Virginia moved in October 1904 – that marks the start of her adult life as a professional writer, and of the weekly meetings of artists and intellectuals that gave rise to the Bloomsbury Group.

Virginia Stephen For Woolf, then aged 22, Gordon Square was also a place of personal transition because it marked a move from the ‘gloom’ of her early years to the ‘bloom’ of a new life.

‘Gloom’ is a word Virginia herself used to describe her adolescence which was spent in another part of London, 22 Hyde Park Gate in Kensington, where she was born and grew up.

When Virginia moved to Gordon Square she was not yet Woolf (she married in 1912), but Virginia Stephen. She was the youngest daughter of Sir Leslie Stephen, one of the great men of Victorian letters, a historian, journalist and founding editor of the Dictionary of National Biography.

Leslie Stephen was in many ways a classic Victorian: energetic, industrious and serious. But he was also an exceptional Victorian, known for his radical freethinking, as a prominent (and controversial) atheist and a father 18

Illustration: Alex Goddard

walk round Bloomsbury takes you past many houses with blue plaques which commemorate the homes and achievements of former residents.

Of these, none is more celebrated than the writer and critic Virginia Woolf (1882–1941). You’ll find plaques dedicated to Woolf at 29 Fitzroy Square, where she lived between 1907 and 1911; at Brunswick Square, near the Foundling Museum and (since April 2018) on the Tavistock Hotel, which marks the site of 52 Tavistock Square, her home between 1924 and 1939. Here she wrote some of her best-known novels, including To the Lighthouse and Mrs Dalloway.

who encouraged his daughter to read any book in his library. As a result, Woolf’s relationship with Leslie proved complicated. At times, he embodied the oppressive Victorianism she sought to escape; on other occasions he was the enlightened thinker whose rationality and empiricism informed the later Bloomsbury movement.

Gloomy Hyde Park Gate Woolf’s wider family was similarly complicated, and large.

Both her father and her mother, Julia, had been married before and both parents brought stepchildren to their marriage. Leslie and Julia in turn had four children of their own: Vanessa (now best known as the painter Vanessa Bell), two sons, Thoby and Adrian, and Virginia. Woolf’s childhood home, at Hyde Park Gate, was therefore always crowded and cramped, even though the house itself was a magnificent five-storey townhouse. It was also dark and oppressive, decorated in a heavy Victorian style of blacks and deep reds.

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Virginia Woolf by George Charles Beresford, © National Portrait Gallery London, CC-BY-NC-ND 3.0

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From the late 1890s, it was also a place of great sadness.

Virginia’s mother died suddenly and unexpectedly in 1895, aged 49.

Plunged into despair, Leslie Stephen became irascible and demanding of his daughters and stepdaughters. From the early 1900s, Virginia spent increasing amounts of time nursing her ailing and much older father until his death, aged 72, in early 1904.

Stephen’s death ended an era and the response of the Stephen children was to get away from sombre, stuffy Kensington. They’d first visited Bloomsbury in December 1903 in search of a new home but initially were not impressed. Virginia wrote on that occasion that ‘it seems so far away, and so cold and [that word again] gloomy.’

However, they persevered. It was Vanessa Stephen who chose 46 Gordon Square as their new home in early 1904, and she who set about decorating the house in a modern style. In these initial months Virginia was absent, undergoing a series of family visits in Yorkshire and Cambridge to recover from a serious episode of mental ill-health following her father’s death. Later that year she was judged well enough to return to London and move in with Vanessa and her brothers at No. 46. Coming to Gordon Square was for Virginia, therefore, an escape not just from the gloom of her childhood, but also from an illness that would blight her whole life.

‘Old Bloomsbury’ What Woolf found at 46 Gordon Square was a world away from her previous experience of domestic living.

This was a house where only young people lived, which, at the time, was a rarity and radical departure from the multi-generation clutter of Hyde Park Gate. In an age of student housing and shared spaces, it’s easy to forget just how liberating – and, for some, shocking – this singlegeneration household was in Edwardian England.

46 Gordon Square was also architecturally distinctive.

Unlike Hyde Park Gate, it was airy and spacious. It was clean and lit by electricity rather than gas lamps and candles. Woolf lived at the top of the house, where she had two rooms of her own, with a view across the Gordon Square gardens. In an essay entitled Old Bloomsbury, written in 1922, Woolf reflected on what it was like to live at No. 46, and her excitement at starting something new.

‘When one sees it today,’ she writes, ‘Gordon Square is not one of the most romantic of the Bloomsbury squares.

But I can assure you that in October 1904 it was the most beautiful, the most exciting, the most romantic place in the world.

To begin with it was astonishing to stand at the drawing room window and look into all those trees…The light and the air after the rich red gloom of Hyde Park Gate were a revelation.’

Though Bloomsbury is today a smart part of London, this wasn’t the case in 1904. Gordon Square had been developed in the 1820s, along with Tavistock Square, for the upper middle classes. However, as a district it didn’t really take off. As a result, its terraces were turned into lodging and boarding houses as homes for a transitory and shifting population. To the Stephen children this mix of people, and the area’s slightly dodgy reputation, were part of the charm of moving to Gordon Square. ‘After the silence of Hyde Park Gate the roar of traffic was positively alarming. Old characters, sinister, strange, prowled and slunk past our windows.’

Coffee, chintz and symbols of change Woolf and her siblings sought to carry over this unconventionality to life inside No. 46. Decoratively, the old ways of proper living were thrown over for more modern styles. The plush reds and blacks were replaced by lighter, plainer designs. Walls were whitewashed and there was green and white chintz, rather than the elaborate fabrics of William Morris.

The new residents of No. 46 were also keen to live differently. In part, this meant the bigger things in life: they would spend their time reading, writing and debating.

But difference and modernity were also displayed by daily routines. So they chose to drink coffee after dinner instead of tea because, free from Victorian proprieties, they could.

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And they decided to live without that epitome of Victorian civility, the table napkin, and use instead what Woolf describes as ‘large supplies of Bromo’, which is best likened to an Edwardian form of kitchen roll. Such details are amusing, but to the Stephen children they became symbols of a change that was only possible at No. 46. As Woolf put it: ‘Here everything was going to be new; everything was going to be different. Everything was on trial.’

Thursday evening gatherings Gordon Square is also famous because it was home, from March 1905, to the Thursday evening gatherings that became the Bloomsbury Group, or at least its first instance – what Woolf later called ‘Old Bloomsbury’. Quite who and what and when Bloomsbury was remains much debated.

But what’s clear is that it began at No. 46, as the Cambridge University friends of Thoby Stephen visited the house each week to discuss literature, art and ideas. The regulars included the painter Clive Bell, the writer Lytton Strachey, the wonderfully named Saxon Sydney-Turner and the future Indian civil servant and peace campaigner, Leonard Woolf. There were other occasional visitors, including the poet W.B. Yeats and the novelist E.M. Forster, whom Woolf revered and who she used to watch crossing Gordon Square while she hid behind the hedges in the gardens.

‘We were not dressed at all’ In later years, the Bloomsbury Group gained a reputation for sexual freedom and experimentation: famously it was said by Dorothy Parker that they ‘lived in squares and loved in triangles’. But things were much more reserved in the first Gordon Square years (Woolf called them ‘monastic’), with the multiple attractions going

largely unspoken. As Woolf wrote in her essay on Old Bloomsbury: ‘at Gordon Square love was never mentioned. Love had no existence.’

What took place instead was talk, and talk between men and women on equal terms about things that mattered.

Woolf describes a typical Thursday evening in the following terms: ‘it was late at night; the room was full of smoke; there were buns, coffee and whiskey strewn about; we were not wearing white satin or seed pearls; we were not dressed at all.’ This life of coffee, buns and casual dress was to many deeply shocking. Elder members of the Stephen family expressed alarm at these wayward youngsters. But for the younger Stephens these debates and late nights were an essential part of everything being different.

29 Fitzroy Square and beyond This first phase of Bloomsbury ended in spring 1907.

By then, Virginia’s elder brother Thoby had died, Leonard Woolf had moved to India and Clive Bell had married Vanessa. The Bells remained in the house while Virginia and her younger brother, Adrian, moved out to 29 Fitzroy Square, where the Thursday evening gatherings continued. However, the focus and dynamic of the circle was starting to change as it became more diffuse, physical and creative. In time, the group also moved beyond Bloomsbury, with connections to Richmond, Charleston, Sissinghurst and Rodmell in Sussex.

But, as Woolf recalled in her 1922 essay, there was no escaping the fact that everything had started at No. 46. ‘These Thursday evenings,’ she wrote, ‘were as far as I am concerned the germ from which sprang all that has since come to be called by the name of Bloomsbury. And the headquarters of Bloomsbury have always been in Gordon Square.’

Bloomsbury Group members in the garden in July 1915.

Left to right: Lady Ottoline Morrell, Mrs Aldous Huxley, Lytton Strachey, Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell.

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I

n June 2018, the University of London took part for the first time in the city-wide initiative Open Garden Squares weekend, inviting Londoners into Gordon Square to learn more about the Leading Women associated with it – and meet some of its former inhabitants in person!

Tucked between SOAS, UCL and rows of graceful townhouses, Gordon Square is one of the prettiest of Bloomsbury’s squares, providing a peaceful green space in the heart of the busy University community. It also has a long association with generations of writers, scholars and activists – Virginia Woolf and her siblings experimented with new ways of living in No. 46, poet and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore is celebrated with a bust in the square’s centre, and a young Noor Inayat Khan looked for fairies there with her siblings.

These associations made it the perfect choice for the University’s contribution to 2018’s Open Garden Squares Weekend, in which hidden green spaces across London are opened to the public to highlight the variety and importance of the city’s green infrastructure. While Gordon Square is open to visitors all year round, the June weekend saw it transformed into a space filled with pop-up lectures, garden tours and croquet-playing members of the Bloomsbury Group, as we shared the stories of its Leading Women.

