Bright men, with trained minds, behaving like this feels chilling. It reads like a form of hysteria, doesn’t it. A deep seated fear that male power could be so easily undermined…and so hurtfully, derisively, expressed.
Gains are hard won and easily lost, we see this everywhere we look today, I think that’s one reason your research and bringing to life of the protests is illuminating.
PS…just in case it seemed as if the photo of my Amsterdam bicycle find trivialised this, or appropriated it, or your work on it…that really was not my intention (nothing you have said makes me feel that…but, in the context of what the Cambridge women were dealing with: their right to a life of the mind and education, it could be seen as a bit…well…a bit insensitive by me. It was just the bicycle in the feed shtick.)
Thanks for your thoughtful comments Nicolas, and I am really glad you like reading this fairly nice research of mine. And I enjoyed the bicycle photo you shared! I like Notes being a light-hearted space...
Thanks Lucy - I guess it's a very Cambridge-centric story - but especially with the 'New Woman' caricature it does reflect how opposed a lot of people were to women & lower socio-economic classes getting access to higher education (and still are, around the world today).
So shocking to read about this Ann! Especially the burning of the effigy! 😮😬 Relieved that times had dramatically changed by the time I studied there! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks James, yes, it shows how the mob mentality can take hold of an élite group - and then stubbornness sets in about an ancient university's traditions. Cambridge is very keen to make up for lost time these days, so I'm glad you enjoyed your studies (I did too!).
Thank you for this illuminating series and your research to round out the story, Ann! Ironic that the men who were trying to show that Cambridge was for men only (because of women’s perceived inferiority) were acting like such a mob of jack*sses.
Thank you Sarah, and that is a brilliant way of putting it! So much for the alleged superiority of the male brain... it was having the day off on and around that time.
Thank you for your wonderfully thorough research and the great way you tell this grim story! Even if many undergrads were in a light-hearted mood, there is something sinister about all this. I guess reactionary mob rule is usually pretty sinister.
Thank you Jeffrey! There are certainly echoes of witch-burning and the sense that the mob got carried away that day. Must have been pretty scary… but I suspect the men knew they couldn’t hold on their privileges indefinitely!
Fascinating and refreshing, this opens up the story in a new way by asking who might have been there and then giving a succinct, informative answers. Also the atmosphere of the day comes across so well. A major piece of history economically told.
Many thanks for your kind remarks, Frances. Perhaps the wonders of A.I. (which I hear is already useful in establishing art provenance) might help to establish the identities of the nameless women in the crowd. Meanwhile it's just good to acknowledge their contribution.
That is helpful to know! Will look into this. I did notice viewing numbers were down slightly. Very good of you to share the posts (which are fairly niche, it’s true).
I think it's great, and want to see it out in the world!
On being niche — that gave me pause for a moment, and I had to think. i don't think that these posts are that at all, from my perspective.
That is, I'm not particularly interested in Cambridge, and started reading the Substack when I realized that it was highly enjoyable cultural history focused on interesting people/circles — both women and men, but especially the less well-known, to me at least, women — in everything from arts to humanities to natural sciences.
Containing it to a single place — and apparently a very interesting one! — made sense, since apparently it's a rich source. But the feel for me as a reader, in truth, is general rather than niche.
I'm reading Francesca Wade's Square Haunting, which references this event in regard to Jane Ellen Harrison and Eileen Power, and this post rounds out what I'm learning really nicely. Thank you!
Thanks Liz, and I agree, effigy-burning is pretty horrible. I enjoyed trying to work out who might have been there but it's not easy - but hoping letters and diaries might turn up at some stage to prove some of my guesses!
Many thanks Jill, it's a way of getting their names on the record and hoping some proof might turn up! Many did work together for the sake of women's access to libraries and labs, even if they weren't directly connected to the colleges, which is impressive.
Bright men, with trained minds, behaving like this feels chilling. It reads like a form of hysteria, doesn’t it. A deep seated fear that male power could be so easily undermined…and so hurtfully, derisively, expressed.
Gains are hard won and easily lost, we see this everywhere we look today, I think that’s one reason your research and bringing to life of the protests is illuminating.
