Educating Eve: Five Generations of Cambridge Women
Introduction by Lady Broers
In these pages you will find 50 portraits of outstanding Cambridge alumnae. These women make a very significant contribution to the country, and the world, in medicine, law, government, religion, education, science, journalism and the arts.
Ever since the first pioneering women students began to study in Cambridge in the late 1860s, Cambridge has produced exceptional alumnae. The women photographed here represent all surviving generations, spanning from those who were at Cambridge in the 1910s to current students. They represent a broad range of professions and important public roles, and most of the University's thirty-one Colleges. Although they come from very different backgrounds, all of the portrait subjects have shown the determination to make their hard-won Cambridge education count.
These portraits, by the highly regarded photographer, Julia Hedgecoe, comprised an exhibition to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the first admission of women to Cambridge degrees. I hope that they will inspire the next generations of Cambridge alumnae, and encourage women of all backgrounds to consider applying for their own place at Cambridge.
Lady Broers led the Educating Eve project from its conception. She has lived in Cambridge since 1984; her husband, Prof. Sir Alec Broers, was the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge from 1996 to 2003.