St Hilda’s Living History Project
Our ‘Living History Project’ will provide the first, extensive digital alumnae archive within the University. It will document the social history of St Hilda’s through filmed interviews with alumnae old and new, male and female.
By interviewing St Hilda’s graduates from the 1930s right up to the present, the Project documents not only the history of women’s education, but also the changing status of women more widely over the past 80 years. We aim to reflect the experiences of a range of alumnae over the decades and to showcase the remarkable people who have come through the doors of St Hilda's. We will collect their thoughts and memories about their time at College and discover how St Hilda’s and Oxford helped shape their futures.
The Living History Project was initiated by alumna Elizabeth Dorsett (Law, 2000), a former member of the ASM and Media Network Committees. Elizabeth has a background in film and television and was inspired to begin the project after hearing stories of the extraordinary experiences and achievements of St Hilda’s alumnae. Since then Triona Adams (English, 1993) and Hannah Veale (Modern Languages, 2001) have worked on further interviews. Hannah, partly in her capacity as Development Producer at Oxford Digital Media, directed this, our latest film, St Hilda's - A Living History 1893 - 2018, which was shown at the 2018 Gaudy.
You can watch other films curated from the Project here: St Hilda's Living History: A Pilot Project and St Hilda's Living History: Women in Wartime.
Get Involved!
We are still looking for Senior Members from all decades to be interviewed about their time at College and subsequent careers, and to supply photographs or footage to create a living record for our archive. If would like to be involved or if you have any questions, please contact the Development Office.
Living History has been funded through a loan from the ASM and generous donations from alumnae as well as financial and logistical support from the College. We are very grateful to those who have already supported this important project, but in order to continue with filming we are seeking further funding. If you are interested in contributing, you can donate here.