PS…just in case it seemed as if the photo of my Amsterdam bicycle find trivialised this, or appropriated it, or your work on it…that really was not my intention (nothing you have said makes me feel that…but, in the context of what the Cambridge women were dealing with: their right to a life of the mind and education, it could be seen as a bit…well…a bit insensitive by me. It was just the bicycle in the feed shtick.)
Thanks for your thoughtful comments Nicolas, and I am really glad you like reading this fairly nice research of mine. And I enjoyed the bicycle photo you shared! I like Notes being a light-hearted space...
Wow, I knew very little about all this (and yet I have the audacity to call myself a feminist!). Thanks for sharing
Thanks Lucy - I guess it's a very Cambridge-centric story - but especially with the 'New Woman' caricature it does reflect how opposed a lot of people were to women & lower socio-economic classes getting access to higher education (and still are, around the world today).
So shocking to read about this Ann! Especially the burning of the effigy! 😮😬 Relieved that times had dramatically changed by the time I studied there! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks James, yes, it shows how the mob mentality can take hold of an élite group - and then stubbornness sets in about an ancient university's traditions. Cambridge is very keen to make up for lost time these days, so I'm glad you enjoyed your studies (I did too!).
Thank you for this illuminating series and your research to round out the story, Ann! Ironic that the men who were trying to show that Cambridge was for men only (because of women’s perceived inferiority) were acting like such a mob of jack*sses.
Thank you Sarah, and that is a brilliant way of putting it! So much for the alleged superiority of the male brain... it was having the day off on and around that time.
Thank you for your wonderfully thorough research and the great way you tell this grim story! Even if many undergrads were in a light-hearted mood, there is something sinister about all this. I guess reactionary mob rule is usually pretty sinister.
Thank you Jeffrey! There are certainly echoes of witch-burning and the sense that the mob got carried away that day. Must have been pretty scary… but I suspect the men knew they couldn’t hold on their privileges indefinitely!
Fascinating and refreshing, this opens up the story in a new way by asking who might have been there and then giving a succinct, informative answers. Also the atmosphere of the day comes across so well. A major piece of history economically told.
Many thanks for your kind remarks, Frances. Perhaps the wonders of A.I. (which I hear is already useful in establishing art provenance) might help to establish the identities of the nameless women in the crowd. Meanwhile it's just good to acknowledge their contribution.
Love this — a whirlwind tour of interesting lives in a single moment.
Thank you so much! Yes it’s the start of another research project really…
For some reason neither this nor part 1 appeared in my feed in the app, incidentally. Both arrived as emails, though.
That is helpful to know! Will look into this. I did notice viewing numbers were down slightly. Very good of you to share the posts (which are fairly niche, it’s true).
I think it's great, and want to see it out in the world!
On being niche — that gave me pause for a moment, and I had to think. i don't think that these posts are that at all, from my perspective.
That is, I'm not particularly interested in Cambridge, and started reading the Substack when I realized that it was highly enjoyable cultural history focused on interesting people/circles — both women and men, but especially the less well-known, to me at least, women — in everything from arts to humanities to natural sciences.
Containing it to a single place — and apparently a very interesting one! — made sense, since apparently it's a rich source. But the feel for me as a reader, in truth, is general rather than niche.
I'm reading Francesca Wade's Square Haunting, which references this event in regard to Jane Ellen Harrison and Eileen Power, and this post rounds out what I'm learning really nicely. Thank you!
That there was an effigy of a woman which was then burned - awful! Thank you for the research into the women who might have been in the photo.
Thanks Liz, and I agree, effigy-burning is pretty horrible. I enjoyed trying to work out who might have been there but it's not easy - but hoping letters and diaries might turn up at some stage to prove some of my guesses!
Wouldn’t that be great! I hope you find some.
Appreciate the zoom in on the photographs and the profiles of the women who advocated for degrees to be awarded to female scholars. Fascinating.
Many thanks Jill, it's a way of getting their names on the record and hoping some proof might turn up! Many did work together for the sake of women's access to libraries and labs, even if they weren't directly connected to the colleges, which is impressive.