It’s 150 years since women were first allowed to study at Cambridge University, and the University Library is sharing the stories of some of those who have studied, taught, worked and lived there in a new exhibition, The Rising Tide: Women at Cambridge.
Though Girton College was the first residential university establishment for women in the country, opening in 1869, it was not until 1948 that Cambridge offered degrees to women. Those first students in the 19th century had to ask permission to attend lectures and take exams, and usually had to be accompanied by chaperones in public until after the first world war.
Dr Lucy Delap, co-curator and Fellow of Murray Edwards College, says: “We hope to illustrate the incredible fight for gender equality in the university, while portraying the fascinating journeys of some of the militant, cussed and determined women.” The exhibition starts on 14 October.
