Women in Oxford's History

Sarah Acland was one of the pioneers of colour photography. This month we spoke to the historian Ann Spokes Symonds about Sarah's life and legacy.

Ivy Williams was the first woman to be called to the bar in England. This month we spoke to Bridget Wheeler - who has a family connection to Ivy - about her achievements, and how she also opened many doors for others.

Nora MacMunn was a geographer and suffrage campaigner based at the University of Oxford, who's escaped historical attention - until now. This month we were joined by Dr. Elizabeth Baigent to talk about Nora's life, work, and her lifelong feminism, and the project that Dr. Baigent and others are working on that's uncovering women in Geography at Oxford.

Barbara Pym studied at St. Hilda's College in the 1930s and drew on her experiences there in many of her novels. But Barbara wasn't always appreciated in her lifetime. This month we spoke to Deb Fisher, incoming chair of the Barbara Pym Society, about why she finds Barbara's life and career so inspiring.

Dorothy de la Hey, born in 1884, was a pioneer of women’s education in India. This month we spoke to Dr. Sneha Krishnan about her life and legacy, and how we can study women like Dorothy in their imperial and colonial contexts.

Born in 1873, the classical archaeologist Hilda Lorimer made her mark on a field which was male-dominated and intellectually prestigious. This month we spoke to Stella Christiansen about Hilda's life and work, and how she defied the stereotype that women were ‘out of place’ in classical archaeology.

Sarah Churchill, who was born in 1660, was known at various points in her life as the power behind the throne, a social pariah, and one of the best business people in Britain. This month we spoke to Emily Zinkin about Sarah's (many) rises and falls from power, her famous relationship with Queen Anne, and how she came to build Blenheim Palace.

People called Gertrude Bell "the female Lawrence of Arabia", but some think that Lawrence of Arabia should've been called "the female Gertrude Bell". Laura Aitken-Burt joined us this month to talk about Gertrude, who was an archaeologist and explorer (and a diplomat, and a spy...).

Felicia Skene was a social reformer and writer who was the first woman in England to be appointed as a prison visitor. This month we talked to Liz Woolley about the rest of her life and the impact she made on Oxford.

This year it's one hundred years since some women were granted the right to vote under the Representation of the People Act. To mark the centenary we spoke to Dr. Sophie Duncan about the life of Emily Wilding Davison, who was part of the first generation of women to study at the University of Oxford. This is the fourth episode of Women in Oxford's History's second series.

This month we spoke to Liz Woolley, a local historian, about Olive Gibbs, who was a local politician and activist. This is the third episode of Women in Oxford's History's second series.

This month, we're joined by Lillie Hinkle, who tells us about the life and work of Iris Murdoch, a philosopher and writer who spent much of her life in Oxford. This is the second episode of Women in Oxford's History's second series.

This is the first episode of Women in Oxford's History's second series. This month, we research the life of Merze Tate, the first African-American woman to earn a graduate degree from the University of Oxford.