Dr Philip Carter, senior lecturer in Digital History at the Institute of Historical Research, discussed the mental and spatial freedom that Woolf experienced

By Elizabeth Dearnley

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after moving to Gordon Square in 1904, where ‘the light and the air after the rich red gloom of Hyde Park Gate were a revelation’, and the effect this had on her work.

Dr Elizabeth Dearnley, visiting research fellow at the Institute of English Studies, explored the lives of two remarkable women with Gordon Square connections: Mavis Batey, a Bletchley Park codebreaker turned garden historian; and Second World War heroine Noor Inayat Khan. Meanwhile, the University gardeners were on hand to give guided tours of the gardens themselves and to answer any green-fingered queries.

Visitors were also able to encounter the Leading Women of Bloomsbury’s past in a more theatrical way, chatting with Virginia Woolf, ballet dancer Lydia Lopokova, society hostess Lady Ottoline Morell and others as they explored

the square. This immersive, improvised garden party, performed by the Goodenough Theatre Company, was based on scenes from Anjali Bhat’s new play The Memoir Club, which was staged later in the year at the 2018 Bloomsbury Festival. As the weekend unfolded, various members of the Bloomsbury Group could be spotted strolling through Gordon Square and engaging with passers-by – asking for writing advice, debating Edwardian issues of the day or challenging people to a game of croquet.

From code breaking to croquet, the University’s first participation in Open Garden Squares Weekend made for an entertaining, informative couple of days – and provided a wonderful space in which to share the stories of Gordon Square’s women.

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Musician, author, princess, spy

By Elizabeth Dearnley

I

n a quiet corner of Gordon Square – set slightly apart from the formal rose beds, Ginger Jules café and picnicking UCL students – stands a bronze bust of a remarkable Second World War heroine. Perhaps best known by her resistance code name ‘Madeleine’, the story of Noor Inayat Khan is unfamiliar to many today, but contains so many extraordinary elements that it’s incredible she isn’t more widely recognised. A staunch pacifist regarded by her captors as a fierce and dangerously uncooperative spy, an outspoken supporter of Indian independence who gave her life fighting for the British, a children’s author, musician and princess (descended from Tipu Sultan of Mysore), Noor is also the first – and so far only – Muslim woman to be honoured with a statue in Britain.

Looking for fairies in Gordon Square

©IWM (HU 74868)

The eldest child of American poet Pirani Ameena Begum and famous Sufi teacher and musician Inayat Khan, Noor was born in Moscow in 1914, moving shortly afterwards with her family to Bloomsbury. She spent the next few years living at 4 Taviton Street, a few minutes’ walk from Gordon Square, where the young Noor would look for fairies in the garden with her brothers.

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The Khans moved to Paris after the First World War, where Noor would spend most of her adult life studying child psychology at the Sorbonne and composition at the Paris Conservatory under Nadia Boulanger. She enjoyed a successful career as a children’s writer, contributing regularly to French radio and children’s magazines, and publishing Twenty Jataka Tales – a collection of animal fables inspired by early Buddhist literature – in 1939.

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A ‘bridge between the English people and the Indians’ Noor and her family fled from occupied France to England following the outbreak of the Second World War. Strongly influenced by the Sufi teachings of their father, the Khan children remained committed pacifists. However, Noor and her brother Vilayat decided that merely opposing fascism was not sufficient; they felt morally obliged to play a more active role, but in a way which would not involve taking a life. For Noor, this meant volunteering for some of the most dangerous work of all: joining the Special Operations Executive (SOE), training as a radio operator and becoming a secret agent.

A passionate believer in Indian independence, Noor had no reason to be a natural supporter of Britain itself.

During her initial interview with the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force, she took the panel aback by remarking that, after the war, she might feel obliged to fight for India against the British. Nevertheless, she remained hopeful that her service might help to build understanding between the two countries: ‘ I wish some Indians would win high military distinction in this war. If one or two could do something in the Allied service which was very brave…it would help to make a bridge between the English people and the Indians.’

Noor was the subject of more disagreements regarding her suitability as an agent than perhaps any other recruit.

Her SOE report suggested she had ‘an unstable and temperamental personality…it is very doubtful whether she is really suited to work in the field’ (to which F Section chief Maurice Buckmaster retorted ‘Nonsense!’ in the margin). Intelligence officer Vera Atkins, who oversaw SOE recruitment, also remained convinced of Noor’s ability.

In the early hours of 17 June 1943, Noor became the first woman agent to be parachuted behind enemy lines in France (previous women had been sent as couriers).

Her task was to maintain radio contact between Britain and the Resistance in Paris. This was an unbelievably dangerous job – radio equipment was bulky and hard to conceal and staying in the air for more than 20 minutes at a time risked detection by the enemy. The average life span of a field agent was just six weeks.

Noor evaded capture for three months, as the Paris Resistance network – which had been infiltrated by double agents more deeply than anyone had realised – began to disintegrate during the summer of 1943. In October, she was arrested at her Paris flat and taken to German security headquarters.

Noor made two immediate escape attempts (and refused to sign an agreement with her captors ruling out a third). Regarded as a particularly dangerous prisoner, she was kept in solitary confinement in Pforzheim prison for 10 months. Finally, Noor was transported to Dachau concentration camp, where she was executed in September 1944. Her last reported word was ‘Liberté’.

A memorial for Noor

©Paul Farmer, CC BY-SA 2.0

Noor was awarded a posthumous George Cross in 1946, as well as a French Croix de Guerre. However, in the 21st century, Shrabani Basu, author of Noor’s 2008 biography Spy Princess, began a campaign for a permanent memorial to Noor in the Gordon Square garden she had loved as a child. Noor’s statue, sculpted by Karen Newman, was unveiled by University of London Chancellor HRH The Royal Princess Anne in 2012.

The unveiling of Millicent Garrett Fawcett’s statue in Parliament Square has reignited a national conversation about the lack of women represented by public monuments (currently the UK boasts more statues of men named John than statues of historical women).

While there is clearly much work to be done on a countrywide level, Noor’s presence in Gordon Square remains a testament to the courage of an extraordinary woman.

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Cracking the codes of

gardens

By Elizabeth Dearnley

‘ Hello, we’re breaking machines.

Have you got a pencil?

Here, have a go.’

W

ith these words, 19-year-old UCL student Mavis Batey née Lever was introduced to the Enigma research team at Bletchley Park by Greek scholar and veteran cryptographer Dilly Knox. Midway through her French and German degree, as war broke out in 1939, Batey’s language skills led her to become one of the top code breakers of the Second World War, playing a leading role in breaking both the Italian and Abwehr Enigma machines. After the war, however, her pattern recognition abilities led her to a quite different career: decoding the language of historic gardens, in the process becoming the driving force behind English Heritage’s national register of parks and gardens.

After impressing the Government Code and Cypher School by realising that a mysterious Morse Code place name S-T-G-O-C-H was not St Goch but Santiago, Chile, Batey was sent to Bletchley Park to work with Dilly and his largely female team on breaking the Enigma ciphers.

In March 1941, she decoded an Italian Enigma message which read, ‘Today’s the day minus three’ – working around the clock for three days, the team unravelled a series of messages which allowed the Royal Navy to ambush an Italian attack at the Battle of Matapan.

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Mavis Batey, © Ian Jones Photography Ltd

‘Give me a Lever and a Rock and I will move the universe’

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Later that year, Batey broke into the German Abwehr Enigma, previously deemed impossible to break, enabling Allied forces to stage the D-Day landings in 1944. Dilly gave enormous credit to Batey and fellow coder Margaret Rock for this, remarking ‘Give me a Lever and a Rock and I will move the universe.’

Batey fell in love with mathematician Keith Batey after the two worked together on a particularly difficult cipher during a late-night shift. Marrying in 1942, the couple remained at Bletchley until the end of the war.

‘Someone had tried to say something there’: The language of gardens Spending several years in Canada with their young family, the Bateys returned to England in 1955, settling in Farnham, Surrey. It was here that Batey first became interested in landscape history, inspired by historian W.G. Hoskins’ study of the evolution of the English landscape.

This intensified when the Bateys moved to Oxford to live in the grounds of Nuneham Courtenay, a sprawling 18thcentury park designed by Capability Brown. Batey became fascinated by its William Mason garden, sensing patterns in its design in the same way that she had previously analysed codes. ‘I knew at once it wasn’t just an ordinary derelict garden: someone had tried to say something there,’ she recalled in a 2008 interview.

As Batey’s knowledge of gardens developed, so did her realisation that none of these historic spaces were afforded any official protection. ‘It seemed to me that the moment I’d got interested in these lovely landscape parks, they came under threat. The Ministry of Transport actually said that putting a road through Highclere Park would give the motorist something good to look at as they drove through!’ she recalled in 2008.

Batey became the secretary of the Garden History Society in 1971 and began campaigning to preserve historic landscapes. Her efforts led to the 1974 Town and Country Amenities Act, the first legislation to recognise the concept of historic gardens alongside listed buildings – after which she turned her attention to the creation of a national register. Organising a pilot study – and singlehandedly surveying the gardens of Oxfordshire after government funding failed to materialise – Batey’s findings grew into English Heritage’s first Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.

For many years bound by the Official Secrets Act, in later life her achievements were finally made public. In 2004, she brought together the two strands of her career by creating an American Garden Trail at Bletchley Park, filled with flowers and trees from each of the United States.

Dying in 2013 at the age of 92, her codebreaking work was celebrated around the world.

From breaking Enigma ciphers to preserving historic gardens, Batey’s work has had a considerable impact. As she later recalled, ‘You should make your voice known.

You never know how things are going to turn out.’

Code breakers in Bletchley Park, public domain

Batey spent the next few years researching Nuneham Courtenay, publishing her findings in Oxoniensa in 1968.

