We are taking a deep dive into the work of Una Marson.  Marson was one of Jamaica’s most influential poets, broadcasters, and activists.  She was a feminist pioneer and the first Black woman employed by the BBC.  She was also the first Black woman to have her play performed in the West End and the first Black woman to attend the League of Nations.  One blog post cannot do justice to her incredible career, but we hope to use The…

When the miniskirt first burst onto the fashion scene in the early 1960s, its presence was divisive. Immediately, many women took to it, but others were not so sure, wondering whether it was just a passing fad.But the miniskirt was to become a symbol of the 1960s, from embodying ‘Swinging London’ to representing the greater emancipation it afforded to women – sexual, social and moral. And so, in this special blog, using newspapers taken from The Archive, we will explore…

In 1900 women were allowed to compete in the modern summer Olympic Games for the very first time. The first woman to win an individual gold medal at the summer Olympic Games was British tennis player Charlotte Cooper Sterry, winner of five Wimbledon titles, on 11 July 1900 in Paris.Want to learn more? Register now and explore The ArchiveAnd so, in this special blog, we will take a look at the achievements of the likes of Charlotte Cooper Sterry, and the…

This week we have added 75,078 brand new pages to our collection, with a trio of very special brand new titles joining us over the past seven days from across England, Ireland and Northern Ireland.So read on to discover more about the new titles of the week, as well as to discover which of our existing titles we have added new pages to. Also, this week we will take a moment to remember the Matchgirls’ Strike of 1888, an early industrial…

In the early nineteenth century, Frenchwoman Mademoiselle d’Augeville became the ‘pioneer of women climbers‘ (The Sketch, 6 September 1911) as she made her ascent of Mont Blanc at the age of 44.And by the end of the century, she had paved the way for a generation of women mountaineers, who were astonishing the world with their climbing feats. From the Andes to the Himalayas, and all along the Alps, women were truly in ascendance, overcoming prejudice as they climbed and proved themselves…

This week at The Archive we have been as busy as ever, adding an incredible 242,192 brand new pages over the past week alone. Furthermore, we have added five brand new titles from Ireland to the Isle of Wight, and beyond!So read on to discover more about the new pages we have added this week, and to find out about the arrival of controversial early American suffrage leader Victoria Woodhull in Great Britain in 1877.Register now and explore the Archive…

‘If you want something to write, write about Rose Heilbron. She’s the greatest lawyer in history.’These were the words of Jack Comer as he left the Old Bailey in September 1955, having been defended by 39-year-old Rose Heilbron QC, and subsequently acquitted.Who was Rose Heilbron? Born in August 1914, she was the first woman to win a scholarship at Grey’s Inn, one of the first two women to be appointed to the King’s Bench, the first woman to lead a…

In the years 1893 and 1894 pioneering African American investigative journalist and early civil rights leader Ida Bell Wells (1862-1931) visited Britain on a series of speaking tours.Ida Bell WellsIda B. Wells, born into slavery in Holly Springs, Mississippi, had made it her mission to raise awareness of the brutal ramifications of the lynch law in the Southern States of America. This special blog will explore how Wells was received in Britain, and how the press of the time reported on…

Scottish missionary Jane Mathison Haining (6 June 1897 to 17 July 1944) was one of the only, if not the only, Scot to die during the course of the Holocaust, as she refused to leave her post in Budapest upon the outbreak of war and the subsequent invasion of Hungary by the Wehrmacht.In this special blog, we will tell the story of Jane Haining, the quiet daughter of a farmer from Dumfriesshire, who was subsequently honoured as Righteous Among the Nations for risking…

This week we are celebrating St Patrick’s Day at The Archive, and we are delighted to announce that we have added nine brand new titles from Ireland and Northern Ireland to our collection, with 114,690 brand new pages added over the past seven days.So read on to discover more about our new Irish titles, from Belfast to Cashel, from Fermanagh to Mayo, which also incorporate a specialist sporting title, and a bankruptcy one. This week we shall also be looking…