Special collections

by

American tennis, coconut shies and Millicent Fawcett – a garden party I’d like to have attended.

90 years ago this week, Nancy Astor, the first female British MP to take her seat, held a garden party at Cliveden House to celebrate the passing of the Act of Parliament that granted equal voting rights for men and women. Rachel Newton has been delving into the University’s Astor archive and tells us what she’s discovered.

This summer, I have a research internship working with Dr Jacqui Turner on the undergraduate research opportunities programme (UROP) within the Department of History and in collaboration with Special Collections here at the University of Reading.

We are preparing a digital exhibition curating archive material to tell the story of the political career and legacy of Nancy Astor, the first sitting female MP in Britain. While I was researching, I came across some fascinating documents relating to a garden party that Astor held at her riverside country home, Cliveden House, almost exactly 90 years ago.

Continue reading →

Archives and Texts Seminar March 2018

The Department of English Literature are pleased to announce the Archives & Texts seminar for March. This is part of an interdisciplinary research seminar series on book history co-organized by the Departments of English and Modern Languages at the University of Reading.

The seminars aim is to bring together colleagues and students interested in the broad field of book history: including theories, methodologies, new insights into literature and literary history, collections and different types of archives. It is for all those interested in the history of the book, reading, publishing, editing, print, typography, design, image and text, as well those who use archives or are involved in archives.

 

Thursday 8th March (wk 9), 5-6pm
Dr Melanie Ramdarshan Bold (Centre for Publishing, UCL)
‘The Social Author: Identifying a new generation of influencers and innovators in contemporary authorship’

Vist the Archives and Texts blog for further details

Archives and Text Seminar February 2018

The Department of English Literature are pleased to announce the Archives & Texts seminar for February. This is an interdisciplinary research seminar series on book history co-organized by the Departments of English and Modern Languages at the University of Reading.

The seminars aim is to bring together colleagues and students interested in the broad field of book history: including theories, methodologies, new insights into literature and literary history, collections and different types of archives. It is for all those interested in the history of the book, reading, publishing, editing, print, typography, design, image and text, as well those who use archives or are involved in archives.

Thursday 8th Feb (wk 5), 5-6pm
Dr Daisy Hay (English, Exeter)
‘Dinner with Joseph Johnson: On a Romantic bookseller and group biography’

Further seminar in March:

Thursday 8th March (wk 9), 5-6pm
Dr Melanie Ramdarshan Bold (Centre for Publishing, UCL)
‘The Social Author: Identifying a new generation of influencers and innovators in contemporary authorship’

Vist the Archives and Texts blog for further details

Archives and Texts seminar Jan 2018

The Department of English Literature are pleased to announce that the Archives & Texts seminar series is starting back up again this term. This is an interdisciplinary research seminar series on book history co-organized by the Departments of English and Modern Languages at the University of Reading.

The seminars aim is to bring together colleagues and students interested in the broad field of book history: including theories, methodologies, new insights into literature and literary history, collections and different types of archives. It is for all those interested in the history of the book, reading, publishing, editing, print, typography, design, image and text, as well those who use archives or are involved in archives.

Three great sessions are lined up in Edith Morley, room G10, where all are welcome.

Thursday 18th January (wk 2), 5-6pm
Dr Cathy Clay (English, Nottingham Trent)
‘Rereading the Time and Tide Archive: The Feminist and Cultural Politics of a Modern Magazine’

Further Seminars:

Thursday 8th Feb (wk 5), 5-6pm
Dr Daisy Hay (English, Exeter)
‘Dinner with Joseph Johnson: On a Romantic bookseller and group biography’

Thursday 8th March (wk 9), 5-6pm
Dr Melanie Ramdarshan Bold (Centre for Publishing, UCL)
‘The Social Author: Identifying a new generation of influencers and innovators in contemporary authorship’

Vist the Archives and Texts blog for further details

The MERL Autumn Speaker Series – Dr Ciara Healy

Showing, Doing, Telling: Craft And Making

A Season Of Events Exploring Craft And Making At The MERL

Specialists in craft and the arts examine different ways of responding to rural life, exploring how best to nurture old skills, contemporary creative responses and traditional practice.

Dr Ciara Healy, Lecturer in Art at the University of Reading, explores rural approaches to survival through protective objects found in the Museum’s collection and elsewhere.

Admission is free, although booking is recommended.

The MERL Autumn Speaker Series – Greta Bertram

Showing, Doing, Telling: Craft And Making

A Season Of Events Exploring Craft And Making At The MERL

Specialists in craft and the arts examine different ways of responding to rural life, exploring how best to nurture old skills, contemporary creative responses and traditional practice.

In this talk, Greta Bertram, Heritage Crafts Association, will discuss the topic “Heritage Crafts At Risk”.

Admission is free, although booking is recommended.

by

Votes for women – and £5m to celebrate, 100 years on

by Dr Jacqui Turner, Department of History, University of Reading

This week was International Women’s Day and women were everywhere.

We were in the media, online, on TV, and crowded around both front benches in the House of Commons as, in the Budget, the Chancellor announced a further £5 million for projects to celebrate the centenary of the partial franchise in 1918, which first gave women a vote:

‘It is important that we not only celebrate next year’s Centenary but also that we educate young people about its significance. It was the decisive step in the political emancipation of women in this country and this money will go to projects to mark its significance and remind us all just how important it was.’ –Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond MP

Yes, it was, and yes, it is. My initial reaction, of course, is that this should be done in schools every year and beyond a few weeks on the GCSE History curriculum.

Maybe we do need that £5 million from Mr Hammond, which was  allocated alongside £20 million to tackle domestic violence and abuse and £5 million for ‘returnships’ to support people returning to work after long breaks.

The positioning of women around the front benches on significant days or when key legislation is being announced is a long-standing tradition –very few ever find themselves there by seniority, some maybe, but they are often window dressing.

And why do they need to be there at all?  Are we harking back to the days of our first female MP, Nancy Astor, who would ‘disrupt proceedings’ with claims that she knew best on issues relating to women because she was a woman?  She may have done, but it is the very old feminist debate – equal rights versus inherent suitability based on gender difference (whilst acknowledging that the gender debate is much wider today). Continue reading →