She went on to produce several books on historical gardens across the south of England, as well as writing about literary gardens in the works of Lewis Caroll, Austen and Pope.

From code breaking to campaigning

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By Arielle Tse

Arielle Tse, winner of the University of London’s public art competition to create a lasting memorial to its first women students, admitted 150 years ago, reveals the ideas behind her installation, ‘I am rooted, but I flow’.

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O

Millicent Fawcett’s Hyde Park address on 26 July 1913, The Women’s Library collection, LSE Library, 7JCC/O/01/177

n 15 May 1869, garden roses and peonies were in high bloom. It was the day when the London Nine sat for the University’s first ‘special examination’ for women. Nearly 150 years later, this very moment is commemorated through a lasting memorial, sited in the heart of Bloomsbury.

The journey of my narrative for the memorial goes through four chapters, using gardens and flora as motifs.

In the centre of present-day academia, I hope it will be a public art piece that goes beyond mere remembrance and engages with the people that surround it in a poetic, meaningful response rooted in contemporary experience.

Philosophy of a garden Flowers were frequently used as symbols of Victorian gender expectations, as were gardens. In the Victorian era, women were often instructed to cultivate themselves as if they were metaphorical gardens. Some of the most significant handbooks given to young women in the past were very much like gardening manuals; for instance, in the 1860s, Ruskin’s Sesame and Lilies and Of Queen’s Gardens provided instructions on how to behave so that women could fulfil their family roles. Victorian social politics relegated women to the private sphere; similarly, religion and art have long utilised images of nature to reinforce women’s domesticity, such as in the Garden of Eden.

Thus, through a spiral pavement that expands outwards from the sundial, I hope to cast the garden as a space that cultivates young women beyond traditional frames of femininity.

Engagement of a thought Bloomsbury heralded – and continues to harbour – generations of writers, artists and scientists and is also known for its graceful squares. One would see people gathering in gardens to read, speak and relax–an unmissable sight on fine summer days. Historically, gardens were also where intellectuals exchanged thoughts and discussions. A famous example would be that of the Bloomsbury Group, a circle of writers, artists and philosophers, whose members included notable alumnae such as Virginia Woolf, Vanessa Bell and Dora Carrington. They used to meet in gardens during the time predating their notable achievements and their works and outlook influenced much of later literature, aesthetics and modern attitudes.

The garden therefore becomes a site where both scholarship and social good are pursued. In taking the form of a new, symbolic garden laid with a swirling path, the installation will engage those who visit it, while also interacting with a wider audience from the institutions that surround it, creating a shared public space continuing this aspect of Bloomsbury’s history.

Through a spiral pavement that expands outwards from the sundial, I hope to cast the garden as a space that cultivates young women beyond traditional frames of femininity.

Power of a voice While devising the installation, a line from Virginia Woolf’s The Waves particularly struck my thoughts: ‘I feel a thousand capacities spring up in me…I am rooted, but I flow.’

Woolf’s character Jinny is rooted in being herself, but flows as an evolving part of a whole. Reading beyond Woolf’s words, I felt that this can also be heard as a voice of the Leading Women celebration, that of the nine women who were the first to step through the doors to British university education, the many thousands who have followed, and the generations of excellence to come.

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The swirling design is drafted to echo the sphericality of the sundial.

One end of the swirl will touch the sundial, leading the eye towards it while spinning outwards from it at the same time.

Memorials often implore the viewer to remember, yet perpetuity goes against the human psyche. Hence, while the garden performs my narrative, these words perform its title and will be inscribed in the paving. They will stand as a reminder to those who read it at any point in the future– reminding visitors of history, of literature, as well as of the invaluable individuality that we as young women hold within our complex webs of connections across the University – and to give us courage to achieve our aspirations.

While devising the installation, a line from Virginia Woolf’s The Waves particularly struck my thoughts: ‘I feel a thousand capacities spring up in me...

I am rooted, but I flow.’

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Chapter

WHAT

Women demand equal pay, The Women’s Library collection, LSE Library, 5FWI/I/1/2/08/012

WOMEN WANT 2.0

W

hat Women Want 2.0 was a report launched in 2018, setting out the aspirations and opinions of women across the country, seeking to raise awareness of their multi-layered experience of life in the UK. The project was a continuation of a 1995 survey, distributed at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, devised

by Anita Roddick, Lynne Franks and Bernadette Vallely.

The survey, circulated amongst women attendees, asked only one question, ‘What do you want?’

The survey and latest report outline how we must continue listening to women and do all we can to provide support and resources for them and generations to come. This project’s essence continues the work of Jill Craigie’s cutting-edge 1951 film, To Be a Woman, in which similar themes are examined.

In the following chapter we explore what happened after women passed through the university doors.

Women’s entrance into higher education was a momentous occasion, however, subsequent progress was not straightforward. New hurdles arose over the next generations. Barriers were shifted. There were advances along the way, such as women studying on the same terms as men, the women’s vote and the Equal Pay Act but alongside these milestones emerged new inequalities. In this chapter we explore some of the barriers to the progress of equality that ensued.

In ‘The Portia Effect’, we discuss how women were permitted to study law from 1888, but not to practise as barristers or lawyers until 1919. Further down

the line, the 1970 Equal Pay Act was a momentous occasion for underpaid and overworked women, however, employers quickly found many ways to circumvent this law, rewording the job titles of men and labelling women’s roles as ‘unskilled’. Jill Craigie’s seminal short film, To Be a Woman illustrates the lives of working women across 1950s Britain. The film precedes the Equal Pay Act by 19 years but in many ways foreshadows the inequalities that came after it.

We revisit the Women of the World festival, where we listened to what modern women want out of their careers and educations. Through our ‘Worldwide Conversations’, we spoke to women around the globe about issues such as time poverty, unpaid care work, women in leadership and higher education’s role in gender equality.

Despite many positive inroads in education and the world of employment, there are still many areas where women are underrepresented. The fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics have been identified as such areas in need of equal representation.

We talked to Julie Allinson, who works in the University of London’s CoSector, about the rewards of her career in technology.

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The Portia effect Early women law students and their legacy

By Laura Noakes

1

00 years ago, women could not practise law. One woman, albeit fictional, stood apart from all others: Portia. In William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, Portia impersonates a male legal apprentice and wins a case! However, Portia’s fictitious achievements failed to have any real-world effect – women could not practise as a barrister, or solicitor, until the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act was passed in 1919, paving the way for Helena Normanton to become the first practising woman barrister.

However, women could study law at university. Access to higher education for women became an increasing aim of the women’s movement in the 19th century – Bedford College, opened in 1849 by Elizabeth Jesser Reid, was the first higher education college for women, and the University of London was the first higher education institution to award degrees to women in 1878, after introducing ‘special examination’ for women 10 years earlier. The first woman to gain a law degree in England and Wales was Eliza Orme, who graduated from the University of London in 1888. She was soon followed by others – between 1888 and 1919 eight women graduated with a law degree from the University of London. Often referred to as ‘Portias’ in the popular press, the women who graduated prior to the 1919 Act were legally trained, but unable to practise officially.

barristers, there were other avenues for those who wished to engage in legal work. Eliza Orme had already established her office on Chancery Lane by the time she graduated. Eliza worked as a ‘devil’ – she drafted documents for conveyancers and patent agents.

However, this quasi-legal work was a small part of Eliza’s role in life.

She was a member of the Liberal political party, and in favour of women getting the parliamentary vote. However, her suffrage ideals came second to her political loyalty; she sided with the party when the Women’s Liberal Federation split on the issue in 1892.

By the time the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act received royal assent, Eliza was 71 years old. She had remained involved in legal work until 1904 and passed away – having seen the achievement of both suffrage and women lawyers – in 1937.

Entry into academia Ivy Williams was the first woman to be called to the bar, in 1922. Although she never practised – she became an academic lawyer instead – this moment marked an important landmark for women in higher education.

Law on the margins

Ivy came from a distinguished line of lawyers; her father was a solicitor and her brother became a barrister. She studied law at the University of Oxford and had completed all her examinations by 1903. However, Oxford did not allow women to matriculate or graduate until 1920.

So, what was a woman with a law degree to do? Well, although they were unable to become solicitors or

Instead, she received her LLB from the University of London in 1901, and her LLD from the same university in 1903.

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Ivy was the first woman to teach law at a British university.

She taught at the Society of Oxford Home Students (a forerunner to St Anne’s College, Oxford) from 1920 to 1945, and was awarded her Doctor of Civil Law in 1923. She was elected an Honorary Fellow of St Anne’s College in 1956. All of these achievements are incredibly important – it meant that, for the first time, women were involved in legal education.

A woman KC Whilst Ivy beat her to the bar by a few months, Helena Normanton was the first female barrister to practise.

Prevented from graduating with her LLB in 1912 by a ‘coughing fit’ during her final exam, Helena finally gained her law degree in 1930, from the University of London.

She was the first woman to obtain a divorce for her client (in 1922), the first woman to prosecute a murder case (in 1948) and was appointed King’s Counsel, along with Rose Heilbron, in 1949.

She also fought for women’s rights to financial independence, publishing a radical pamphlet in 1914 entitled Sex Differentiation in Salary which argued that women should be given equal pay for equal work: ‘ During and after a war, many soldiers’ wives and widows become the breadwinners for families. Should they be paid according to their sex or their work?’

By the time of her death in 1957, she had paved the way for women barristers, and achieved many ‘firsts’ for women in law.

Legacy All graduating with a law degree from the University of London, these women were variously involved in the campaign for women’s suffrage, national and local politics, academia and reforming the law to improve women’s lives. The diversity in their later lives is testament to their legal training – they utilised their skills even though they could not officially practise law until 1919.

However, their pioneering achievements, and the challenges they faced in their careers and in their activism, have left a lasting legacy.

