Session 1: Women historians and London institutions

At the start of 2017, gender equality remains one of the most pressing issues in the historical profession. This is evident from research published by the Royal Historical Society in 2015, longstanding efforts by the Economic History Society to elevate women in their discipline, and an initiative at the University of Oxford to launch a ‘manifesto’ for Women in the Humanities. In light of King’s College London’s recent Athena SWAN bronze award submission, this event is an attempt to continue and deepen this conversation, thinking especially about how twentieth-century London institutions have both enabled and constrained female achievements in history. This event will also be an opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of women doing history in the past, inaugurating a pop-up exhibition of twentieth-century London women historians at the IHR. We will ultimately aim to discuss how to ensure issues of gender equality and the contribution of women to the discipline remain at the fore of history in London via the IHR, as Britain’s ‘national’ centre for history.