The Founding of the University of Leicester by Elizabeth Blood
Elizabeth Blood is a Research Associate at the University of Leicester, dedicated to uncovering the University’s history to help to celebrate its centenary year in 2021-22. She gave a talk on ‘The Founding of the University of Leiceste’” at the Hoby and District Local History Society on Wednesday 19th January at 7.30pm, Hoby Village Hall (LE14 3DT). All are welcome; the price for non-members is £2.00 (pay on door) or visit www.hobyanddistricthistory.co.uk
The University of Leicester opened its doors to its first students in 1921, after decades of public discussion about the need for higher education in our local area. Elizabeth Blood is giving an illustrated talk which explores why, when, and how it was achieved. Who were the founders? How was a site chosen? Who were the first staff and the very first students? Why were so many of them women? The institution’s first decades are a story of survival, heavily reliant largely on donations and volunteers, without whom it may not have weathered the 1920s and 1930s, or the Second World War. Working in the University’s archives Elizabeth has uncovered many original documents and images that help bring the University’s founding story vividly back to life in this fascinating history of how the University came to be.
Elizabeth Blood is a Research Associate at the University of Leicester, dedicated to uncovering the University’s history to help to celebrate its centenary year in 2021-22. She is also a current Leicester PhD candidate studying First World War memorials and has a keen interest in memorials, commemoration and heritage.
The Hoby and District Local History Society is a voluntary organisation. The Society brings together people from all walks of life who are interested in the local history of the Leicestershire villages of Hoby, Rotherby, Ragdale and Brooksby and the District around them. The society was founded in 2013.