All images ©LSE Library, The Women’s Library collection

Helena was also a committed feminist, and heavily involved in the fight for women’s votes. She was a member of the Women’s Freedom League, a democratic but militant suffrage group. Although Helena married in 1921, she was committed to keeping her maiden surname for professional reasons – she was the first married

woman in Britain to keep her maiden name on her passport. She campaigned passionately for divorce reform and was president of the Married Women’s Association.

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T

o mark the centenary of International Women’s Day, WOW – Women of the World festival–celebrated the achievements of women and girls across the globe by listening to the stories of hundreds of women and the obstacles they have faced over the years.

The Southbank Centre was home to the festival which hosted artists, writers, politicians, comedians, charities, social enterprises and much more.

The festival brought people together from diverse areas of life to make a change.

The University of London stall engaged with hundreds of attendees over the weekend, with many people wanting to find out more about the University’s history, what is on offer and the Leading Women celebration.

By Uneesah Khalil

34

The University of London stall engaged with hundreds of attendees over the weekend, with many people wanting to find out more about the University’s history, what is on offer and the Leading Women celebration.

Attendees also took part in interactive activities, which included ‘speed mentoring’, as well as viewing digital copies of archival material from Senate House Library. The latter provided an insight into the history of women’s education – including the first nine women who entered higher education in Britain in 1868 – and visual representations that illustrated the disparities in access to education for women around the world.

The speed mentoring sessions enabled visitors to sign up for conversations with experts from the University. Visitors were able to find out how they could gain entry to higher education and share stories of how they overcame challenges and obstacles in their paths and achievements in the world of higher education.

Mentors and stallholders met a diverse community of people, ranging from toddlers and young children to the elderly, talking about their fight for an education, and even alumni of the University, catching up and telling us where they are now.

The outreach was incredible. WOW provided the opportunity to talk to the community and listen to the challenges they face. Not only were the mentees left motivated, inspired and focused on the next steps to achieve their goals, but the mentors too heard life-changing stories that would stay with them forever.

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Chapter 3 | WHAT WOMEN WANT 2.0

More seats at the table

By Ellie McGuffog

Recent worldwide movements have brought attention to issues all too commonly faced in the workplace. University of London thought leadership events in Malaysia and Singapore explored leadership, diversity and equality in a gendered world as part of the Leading Women celebrations.

T

he face of leadership and strength of diversity, an event bringing together the University’s network of alumni, staff and friends, was held at the iconic National Museum of Singapore in April 2018.

Professor Mary Stiasny, Pro Vice-Chancellor (International) and Chair of the Leading Women celebration, discussed topics pertinent to the working landscape of Singapore and the world at large with four industry leaders.

The panel, Richard Eu, chairman at Eu Yan Sang International Ltd; Angelina Foo, governance, risk and compliance professional and adult educator at Keystone Institute; Jeannie Ong, former chief strategic partnership officer at StarHub; and Sandhya Devanathan, country head Singapore at Facebook, demonstrated varied opinions on topics ranging from unconscious bias and women on boards, to facilities and training offered to staff.

Focusing on how diversity is a key element of successful leadership, the discussion touched on the role that higher education has to play in achieving gender parity in the workplace.

Is growth in awareness enough to generate meaningful change?

In October 2018, British High Commissioner to Malaysia, Her Excellency Vicki Treadell CMG, MVO, hosted the University of London for another special panel discussion in Kuala Lumpur. Entitled More seats at the table, the panel included three distinguished University of London alumnae: Asha Menon, founder of HR consultancy firm, AM Talent Partners; Beverly Hon, owner of Xcess Communication; and Karen Cheah Lee Lynn, partner at Chooi & Company + Cheang & Ariff.

The panel, also chaired by Professor Stiasny, passionately discussed women’s progress across a range of professions.

They focused on efforts to attain gender parity and equality, including calls to their fellow alumnae to ‘ask for what you want’ to get ahead professionally.

All panellists agreed on the importance of education, and encouraged the University to ensure continuing gender equality in courses, proudly noting that currently half of all students studying for the University of London’s distance and flexible programmes are women.

Both debates were lively and showcased the range of views and opinions on diversity initiatives among the panel as well as from alumni and guests, who engaged in the conversation with thought-provoking questions. The debates sparked conversations beyond the sessions with guests staying to discuss themes of gender and race equality in Singapore’s and Malaysia’s professional landscapes.

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By Jo Fox

P

rofessor Jo Fox, director of the Institute of Historical Research, explores Jill Craigie’s ground-breaking 1951 film To Be a Woman, which examines the role of women in the workplace. As the gender pay gap continues, issues raised by Craigie’s film remain relevant today.

Equal pay has long been at the heart of feminist activism. The struggle for enfranchisement was but one component of the suffrage campaign – equal pay was another, with Millicent Fawcett arguing for ‘equal pay for equal work’ in the Economic Journal in March 1918. It remains a pressing issue. The March 2018 report, What Women Want 2.0, recognised that ‘pay is social power. It determines how we live, with whom and on what terms’.

The Office of National Statistics highlighted the fact that the gender pay gap across sectors remains a steady 19.2%, unchanged for at least the last three years. But this belies the even greater disparity in some sectors, such as the City: at Barclays, for example, the pay gap is 43%; at HSBC it’s 59% (hourly pay). No wonder, then, that 42% of respondents to the underpinning survey for the What Women Want 2.0 report mentioned the importance of equal pay to the campaign for gender equality.

The Equal Pay Campaign Committee Equal pay for equal work is at the centre of Jill Craigie’s 1951 short film, To Be a Woman. The film was commissioned by the Equal Pay Campaign Committee (EPCC), formed in 1944 to secure equal pay for women in the public services. It campaigned on behalf of a wide range of potential beneficiaries, from teachers and civil servants to electricians and bank employees. A singleissue pressure group, it was dissolved in 1956 after its members believed that it had won significant advances with the government agreement to introduce equal pay gradually and in stages.

The initial idea for the production of a campaign film came about in July 1949. The EPCC looked to its members to underwrite the cost (£5,000 for a 15–20 minute tworeeler), an early example of a crowd-funded project. The EPCC was confident that ‘there must be 5,000 people who believe so strongly in equal pay that they will each give £1 or 20,000 who will give five shillings each.’

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Jill Craigie: a feminist filmmaker Jill Craigie, a life-long feminist and campaigner who had transitioned to film directing in the 1940s, was a natural choice to direct. For Craigie, the Second World War was an awakening, a period of equality, and importantly a precursor to her post-1945 work as a prominent feminist and socialist (who was to marry Labour leader Michael Foot in 1949). Craigie later told her wartime story within a very specific narrative: ‘There was no feminism during the war, because all women were needed. They all got jobs…

This was the best time in their lives because they were all working’. She believed war removed gender and class barriers, only for them to be re-erected after 1945.

However, wartime female directors were frequently the objects of unwelcome press and public attention as exotic, ‘unique’ characters, who had managed to lift themselves out of the traditional, ‘natural’ female roles within the film industry such as cutters, secretaries or stenographers. Publicity often emphasised personality or appearance; Craigie later claimed that this rendered her ‘a freak’. Together with the war, she credited this with drawing her towards activism, leading her to make films on housing (The Way We Live, 1946), child poverty (The Children of the Ruins, 1948) and the coal-mining industry (Blue Scar, 1949). By the time Craigie was commissioned to direct To Be a Woman, she had become an active and committed feminist campaigner.

playing our proper role in the community? How far have we progressed from the state of subjection in which John Stuart Mill found us back in the (eighteen) eighties?’

Craigie had already reached the conclusion that ‘we have not progressed far enough, [and] the film will show how and why’.

This prelude contextualised the more specific problem addressed in the film’s second half: equal pay. Craigie’s script equated pay with power and status in similar terms to the 2018 What Women Want 2.0 report. While she could not promise commercial success or even the completion of the film, Craigie offered a personal guarantee by asserting that, should she fail in this endeavour, her production company would be made bankrupt. She sought to reassure potential donors by declaring that she had ‘a Renoir painting from which (she had) no intention of being parted’.

Making To Be a Woman

To Be a Woman is of – and ahead of – its time. It asks the fundamental question: What does it mean to be a woman, and especially a woman at work? It confronts the issue of what women’s work is and has become, and the types of work men, and indeed some women, find acceptable for women. Craigie cleverly juxtaposes anti-feminist views – represented most starkly in the film by philosopher and well-known BBC radio presenter C.E.M. Joad – with facts, and she positions the women onscreen as experts. While Craigie centres on the problem of equal pay, she shows this to indicate a much wider problem.

The main aim of the film’s first half, Craigie suggested, would be ‘to make a survey of the women in Britain showing what they are up to – how many work in industry, in professions, in the homes, in local government, in Parliament, in managerial and executive posts, and so forth. We will not ignore the fact’, she continued, ‘that working women also have to manage their homes’. Here, Craigie identified a persistent problem in the evaluation of women’s work in monetary and career terms, one of the primary barriers to female progression in the professions – a problem that continues into our own times. Craigie wanted the film to ask: ‘Are we fully able to develop our personalities to the full? Are we

Given recent headlines about the gender pay gap, the film leaves us questioning whether we are so very far from the general points made in Craigie’s film. How different is Craigie’s film to the March 2018 episode of Panorama on the gender pay gap? The main difference is that Panorama focused not only the pay disparities, and the issue of equal pay for equal work, but on the legal options now open to women in 2018 through, for example, the Equality Act (2010). These options were not open to women when To Be a Woman was first screened, and it was thanks to feminist campaigners like Craigie and organisations such as the EPCC that those legal options are there at all, flawed though they may be.

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The Worldwide Conversation – Women’s higher education and equality in the workplace

By Binda Rai

T

he University of London launched its Worldwide Conversation in September 2018, with the aim of opening up the debate on women’s higher education and equality in the world of work, through the University of London’s global network of Recognised Teaching Centres.

