Beyond the University
What did our women historians do outside, or beyond, the University? Writing books (of various sorts), giving lectures on the BBC or to local organisations, school-teaching, working in archives… We still have a lot to add to this section about how (or whether) our women graduates used their History beyond the University. If you are one of our graduates, and would like to share your story, please use the Contact Form to get in touch, or email us directly via [email protected]
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Margaret Lambert (1906-1995)
Dr Margaret Lambert (1906-1995) was appointed as Lecturer in Modern European History at the University of St Andrews in 1956. She was the first woman historian at St Andrews to have been hired directly as a lecturer, rather than as an assistant first. Lambert had contemplated applying for employment as both a researcher and as…
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Ruth Macrides (1949-2019)
The esteemed Byzantine historian Dr Ruth Macrides spent around twenty years in a series of temporary teaching roles in the Department of Mediaeval History at the University of St Andrews, teaching a wide range of different aspects of Byzantine history to generations of students. In 1994, she moved as one half of a part-time job-share…
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Elizabeth G.K. Hewat (1895-1968)
In 1933, Elizabeth Glendinning Kirkwood Hewat quoted from the Book of Proverbs: ‘Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom’.[1] She was, perhaps, referring to a definition of wisdom other than ‘sage advice’. In fact, she may have been alluding to her own philosophy of life, or rather, of study: her obvious zest for learning.…
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Edith MacQueen and the Challenges of Academic Job-Hunting, 1930s-1960s
The career trajectory of Edith MacQueen – the first woman to obtain a PhD in History at the University of St. Andrews – poses a certain paradox: a woman of high academic standing, she possessed the right credentials and awards for a successful career in academia. She completed her PhD in 1927, and then a…
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Ann Kettle
Ann Kettle was a lecturer in the Department of Mediaeval History at St Andrews for more than forty years. In addition to her teaching and research, she held various administrative posts in the university. Beyond St Andrews, Ann has made substantial contributions as a campaigner, reviewer, evaluator, and consultant on higher education matters. The following…
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Sue Hill remembers medieval history… with cucumber sandwiches
In the 1970s it was a truth universally acknowledged that most people from Dumfries Academy – my secondary school – went on to Glasgow University to study. I might very well have done the same (writes Sue Hill, MA 1982) had it not been for my English teacher (the poet Tom Pow) who told me…
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Valerie Torgerson
Valerie Torgerson Waddelove graduated from St Andrews with an MA in Medieval History in 1970. This is an edited extract from her contribution to the Alumni Chronicle in 2020. How can it possibly be 50 years since I graduated? That sunny day is so vivid in my memories – I can still feel the elation,…
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Early Graduates as Authors and Broadcasters: Annie M’Killiam and Rhoda Power
For those of the first women History graduates who hoped to use their historical learning in a career of some sort, there were relatively few options in the early twentieth century. There were very few jobs for women in universities, except in women’s colleges. Some went into school teaching (and sometimes, later, to university jobs).…
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Women Students’ Alumni Associations
One of the most fascinating findings from analysing the University Calendars of the 20th century was discovering the prevalence of women’s associations that existed for alumni of the University of St Andrews. In the 1935 calendar alone, there were 3 different alumni associations across the United Kingdom dedicated to bringing women graduates together for social…
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Doris Ketelbey in the Gold Coast
One of the most fascinating periods of Doris Ketelbey’s life is the six months she spent working in the British occupied Gold Coast from 1950-1951. Ever a historian at heart, Ketelbey saved a large collection of letters and relevant paperwork from her time overseas and donated it to the University of St Andrews Library prior to her death. Most of the information in this blog…