Celebrating International Women’s Day
Inspiring women of Scotland
Celebrating International Women’s Day in Scotland, we thought it might be nice to pay homage to some incredible Scottish women both alive and sadly gone. We can only fit in a few here so if you are interested in learning more, why not look up some more information at librarysearch.napier.ac.uk
Christina Miller
Source: Heriot Watt University
One little know Scottish woman whose story deserves to be better remembered is Christina Miller. Despite being born female and hearing impaired in 1899, and later losing her sight in one eye, she battled against the norms of the time to become a respected analytical chemist. In addition, she was an inspirational teacher and mentor to generations of students.
Miller was awarded the Keith Prize by the Royal Society of Edinburgh for her scientific paper on phosphorus trioxide. She became one of the first 5 women to be elected to the Royal Society of Edinburgh. There is even a building at the University of Edinburgh named after her.
Source: British Library
Mukami McCrum
An all-round amazing person, Mukami McCrum has lived in Scotland most of her life. Mukami fights for women’s rights, in particular BAME and LGBT women who need support from domestic abuse. Furthermore, she is one of the founders of Shakti Women’s Aid and campaigns to end Female Genital Mutilation.
She was the chief executive of Central Scotland Racial Equality Council and has brought her deep commitment to race and gender justice to many organisations, including Akina Mama wa Afrika, World Council of Churches, and Responding to Conflict Trust. She has an MBE for her community and human rights work.
Helen Crawfurd
Source: Women’s History Scotland
Somewhat controversial, Helen Crawfurd ( 1877-1954 ) was a Suffragette, anti-war campaigner and communist.
Starting off in the Woman’s Suffragette Movement in 1900, she later joined the more militant radical Women’s Social and Political Union in 1910.
She organised Glasgow’s Woman’s Peace Crusade In 1916, attended by 5000 people.
Jackie Kay
Source: British Literature Council
Jackie Kay has just finished her time as Scotland’s Makar (that’s Scotland’s national poet in case you are wondering!). Besides being a Scottish poet, she is also a playwright, and a novelist winning many awards including the Guardian Fiction Prize in 1998 and the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Book of the Year Award in 2011
We have many of her books available through the Library to read, including online copies of:
Victoria Alexandrina Drummond
Source: Wikipedia
Finally, Our last fabulous femme Victoria Alexandrina Drummond. Born 1894, Drummond was the first female marine engineer in the UK and the first woman member of The Institute of Marine Engineers. In World War II she served at sea as an engineering officer in the British Merchant Navy and received awards for bravery under enemy fire. She was awarded the Lloyd’s War Medal for Bravery at Sea and appointed MBE in recognition of her devotion to duty.
Sources:
https://www.bl.uk/people/mukami-mccrum#
http://womenshistoryscotland.org/resources/resources-for-the-history-of-bame-women-in-scotland/
https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/
Read more on Women here on the blog in our article on Women’s History month
https://www.hw.ac.uk/uk/about/history/opportunities-for-women.htm
https://www.ed.ac.uk/alumni/services/notable-alumni/alumni-in-history/christina-miller
Main Image Source: iine.org
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