The Worldwide Conversation was launched in London with a keynote lecture from Shauna Olney (1), chief of the Gender, Equality and Diversity Branch of the International Labour Organization (ILO), a specialised agency of the United Nations. It was followed by a panel discussion comprising of high profile women, all leaders in their respective fields, including the chair of the panel, the Hon. Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb (2), the first Asian woman to be appointed to the UK High Court.

Shauna Olney explained: ‘Globally, progress for women at work has stalled, and there are signs that it may even be reversing. Despite common assumptions, the gender gaps in the world of work remain stubborn, and show no sign of being overcome.’

‘Women continue to have fewer jobs than men; they work in a more limited range of jobs – often reflecting gender stereotypes; their jobs tend to be lower paid with poor working conditions; and they have limited scope for voice and representation. Employment for women stands at 1.3 billion, compared to 2 billion for men, and the global employment gender gap has closed by only 0.6% in 20 years. Progress has stagnated and there are indications that the situation is getting worse,’ said Olney.

Olney attributed these figures, in part, to the lack of value given to care work responsibilities, generally associated with women, as well as the ‘time poverty’ of women, who perform over 75% of unpaid care work. She noted

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Chapter 3 | WHAT WOMEN WANT2.0 2.0 Chapter 3 | WHAT WOMEN WANT

that, in 2018, over 600 million women, compared to around 40 million men, were either unavailable for employment or not seeking a job, due to unpaid care work responsibilities.

The audience were challenged to think about their own spheres of influence and ensure that the efforts of the first women admitted to the University of London and of the ILO labour feminists in 1919, who helped shape the ILO Constitution and the first ILO treaties, were not in vain.

1

2

3

Following the keynote lecture, the panel of high profile women leaders from a range of professional fields discussed the ambition and education of women, and why they continue to be under-represented in leadership roles around the world. The panel chair, The Hon. Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, also steered the conversation to discuss whether universities could focus on gender equality and become impactful within a wider society.

Joining The Hon. Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb on the panel were Francesca Lagerberg, global leader – network capabilities, Grant Thornton International; Isabel Fernandez-Mateo (3), Adecco Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, London Business School; Kuljit Bhogal (4), barrister, Cornerstone Barristers; Sam Smethers, chief executive, Fawcett Society; Stella Dadzie, writer and historian and Professor Mary Stiasny OBE, Pro ViceChancellor (International), University of London.

The panel’s discussion ranged widely from the dismissal of ‘female traits’ as ‘soft skills’ to the essential challenge of early years education in encouraging a healthy view of gender equality. Contributions called for employers to recognise that the issue was not about ‘fixing the woman’ so that she was employable but recognising that fundamental and unacceptable barriers to equality and participation remain. Tackling these should be seen as building vital infrastructure in society rather than optional.

Binda Rai, associate director of external relations, media and PR at the University of London (Worldwide) said, following the London conversation, 20 more such conversations took place around the world through the University’s network of Recognised Teaching Centres, including in Pakistan, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, Lebanon, Ghana, Russia, Singapore and Hong Kong, each tackling the same key questions, but with a local emphasis.

4

She added: ‘The response to our request for participation in this very important and life-changing conversation for women all over the world was incredible. Our thanks to all the participants without whom none of these conversations could have taken place.’

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Lots and lots of very small changes lead us to where we are Transcribed by Elizabeth Dearnley

10 remarkable women working across Senate House shared their stories as part of the Bloomsbury Festival’s Senate Women installation, which was supported by the Leading Women celebration. One of these was CoSector lead developer Julie Allinson, who spoke with theatre director Patrick Sandford about the magic of coding, gaining confidence in work and life, and the importance of everyday acts of change.

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Patrick: So, the Bloomsbury Festival’s 2018 theme is ‘Activists and Architects of Change’. I don’t want to talk about the great achievements of the women I’m talking to – what I’m interested in is moments in our lives when we become activists and architects of change for ourselves, in our own lives. Now that might of course involve your career, but it might not. Firstly, tell me about your work.

Julie: I’m a software developer, and one of the things I like most is that doing development is a bit like magic – when you write a piece of code it’s just words and curly brackets, instructions on a computer screen –, and then you press a button and something happens! Often what I do is quite dull – it’s taking data in one format and then translating it into another format – but I really enjoy that feeling of ‘Oh! I made that happen! That looks like I want it to look!’ And that’s what I love – that feeling of creating something.

Patrick: So it sounds to me as though every time you press a button on a keyboard, you are an architect of change – and possibly an activist. You’re actually changing something.

Julie: Yes, there’s definitely an element of being an architect of change in what we do. Our core service is hosted repositories – software for looking after stuff! – and that stuff can be research articles that academics have written, it can be image collections, anything – and traditionally my team has worked mostly with academic papers. But my background is in working with archives and special collections – for example, when I worked at the University of York in my previous job, we worked on a project which digitised the Archbishop’s registers back to the 1600s.

I’m not doing the indexing or the digitising, but I’m making the architecture behind it that will put that online for many, many more people to interact with than would have done when it was just in the archives.

Patrick: You mean you’re creating the computer architecture?

Julie: Yes – the software, the website, and the modelling of how we’ll collect that data. That’s something I’ve done a lot of in my early life, when I worked as a librarian. So I actually have this fairly unique set of skills – I’m not just a software developer, I also understand the nature of library and archive collections, so I can really get involved in how to describe things properly.

Patrick: When we started talking, you said there were risky moments. Do you want to talk about that?

Julie: So, thinking a bit about what led me to become a librarian, what led me to make my choices – some of this goes right back to when I made my GCSE choices. I ruled certain things out. And then, when I made my A Level choices, I ruled more things out – I’ll always remember my Biology A Level teacher, when I said I was going to go and do an English degree, he said that was a great shame, because we need more women scientists. But I’d only got Biology A Level, and without more sciences, there wasn’t much you could do.

And then I had this – because I was quite quiet when I was younger; I’m a bit more vocal these days – I kind of fell foul of this, ‘you’re a shy girl that likes reading’ – and actually, yes, I like reading, but I wasn’t particularly the perfect English graduate, I was more, ‘that was a good story but I’ve got no real opinions about it’ – so I made this choice to do an English degree because I really didn’t know what else to do. I don’t remember being told about the range of things you could do at university, so I picked a traditional subject, because it was what I knew about.

It’s a tricky one, and I’ve spent quite a bit of time thinking about this. Do I regret the choices that I made? Going back, I’d make different choices – but I got here; it just took me a slightly circuitous route.

And having worked in libraries and archives, I actually developed loads of knowledge that’s really beneficial now.

I understand the needs of librarians and archivists because of the things I’ve done.

Taking the job here at CoSector was probably one of the riskiest things I’ve done. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to continue living in York and working in London, and working from home a lot. And what the job was – was I a good enough developer? Would I be happy if I was

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doing development all the time? But I felt that I had to try. And it did pay off! I love this job, I work with a brilliant team, we’ve all got shared goals, and we’ve all got the same feeling about how we want to run and deliver our services. So it’s been a fantastic change.

Patrick: You said you were very quiet as a girl, and you’ve become more vocal. I’m wondering how that happened and how you made that happen.

Julie: I was very quiet when I was younger, and I got labelled as shy. But when I look back, I’m not sure I was all that shy. I think most people aren’t all that confident in social situations. But that became, ‘I’m not good in those situations, so I won’t try.’

‘no you’re not, you’re rubbish at it’! And that’s massive, because it’s always been a battle between those two voices, all my life – ‘you can’t say that!’; ‘oh, I should say that!’; that whole dynamic that goes on – so I wouldn’t say there was a single moment when someone said something to me to make me feel more able to speak, but I’ve just become more confident.

Part of the battle I’ve had internally is the sense that I should be something a bit different – but I don’t want to be anything different. I’ve grappled with this idea that one should have a professional persona at work, and not just bring yourself into everything. And I can’t be that person.

I always had a kind of a quirkiness; in the family dynamic it was always me who tried to break any tension by doing something silly.

And I still do that now – and sometimes I’m annoyed in a professional capacity when I come out looking like a bit of a clown. But it’s a very good skill to have, because you can really break tension!

So I’ve learned a lot through time, and I’ve just become more confident in myself, and more willing to say what I think. Without caring whether I appear stupid.

Patrick: What I want with Senate Women is for anybody who stops and listens to feel encouraged and inspired to take a leap in their own lives. And also to feel that they can make their own path.

Patrick: I’m interested in this saying what you think. Was there a moment when you felt you could say what you wanted to say, and it was ok?

Julie: One thing I often think about change is, we expect to make huge changes, but actually, often we make lots and lots of very small changes and they lead us to where we are. I think if people are scared of changing things, start by making small changes, and build them up, it all snowballs.

Julie: I don’t think there was a particular moment when I became able to say what I thought. It’s been much more gradual.

But I’ve found actually in the last few months, I’ve started to think, ‘you know, I’m actually quite good at my job’. And not had that other voice that goes,

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I think bringing the whole of yourself into work is…this is just who I am. And that’s taken me a while to get to – that feeling that sometimes – you’re in a big professional meeting and I’ll say something a bit silly, and then stop myself and think, ‘oh no, you’ve just made an idiot of yourself’, and then you ask people later and nobody thinks that. It’s just being honest and having a personality.

LEADING WOMEN 1868 – 2018

Chapter

TALKING ‘BOUT A

REVOLUTION REVOLUTION

TALKING ‘BOUT A

R

evolutions are how we as a society challenge and change the status quo. In this chapter we revisit some of our Leading Women campaign events that looked back at different women’s revolutions through the ages. These revolutions range from small to big, personal to far reaching.

Being Human’s Weaving Women’s Stories event told the story of silenced women and weavers of the ancient world. It explored how women used weaving to tell stories, at a time when women’s stories were not heard.

The University of London in Paris’ May ‘68 panel event celebrated 50 years of women in revolt and discussed social activism, #MeToo and access to higher education during this time.

