Women and museums, 1850–1914: Modernity and the gendering of knowledge

by Kate Hill

This book recovers the significant contribution made by women to museums, not just in obvious roles such as workers, but also as donors, visitors, volunteers and patrons. It suggests that women persistently acted to domesticate the museum, by importing domestic objects and domestic regimes of value, as well as by making museums more welcoming to children, and even by stressing the importance of housekeeping at the museum. At the same time, women sought 'masculine' careers in science and curatorship, but found such aspirations hard to achieve; their contribution tended to be kept within clear, feminised areas.
The book will be of interest to those working on gender, culture, or museums in the period. It sheds new light on women's material culture and material strategies, education and professional careers, and leisure practices. It will form an important historical context for those working in contemporary museum studies.

Genres: History, Academic

272 pages, Hardcover

Published June 21, 2016

About the author

Kate Hill teaches History at the University of Lincoln. She has written extensively on the history of nineteenth-century British museums; her most recent book is Women and Museums 1850–1914: Modernity and the Gendering of Knowledge (2016). She is Co-Editor of the Museum History Journal.

Reviews

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book saved my final paper.