History of Imperial College London

Read the final excerpt from Dr Hannah Gay's book - the first major history of Imperial College London.

Dr Hannah Gay's book The History of Imperial College London 1907-2007: Higher Education and Research in Science, Technology and Medicine is the first major history of the College to be published, telling the story of a new type of institution.

Each month in 2007 we have published excerpts from Dr Gay's book.

Alumni can purchase copies of the book online from Imperial College Press books, where if you enter discount code P478 when ordering, you will receive a 20 per cent discount on the book price. You can also purchase copies of the book from the Union Shop on the Sherfield Walkway, South Kensington Campus.

Excerpt seven, December 2007
Women at Imperial College

In the 1920s and 30s women students became more politically active than earlier and made demands for more equal treatment. They insisted on being called 'women' and not 'lady' students. In 1924 there were about 50 women students and the Rector decided, though not very imanginatively, to improve conditions for them. His first step was to engage the help of the honorary members of the Imperial College Women Students' Association (ICWSA) mainly the wives of professors, but also the redoubtable Martha Whiteley, President of ICWSA since its founding in 1912. Behind her back the women students called her the 'Queen Bee'. The older women helped in redecorating the dingy common room in the RCS building. As a finishing touch Lady Holland presented ICWSA with a fine silver tea service. Incongruously, water for the tea had to be boiled on a single gas ring, relic of an earlier laboratory, located in the women's lavatory. In 1930, after the construction of additional hostel and union space, a new common room was opened to both men and women.

ICWSA engaged in many of the same activities as the men. For example, rowing was popular and an eights team was soon organised. During the Second World War, it was women students who did much to keep the social life of the College alive. While many British women took on traditional male roels during the war, the women students appear to have been pulled in two directions. On the one hand they were in the unusual position of being women studying science ot technology at Imperial College; and most were also engaged in some kind of war-related work, at least during vacations. on the other, they became major socila convenors. They organised a range of events, including a number of dances. For these they decorated halls with salvaged goods such as beer bottle tops, and did their best to organise good buffets. At one dance, in aid of the Red Cross Prisoners of War Fund, a cabaret was put on by a group of American soldiers. For their efforts the women were rewarded once the war had ended by being allowed into the hostel for the first time. They were given twelve places, and a new common room in the Union building. but they were also expected to continue in their social convenor role, and to organise dances.

The ICWA minute book reveals a membership keen to provide some comfort in the new common room despite post-war shortages. Old chair covers were taken to a dyer in Gloucester Road, Constance Sherwood donated £5 for the purchase of an electric fire, and it was decided to decorate the alls with reproductions of French Impressionist and Van Gogh paintings. The tables were to have 'some suitable vases and statuettes'. They debated which magazines and newspapers to order, deciding on Vogue, Theatre World and Saturday Evening Post, in addition to some dailies. All of this was, perhaps, a gesture towards creating a feminine space in a dominantly male environment. In the post-war period ICWA held an annual dinner to which they invited successful women; for example, Dame Laura Knight, Kathleen Ferrier and Barbara Castle. But women's access to the Union was still limited. For example, the gymnasium was open to women only when being used for rehearsals by the Musical and Dramatic Society. The bar was the last all-male bastion to be stormed, but only in the 1970s.

Text taken from chapter 11.
Chapter 11 - Corporate and Social Life

Reproduced with the kind permission of the author, Dr Hannah Gay

Copyright © 2007 by Imperial College Press