Through Living Literature, we peered inside the mind of Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein. Frankenstein revolutionised the horror genre and created science fiction. However, the book caused much controversy at the time due to the dark subject matter of the novel and the author’s gender, which many found incongruous.

Senate House Library’s Rights for Women celebrated the work of 50 London based pioneers whose political and social activism was instrumental in fighting for equality in issues such as reproductive rights, education, suffrage, slavery and the lives of ethnic minorities in London.

Finally, through a series of interviews, Bloomsbury Festival’s Senate Women talked to 10 women working in Senate House about personal revolutions in their own lives brought on by small changes, risks, awakenings, acts of bravery and courage.

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May ’68 demonstration in Paris, © Contact Press Images

By Ellie McGuffog

O

n 17 May 2018, the University of London Institute in Paris (ULIP) invited University of London alumni, current students and guests to ‘May 68 to Time’s Up: Fifty years of women in revolt’, a panel discussion with Professor Sue Clayton of Goldsmiths, University of London and Dr Melissa Thackway of INALCO and Sciences Po, Paris.

The evening began with a video illustrating key and powerful images from the women’s movement.

Footage included the French student revolts of May 1968, International Women’s Day marches and images of women wearing black to the 2018 Golden Globes ceremony in support of the 'Time’s Up' movement.

The panel recollected their own experiences of social activism as women, with particular insight into how their upbringing and time at university influenced their need to revolt.

When asked what currently motivates them, Dr Thackway candidly said: 'It would be easier to say what I’m not currently revolting against' and highlighted that there is 44

still considerable progress to be made in France in regard to human issues, not just for women. Dr Thackway was, however, thankful to campaigns such as #MeToo that help bring issues to light in the public space and open them up for discussion.

Professor Clayton discussed her current activism centred on her film Calais Children: A Case to Answer, which has been used as evidence in High Court cases to help refugee children gain access to the UK. The evening’s host, Stella Beaumont (member of University of London Board of Trustees and the Paris Advisory Group for ULIP), said: 'I felt particularly privileged to host this discussion on 50 years of women in revolt. It was a great opportunity to help celebrate 150 years since women were first able to access higher education in the UK in 1868 but also acknowledge that we are far from a position of equality and that much more remains to be done. I would like to thank and congratulate the panel for creating such a stimulating evening of frank discussion.'

LEADING WOMEN 1868 – 2018

From Arachne to craftivism Some of these ancient women weavers – mythical and actual – could be seen as the foremothers of today’s makers and ‘craftivists’, who use textiles as a means of making their voices heard through storytelling and protest. Ancient poetry introduces us to several of these subversive stitchers: in Homer’s epic Odyssey, for example, we meet Penelope, who devises her secret ruse of weaving and unpicking a shroud, so as to delay marriage to a suitor and remain faithful to her absent husband; meanwhile the goddess Athena was associated in ancient Greek thought with the wily intelligence needed for weaving everything from cloth to military stratagems and crafty plans.

By Emma Bridges

D

uring November’s Being Human festival, Dr Emma Bridges of the Institute of Classical Studies explored the connections between cloth-making and storytelling in her event Weaving Women’s Stories.

The event was inspired by recent research relating to the women weavers of the ancient world. Dr Bridges and her colleague Dr Ellie Mackin Roberts invited members of the public to join them in exploring ancient texts and artefacts in order to find out more about the ways in which weaving can help us to hear the stories of otherwise silenced women.

‘Spinning a yarn’, ‘weaving tales’, or ‘plot threads’: these familiar expressions all hint at a long-lasting metaphorical connection between storytelling and cloth-making. The English words ‘text’ and ‘textile’ even have a shared origin in the Latin word texere, ‘to weave’. Ancient Greek and Roman writers too saw connections between the crafts of fabric creation and composing poetry. Yet, despite this emphasis on the links between storytelling and weaving, in the ancient sources these two types of activity were often sharply divided along gendered lines.

Both archaeological and written evidence from classical antiquity makes it clear that cloth production – as in many societies since – was primarily the work of women.

Meanwhile, many of the written narratives which survive from the ancient world amplify the voices of male tellers of tales; by contrast, it is often much more difficult to unearth women’s stories from the written texts.

Weaving Women’s Stories began with a spoken-word performance from feminist theatre-makers By Jove Theatre Company, who have rewritten some of the stories from ancient poetry to give new voices to women weavers of classical myth.

There followed hands-on activities including workshops for families, spinning and weaving. Award-winning textile artist Majeda Clarke, who works closely with weaving communities in Bangladesh and with mills in the UK, led a workshop where she shared insights into her own practice and its relationship to the art of storytelling and gave participants the chance to weave their own unique ‘story’ on a table top loom.

LIVING

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Chapter 4 | TALKING ’BOUT A REVOLUTION

By Amanda Phipps

E

ach year, Living Literature brings an iconic work to life by using research expertise to create an immersive and theatrical world for audiences to discover. For 2018, Living Literature explored the author Mary Shelley and her canonical novel Frankenstein, which was marking its bicentenary year of publication.

As the University of London was also marking 2018 with a celebration of female achievement, it was no accident that the public engagement team chose Mary Shelley as their focal point. When she was only 18 years old, Shelley wrote her ground-breaking text which has become a touchstone for Gothic fiction writing.

The public engagement team set about bringing her epic thriller to life through immersive performances, talks and activities. On 23 May, guests could delve into the world of Frankenstein through a chilling ghost story room, a vortex of fear where you could have your biometric measurements analysed, and a digital world where you could make futuristic monsters. There was also an amazing Frankenstein adaptation by the Battersea Arts Centre’s Beatbox Academy and a gruesome look at the 19th century science in the novel from the Old Operating Theatre Museum.

Not only did Living Literature shine a light on Mary Shelley, but there were also some fantastic female researchers and cultural partners involved in the event.

With the kind support of the Leading Women celebration, the acting troupe Scary Little Girls populated the space with various iterations of Shelley and explored her views on gender and sexuality.

Dr Anna Mercer, from Keats House Museum, ran an interactive stall exploring the hotly debated topic of Shelley’s husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley, having a hand in her writing. We were also lucky enough to have the Gothic Valley Women’s Institute make some spooky sponges in their delicious ‘body bakes’ of Frankenstein.

Living Literature always feels like a very special evening at Senate House, but in 2018 in particular there was a celebratory tone to the event. From Mary Shelley herself through to the female academics, cultural partners and women who work behind the scenes at the School of Advanced Study, the evening was a powerful display of the continuous achievements of women in the humanities.

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Celebrating London’s

in their own words

By Maria Castrillo

Senate House Library celebrated 2018’s 150th anniversary by delving deeper into their collections to reveal the individual and collective stories about women’s struggle for equal rights.

T

he exhibition Rights for Women – London's Pioneers in their own Words explored the famous and also lesser-known stories of over 50 female pioneers who used London as a platform to campaign and advance equality for women in the areas of politics, employment, education and reproductive rights, from the late 18th century to the present time.

T he library offered a rich and diverse tapestry of women’s voices and narratives over the past 250 years through unique and precious autobiographical accounts, books, letters, petitions, memorials, ephemera and photographs.

Phillis Wheatley

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Among the stories featured in the exhibition were those of early pioneers such as Phillis Wheatley and Mary Prince, whose influence on the

debates concerning the inhumanity of slavery at the end of the 18th century and the early decades of the 19th century was unprecedented. Their works sat next to those of well-known activists of the women’s suffrage movement such as Millicent Garrett Fawcett and Emmeline Pankhurst, and not Elizabeth Garrett Anderson far from the writings of some of the first female MPs to take their seats in Parliament following the passing of the Representation of the People Act 1918.

Increasing access to learning and full educational opportunities is still recognised as one of the most effective ways to empower women and achieve full equality. The exhibition touched on this key debate given its relevance to contemporary society.

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Chapter 4 | TALKING ’BOUT A REVOLUTION

Activism

Increasing access to learning and full educational opportunities is still recognised as one Beatrice Edgell of the most effective ways to empower women and achieve full equality. The exhibition touched on this key debate given its relevance to contemporary society.

Female educationists such as Dorothea Beale, Frances Mary Buss and Emily Davies were concerned with raising the standard of teaching and learning for young girls. They also played a key role in ensuring that the doors of higher education opened to women at the University of London, which in 1868 approved the regulations to conduct the 'special examination' for women. It is no coincidence that the supplemental charter granted to the University in 1867 to make this change possible is surrounded by letters and documents written by these pioneers of female education.

Eleanor Rathbone Working for justice Working for justice, and particularly for equality in the areas of employment and pay, is an ongoing issue. As well as showcasing the work of social reform pioneers

The last section of the exhibition focused on Clara Collet reproductive rights, and particularly on birth control and the implementation of legislation to ensure safe abortions. Exploring the subject through the lens of the women who campaigned for contraception and the right to abortion was truly enlightening and a poignant reminder that very often campaigning for radical change comes with a huge personal price to pay. One such example was Annie Besant, who was arrested and tried for publishing material that advocated birth control for the poor. After her victory at the trial, she published Law of Population (1877). Both the media and the establishment were polarised about it and the scandal cost her the custody of her children.

Barbara Castle One of the main aims of the exhibition was to provide a historical snapshot of how women have struggled to achieve equality through their own voices and in their own words, and in doing so raise awareness about the relevance and currency of these issues today, to ensure these messages are carried forward by women of today and the future.

LEADING WOMEN 1868 – 2018

Illustrations: Dorothee Olivereau

While it may seem that there is no close connection between anti-slavery campaigning and winning the vote, one cannot be understood without the other. Women’s political activism continued throughout the second half of the 20th century as evidenced by pioneers such as Sheila Rowbotham, whose seminal pamphlet, Women’s Liberation and the New Politics, first published in 1969, was displayed at the exhibition next to the works of prominent activists Amrit Wilson and Stella Dadzie, who were instrumental in steering change and equality for women from ethnic minorities in London.

such as Clementina Black, Helen Bosanquet, Clara Collet and many others, the exhibition provided a fascinating picture of women coming together and ensuring their collective voice was heard and amplified through the trade union movement and other campaigning organisations.

