Herstory Revisited

Finally sharing another of the ladies I learnt about on my recent visit to the Pitts Rivers Museum in Oxford!   Beatrice Mary Blackwood  (3 May 1889 – 29 November 1975) was a British  anthropologist , who ran the  Pitt Rivers Museum  in Oxford from 1938 until her retirement in 1959.   Beatrice Blackwood was born in  London  on 3 May 1889 . She studied German, Latin and Greek in Germany, before completing a degree in English Literature and Language at  Somerville College, Oxford  in 1908–1912. After gaining a distinction after returning to Oxford to study anthropology in 1916, she began her career working in the Human Anatomy Department at  Oxford .    Until 1920, w omen were not allowed to official ly matriculate or graduate from Oxford . When this was finally allowed, M s. Blackwood took both the BA and MA in the same day. In 1923, she also earned a B.Sc. in Embryology.   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------...

  A local hero today! It’s been a while since I’ve done some Edinburgh history so I hope you enjoy!    Janet ("Jenny") Geddes (c. 1600 – c. 1660) was a Scottish market-trader in Edinburgh who is alleged to have thrown a stool at the head of the minister in St Giles' Cathedral in objection to the first public use of the Scottish Episcopal Church's 1637 edition of the Book of Common Prayer in Scotland. The act is reputed to have sparked the riot that led to the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which included the English Civil War , thus changing the face of Scotland – and indeed Britain – forever.   Since the early years of the 17th century, the Scottish Church had been established as an Episcopal Church on the same basis as its English cousin the Anglican Church, but was far more puritan, both in doctrine and practice. In 1633 , King Charles had his Scottish coronation service at S t Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh, using the full Anglican rites, accompanied by William...

  Abala Bose was born in Barisal on 8 August 1865, to Durgamohan Das, a prominent leader of the Brahmo Samaj and Brahmamoyee , who was a famous advocate for the rights of widows (who traditionally became social outcastes upon the deaths of their husbands) . Tragically, Brahmamoyee died when her daughter was just 10, but her philanthrophy left a deep impact on her daughter, as would be demonstrated throughout Abala’s life.    Contrary to the social norms of the day, Abala grew up in an environment that encouraged higher education of women. She was one of the earliest entrants to Bethune College and went on to study medicine at Madras University. She appeared for her final examination but had to return home before the results were declared, owing to ill health. She never found out that she had in fact passed her exam.    After leaving university at the age of 23, Abala married Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose, later known as the Father of Radio Science. In 1916, he...