The Queendom of Ambition: The Laboratories and Libraries of the Metropolis as centres of Feminist Networks (c.1850-1935)
Lead Research Organisation:
Lancaster University
Department Name: History
Abstract
Women have been called queens for a long time, Louisa May Alcott observed, but the kingdom given them isn't worth ruling. This encapsulates the early efforts of the women of London's Royal Society, christened the queens of their respective fields due to their rarity and virtuosity. This emphasis on the singularity of women in science invokes a sense of accidental genius with females relegated to the quasi-professional soirée known as Ladies' Night. This research will attest to the significance of female company in intellectual circles such as the conversaziones, and how these women continued to network and collaborate to make their voices heard. The public presence of female intellectuals in the capital sparked a ripple effect which influenced the presentation of female artists and writers. Subsequently, a new woman literary collective broke free of the hyper-feminine framework and presented their materials using scientific language. Ventures in new genres were presented as experiments and civic spaces such as libraries and museums were laboratories of creativity. In the hub of scientific and artistic space, women were creating a new kingdom of female networking and collaboration. Its legacy reverberated through the metropolis and long-nineteenth century.
Research Objectives:
- Utilising archival evidence of correspondence, diary entries and recollections of the Royal Society's members to determine how female scientists were received by their male counterparts, will question how these women perceived each other and sought solidarity.
- Analysing how the Society's 'Ladies' Night' was presented to the public and how the promotion of women in science was perceived in private circles; will verify how these women were expected to conduct themselves at these events.
- Determining how women's research was presented to the Society at the conversaziones, and how hyper-feminine language was employed to simultaneously celebrate and contain them will introduce the concept of "feminine framing" in nineteenth and early-twentieth century science.
- Exploring how female scientists used these platforms to extol their Suffragist philosophies, and how New Woman artists and writers continued to celebrate female collaboration.
- Comparing the hyper-feminine language that was employed to "promote" these scientist's works with how fin de siècle female writers utilised scientific language in protest. Artistic labours became "experiments in aesthetics" and female creativity "evolved" from an accomplishment to an exchange of ideas between science and art.
- This research will conclude by demonstrating how creative women increased their visibility in the metropolis by conducting artistic research in new "laboratory" spaces such as the British Museum and the British Library.
Research Objectives:
- Utilising archival evidence of correspondence, diary entries and recollections of the Royal Society's members to determine how female scientists were received by their male counterparts, will question how these women perceived each other and sought solidarity.
- Analysing how the Society's 'Ladies' Night' was presented to the public and how the promotion of women in science was perceived in private circles; will verify how these women were expected to conduct themselves at these events.
- Determining how women's research was presented to the Society at the conversaziones, and how hyper-feminine language was employed to simultaneously celebrate and contain them will introduce the concept of "feminine framing" in nineteenth and early-twentieth century science.
- Exploring how female scientists used these platforms to extol their Suffragist philosophies, and how New Woman artists and writers continued to celebrate female collaboration.
- Comparing the hyper-feminine language that was employed to "promote" these scientist's works with how fin de siècle female writers utilised scientific language in protest. Artistic labours became "experiments in aesthetics" and female creativity "evolved" from an accomplishment to an exchange of ideas between science and art.
- This research will conclude by demonstrating how creative women increased their visibility in the metropolis by conducting artistic research in new "laboratory" spaces such as the British Museum and the British Library.