Today is International Women’s Day, and we’re celebrating in the Library!

Women’s writing

We have a wealth of women’s writing available to read in the Library. Here’s a selection of some of our favourites:

Women in the Archives

You can also explore our Archives and Special Collections to discover items like this trophy from the Women’s League of Health and Beauty Archive. This was founded in 1930 by Mary Bagot Stack (1883-1935). The League was extremely influential in forming the basis of the modern approach to fitness, and indeed still exists today as the Fitness League. Find out more at: http://www.surrey.ac.uk/library/research/archives/discover_our_collections.htm

Women at Surrey

International Women’s Day also gives us an opportunity to look back at one of the leading female academics at the University of Surrey (and our predecessor institution, Battersea Polytechnic).  Dr Kathleen Urwin lectured in the fields of Maths and Statistics from 1961 – 1990, both subjects which were very male dominated at the time. Dr Urwin had a major impact on generations of students and following her death in 2015 continues to support current students by remembering the University of Surrey Library in her will. She was a true pioneer in her subject, career and her support for access to higher education, irrespective of gender or background.