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Senate Women

By Elizabeth Dearnley

B

loomsbury Festival’s audio installation Senate Women – which tells the stories of 10 brilliant Leading Women working in Senate House – is now available online, and can be found via http://bit. ly/UoLSenateWomen. Elizabeth Dearnley, the project’s producer, explores the ideas behind the installation.

'Has there been a moment when you took the plunge, and did something on your own behalf that changed your life?' In a series of interviews recorded over the summer of 2018, theatre director Patrick Sandford put this question to 10 remarkable women working in Senate House, the iconic HQ of the University of London. Their answers reflected a wide variety of experiences, from professional risks to childhood memories: taking part in triathlons, being a feminist in the heavy metal scene, quitting jobs without a firm plan, and playing a stork in a school play.

Edited down to seven-minute audio tracks, each interview played in a loop from one of the 10 windows at the top of Senate House’s stately ceremonial stairs, alongside a large acetate photograph of the speaker displayed stainedglass style. Sitting in the window bays, listeners could stop and listen to the stories of each woman, while hearing echoes of the others whispering around them.

The force behind Senate Women was Bloomsbury Festival director Kate Anderson, who had wanted to create a piece for the festival in keeping with its 2018 theme – Activists and Architects of Change – that would highlight the many ways in which women have been forces for change in their own lives:

' I don’t separate activism from my everyday life'.

Kate, Patrick and I wanted to include as wide a variety as possible of women’s voices and stories – and the 10 women who took part in the project worked in many different roles throughout Senate House, ranging from librarians, programmers and catering staff to academics, cleaners and students.

Participants included SOAS director Valerie Amos, who recalled how she had left her job as chief executive of the Equal Opportunities Commission without having a new post to go to – 'the hardest thing for me was working out what I was going to tell my mother!' She then reflected on advice to pass onto the next generation: 'I tell them to have courage, and that it’s important to embrace risk, and to make mistakes. Although I’ll fess up that I hate making mistakes! But I know that I grow from them…and I tell them to be good to themselves. And to understand that asking for support is not a weakness.'

Catering supervisor Linda Wotodjo-Uwoloh remembered the elation she felt on getting her first pay check after beginning her job:

'When we first had the idea of the project, we didn’t realise how motivating and entertaining it would turn out to be, thanks to the amazing women who shared their fascinating stories with us. From the Festival’s perspective this was a perfect way to highlight the real people who live and work here, the "everyday activists" alongside the world-leading artists, academics and scientists.'

Supported by the University of London’s Leading Women celebration, the installation celebrated the energy and determination of women from across the Senate House community.

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Chapter 4 | TALKING ’BOUT A REVOLUTION

'This job changed my life – because when I started here, I got a sense of freedom, when I got my first salary…

I started understanding that…I could wake up in the morning and start doing something for myself, without asking anyone else for any financial help.'

Liliana Almanza, who works as a cleaner within Senate House, talked about her former work in Colombia as a teacher – a job she did for 13 years: 'I started teaching students in their first year of primary school, and was hired to work with half of the class that were a little behind in their reading. In a month, these 17 children had all progressed so much that I was hired as their main class teacher!'

Meanwhile, Amanda DiGioia, a PhD student from the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies researching feminism in heavy metal, discussed acts of everyday activism: 'Through activism and through feminism, through being loud and vocal, I’ve had men on the internet tell me that I can find the poison in anything…well, there’s lots of poison in patriarchy, and if it takes me to point it out, I don’t mind being loud and outspoken…I don’t separate activism from my everyday life because I think living not in adherence to patriarchal standards is an act of activism every day.'

Senate Women at the Bloomsbury Festival Installed within Senate House in October during the Bloomsbury Festival, Senate Women attracted some 800 listeners over the five days of the festival. It served as a sideways contribution to the University of London’s Leading Women celebration – all the women featured were very much leading women, and it was a real privilege to share their stories.

Reflecting on the project, Patrick Sandford remarked:

Now, all 10 interviews from Senate Women are available online as a virtual audio installation. Whether describing changes big or small, the women of Senate House suggest how moments of everyday activism can have lasting effects.

LEADING WOMEN 1868 – 2018

All images, ©Elizabeth Dearnley

'These women were extraordinarily honest in their interviews. Each of them in her own way showed very clearly that while professional achievements are important and sometimes impressive, it is the personal, human challenges in our lives that make us the people we are. This was always inspiring, and in some cases very moving.'

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By Elizabeth Dearnley

2018 was a year of celebrating the University of London’s women – and two of the biggest opportunities to do so took place at two major events in the University calendar: Foundation Day, which honoured an all-female list of Honorary Fellows and Graduands; and an afternoon tea in the historic surroundings of St James’s Palace, hosted by the Chancellor, Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal.

O

n 20 November, guests gathered in Senate House to celebrate the University’s 182nd Foundation Day, joining the Chancellor for an evening of degree ceremonies, speeches and discussion. This was accompanied by a woodwind quintet of Royal Academy of Music students and Leading Women-inspired refreshments, from Welsh cakes cooked to a recipe by Second World War food writer Marguerite Patten to the ‘Deeds not Words’ cocktail.

‘Extraordinary women’ Five women were awarded honorary degrees, all described by the Chancellor as ‘extraordinary women’, overcoming considerable challenges to rise to the top of their fields. Dr Maggie Aderin-Pockock MBE, who was diagnosed with dyslexia as a young girl, went on to get a PhD in Mechanical Engineering, give presentations to over 300,000 people around the world and co-host The Sky at Night, the world’s longest running science television series. Professor Sue Black, who left home at 16 and later became a single mother of three, is now a computer scientist who was awarded an OBE in 2016 and named one of Forbes’ Top 50 Women in Tech in 2018. Former solicitor and Law lecturer Suzanne McCarthy, meanwhile, enjoyed a longstanding Whitehall career before entering public service and is chair of a youth homelessness charity, among many other achievements.

Two of the honorary fellows and graduands were among the 150 women featured in the Leading Women celebration itself. Composer Dr Tansy Davies, whose music spans classical avant-garde, funk and experimental rock, has been commissioned by ensembles and orchestras around the world. Artist Gillian Wearing won the Turner Prize in 1997 and an OBE in 2011, and in 2018 became

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Chapter 4 | TALKING ’BOUT A REVOLUTION

the first female sculptor to erect a statue on Parliament Square – with her statue of Millicent Garrett Fawcett being, in turn, the first statue of a woman to be featured there.

Foundation Day also saw the unveiling of ‘I am rooted but I flow’, an installation in Torrington Square commemorating the London Nine, created by the Leading Women art competition winner Arielle Tse. Tse herself, a Slade School of Fine Art, UCL, graduate was able to explain some of the ideas behind her installation to the Chancellor and assembled guests during the evening.

A fitting end As the year-long celebration drew to a close at the beginning of 2019, Leading Women from across the world were invited to gather in January 2019 at St James’s Palace, London, to continue conversations about issues of equality.

Hosted by HRH The Princess Royal, the afternoon included reflections on Leading Women past, present and future.

22 women profiled in the celebration were able to attend, whose achievements reflect the remarkable range of accomplishments of the University’s Leading Women. These included Dr Dipu Moni, the first woman Foreign Minister and now Education Minister of Bangladesh, Dr Margaret Busby, who became Britain’s youngest and first black woman book publisher by co-founding Allison & Busby in 1967, human rights activist Rebecca Bunce and composer Errolyn Wallen MBE. They were joined by some of the women leading the University’s Worldwide Conversation panel debates on gender equality, as well as University staff and students.

Gathered alongside 21st-century Leading Women were some time-travelling attendees from 1868, in the form of London Nine students Louise Hume Creighton, Eliza Orme and Susannah Wood. Performed by actors Beth Watson, LEADING WOMEN 1868 – 2018

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Alice Robinson and Bobbie O’Callaghan, and directed by suffrage theatre historian Dr Naomi Paxton, these pioneering Leading Women mingled with guests, shared their stories and debated the ‘woman question’ of universal suffrage throughout the afternoon.

from the University’s past: Eileen Power, Lisa Jardine and Effa Okupa. Professor Mary Stiasny, University of London Pro Vice-Chancellor (International) and Chair of the Leading Women celebration, looked back on a remarkable year of honouring women’s achievements, as well as stressing the need to continue supporting gender equality.

The gender debate is critical for the world’s future.

Continuing Leading Women As guests assembled in the stately Picture Gallery, Her Royal Highness reflected on the many contributions of the University’s Leading Women since its first women students were admitted in 1868: 'Since that decision some 150 years ago, it is striking to see the extraordinary contributions that women have made (and) the diversity of "firsts" achieved by those women associated with the University…while this decision may seem extraordinary to us today, it was ground-breaking at the time; it demonstrates the University of London’s commitment to all students irrespective of gender, race, religion, sexual orientation or social position as one of its founding principles.'

Historian and Leading Woman Dame Jinty Nelson reflected on the lives of three remarkable women

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'The gender debate is critical for the world’s future. For too long, women across the world have been disadvantaged educationally, socially, economically and politically. They are now asking why, and education is key to having this conversation. Beyond the 2018 celebration, Leading Women has also aimed to effect a wider cultural change within the University. We have used the year to reflect on our internal policies and opportunities to support women in the workplace.'

Guests were also able to handle key historical artefacts from the University’s archives, brought by the staff of Senate House Library: the original supplemental charter granted to the University by Queen Victoria in 1867 to implement the 'special examination' for women; the examiners’ minutes from 1869, which saw six of the London Nine pass with honours; and a graduation gown worn by Miss Jessie Monk, who took her BA at the University of London in 1891 and gained an MA in 1896.

