The Black Women’s Archive, with support from Girton College, Cambridge University is hosting its launch on Monday 20th October, 2025, at 6:30PM in the Stanley Library at Girton College, Huntingdon Rd, Girton, Cambridge, CB3 0JG.
The BWA’s mission is to celebrate and amplify the history-making contribution of Black women to higher education. Far from new to the academy, Black women have been blazing a trail at British universities for over three quarters of a century. The BWA seeks to collect, preserve and display archival material from Black women’s experience at British universities, house their academic contributions through time, and platform their work via its upcoming annual lecture series. Through these three strands of activity, the BWA seeks to be a galvanising force for Black women in academia, marking their place as part of a long tradition of Black women’s academic excellence and leadership.
This October, join us for a compelling conversation between Pat Cumper, Girton Alum and daughter of Gloria Carpenter, the first Black woman to graduate from the University of Cambridge, Dr Jade Bentil, author and Black feminist historian, and Dr Dami Folayan, academic and researcher into the life histories of Black women at Oxford and Cambridge.
Seats are limited— please RSVP by emailing contact@blackwomensarchive.org by Thursday 16th October.