From Louise Hume Creighton to the Leading Women of the future, the celebration at St James’s Palace gathered together a remarkable group of women from across the University community, creating a fitting end to an extraordinary year.

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Chapter 4 | TALKING ’BOUT A REVOLUTION

The Leading Women Legacy

By Lucy Jordan

T

here is a lot to be proud of when we look back at this year of Leading Women. But, after reflection, it's important to look to the future. To demonstrate our forward focus, we have committed to initiatives that will ensure that our Leading Women legacy will continue.

The University of London Worldwide have funded scholarships for 150 women to study for our Global MBA programme. The programme, open to women all over the world, will have a far-reaching effect. Despite more women entering business globally, they are still underrepresented at an executive level.

'Women still have a long way to go to achieve parity with men in terms of responsibility, pay and promotion, not just in the UK, but across the world', said Professor Mary Stiasny, Chair of Leading Women. 'We believe that the University of London’s Global MBA, with specialisms in Law, Finance, Accountancy, Entrepreneurship and Innovation and Leadership, will provide women with the necessary tools to make further advances in their chosen fields and help women to break down gender barriers all over the world.'

In 2020, we will be submitting our first Athena SWAN application. The Athena SWAN charter recognises the advancement of gender equality in higher education institutions.

We will continue to offer AdvanceHE’s popular Aurora programme, which develops future female leaders in higher education via training days spread throughout the year. The programme addresses the underrepresentation of women in leadership positions in the sector.

We are excited to be starting our very own blue plaque scheme to commemorate notable women affiliated with the University of London and member institutions.

Currently only 14% of English Heritage blue plaques in

London are dedicated to women. There is no shortage of plaque-worthy women and our scheme will ensure that their work does not go unrecognised.

We have created a mobile phone app for our popular Senate Women installation. If you missed the installation in Senate House, you can still listen to the inspirational life stories of our 10 Senate Women by downloading the app on our website, at: http://bit.ly/UoLSenateWomen.

We will be hosting a second ‘Women in Leadership’ conference in 2019, as the conference proved incredibly popular last year, with all places being taken.

A 2019 research project by the Institute of Historical Research, led by Dr Philip Carter, will explore the impact of the decision to open up higher education to women on their lives, the University of London and the wider higher education sector.

Internally, we will be reviewing our family friendly HR policies, including shared parental leave, adoption leave, carer’s leave, flexible working, maternity and paternity leave.

Finally, our 67ft Leading Women timeline (pictured above) has now been installed; not only will it serve as a detailed reminder of this year but will also highlight centuries of women’s achievements around the world. The timeline takes pride of place on Senate House’s ground floor and is open to the public.

The success of our year-long campaign will act as a template for future endeavours and future ways of building upon progress and inclusion at the University.

We are proud of our achievements this year and 150 years ago, however, as always, there is much more to be done. We hope that this celebration has served to inform, energise and inspire, as, in the words of Millicent Fawcett, 'Courage calls to courage everywhere.'

LEADING WOMEN 1868 – 2018

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THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON No candidate will be admitted to this Greek, and English for that AND EXAMINATIONS FOR examination unless she has prev iously examination. In order that WOMEN. It will be remembered that the requisite paid a fee of 27 to the registrar. If a arrangements may be mad at the last annual meeting of the cand e it is idate should withdraw or fail to pass expected that intending candidates University of London the Chancellor, the examination, the fee will not be should give notice of the optiona Lord Granville, made special referenc l e returned to her, but she shall be subj to the discussions which had take ects they select (where liberty of n admissible to any two subsequent general choice is allowed) not later than the place from time to time in the Senate examinations without the payment of any 16th of March, 1869. and Convocation, relative to the additional fee, provided that she give admission of women to degrees in the notice to the regi strar at least fourteen The Latin subjects for 1869 and 1870 University. He explained that the senate days before the com mencement of the are– For 1869: Cicero, "De Am icitia were fully alive to the importance of examination. The exam ination shall be and the Oration Pro Archia." For 1870: improving the general education of conducted by means of printed papers; Livy, Book I. The Greek subj ects for women; that the majority felt, however but the examiners shall not , be precluded 1869 and 1870 are; For 1869: Hom er, that women should not be allowed to from putting viva voce ques tions if Odyssey, Book X. For 1870: Hom er, compete with the opposite sex; that thou ght desirable. it Odyssey, Book XI. The English subjects would not be right for the University to for 1869 are:– Shakespeare, "Merchant Can dida tes will not be parsed by the admit them to degrees; and that a plan of Venice." Milton, Comus, Lycidas examiners unless they show . for the establishment of a special a competent knowledge in each of the Addison,"Papers in the Spectator on examination for women was under the following subjects:– 1. Latin, with Milton and on the Pleasures of the consideration of the Senate. Lor d Grammar, History, and Geograp hy. 2. Imagination." "History of English Granville expressed his own conviction Greek, French, German, Italian. Any Literature from 1750 to 1790." that the mother of a family, for instance , two of the above-named languages.

3. should be possessed of sufficient Eng lish Language, English History, and A pass certificate signed by the registrar knowledge to guide her and to enable Geo will be delivered to each candidate who graphy (Physical and shall app her to have a sound opinion with regard Topogra ly for it, after the report of the phical). 4. Mathematics. 5. to the educational wants of her own Natural exam iner s shall have been approved by Philosophy.

6.

Either the children. After a full consideration of Chemistry Sen ate as before observed, any or Botany. The papers in the the matter, the Senate of the University first two clas ses of subjects will simply candidate who has passed the general have agreed to the terms of a special consist of passages to be translated into examination may be examined for a examination for women, and the English, and vice versa, from the special certificate of higher proficiency detailed regulations in regard to it are languages named to English, with in any one or more of the following now obtainable at the offices of the grammar questions. The English paper subjects, either in the same year or in University. Besides the ordinary or itself includes writing from dictation, different years, provided that she give general examination, certificates of grammar, composition, and criticisms notice of her intention two calendar higher proficiency will be given to of selected authors. months before the commencement of those who acquit themselves especially the general examination:– (l) Latin, (2) well in particular subjects. The general The mathematical subjects are limited Greek, (3) French, (4) Ger man, (5) examination will be held once in each by simple equations, and the natural Italian, (6) English, (7) mat hematics philosophy, chemistry, and botany are year, commencing the first Monday in and mechanical philosophy, (8) such as are included in an average May. No candidate will be admitted chemistry and natural philosophy, (9) matriculation. The Senate, bein g botany, (10) human thereto, unless satisfactory evidence be physiology, (11) desirous that candidates who may be produced of having passed her 17th geo logy and pala eon tology, (12) prepared to offer themselves for year and a certificate to this effect mus poli tica l econ omy , (13) logic and moral t examination in May, should have the be sent a fortnight previous to the opp ortunity of doing so, have already philosophy, (14) harmony and examination. counterpoint. The knowledge of appointed special subjects in Latin, candidates is hereby severely tested.

Text courtesy of the National Newspaper archive

13 August 1869

© 2019 For further information please visit our website or contact us at: 18 May 1869

the ERSITY — In IV N U N O D N HE LO passed the LADIES AT T successfully ve ha ho w for 1869, the list of ladies n University do on L e th division:– examination of the "honours" in r cu oc es ah Jane following nam ate study; Sar iv pr , hn le G von y; Kate e, private stud Louise Hume rm O za li E n; edford e tuitio Laicy, West B Moody, privat de la el ab Is study; Wood, Ladies' Spiller, private y; Susannah ud st e at iv pr College and enham.

College, Chelt

13 May 1891

University of London Senate House Malet Street London WC1E 7HU UK Telephone: +44 (0)20 7862 8000

This guide is available in alternative formats upon request. Please contact branding@london.ac.uk

THE ADMISS ION OF WOM EN TO LONDON U N IVERSITY. A meeting of Convocation of the U

niversity of L Mr Bompas, Q ondon was he .C., moved that ld on draft Tuesday, Dr St the charter be ap orrar presidin proved, and, g, at after which the su a long discus pplemental ch sion, in which arter the m empowering otion was stro the granting ngly opposed of by Dr T degrees to wom ilbury Fox, D en was consid r Quain, Sir er ed. William There was a la Jenner, and ot rge attendance hers, it was . carried by 242 against 132.

18 May 1878

has adopted a measure The London University t institution the highest which reflects upon tha r lemental Charter unde honour; that is, a Supp to d nte gra to ulties are which degrees in all fac Convocation, held on al nu an women. At the Registrar (Dr. W. B. Wednesday last, the this Charter had been Carpenter) stated that the petition of himself granted by the Queen on d the document was and the Chancellor; an . A graceful and adopted unanimously immediately followed, interesting proceeding address to the Senate in the presentation of an signed by nearly two and Convocation, and speaking for a large thousand ladies, who, trywomen, expressed number of their coun the noble part the "heartfelt gratitude for opening all its degrees University has taken in

y placing them in the to women, and thereb l ted, of free intellectua position, so long cove n ke sta mi dered by activity, alike unhin by ancient prejudice." ed ter protection and unfet London University has The step taken by the , d without great effort not been accomplishe en be ve ha ought to greater, indeed, than e which the other on is it necessary; and take with great credit to Universities may also many women who are themselves. There are most men to follow the quite as competent as action of the London professions which by the n open to them; and in University are now throw about gallantry – the justice – we say nothing them to earn respectable powers now granted to ve been accorded many livelihoods ought to ha years ago.

I

n 1868, nine women were admitted to the University of London to enrol for a ‘special examination’ course. This was the first time in Britain that women had gained access to university education and, though it was to be over 10 years before they were admitted on equal terms with men to read for the same degree programmes, this modest event was an immensely significant moment for the University, for women and for society as a whole.

Throughout 2018 the University celebrated the 150th anniversary of this ‘foot in the door’ with a series of events and activities.

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