Available onlineEarly life - family and education
(page 6 of 6)| Audio: | University education |
|---|---|
| Duration: | 00:00:47 |
| Date: | 1982 |
On this page you can listen to an extract from an interview made with Jennie Lee for the BBC in 1982. In this clip Jennie talks about how she was able to gain a place at University.
Jennie kept her University note books, and the Archive houses a range of her lecture notes on various subjects. Although many of the books contain her notes on education, English literature and history in the front, at the back Jennie wrote notes on politics and there are drafts of speeches. As well as her studies, Jennie had become a member - and soon a joint chair - of the University Labour Club.
Although she started a career in teaching, it was not her main focus. During her studies at University Jennie had also become interested in law and gained a bursary to undertake a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree – which she gained at the same time as her MA in 1926.
The photograph on this page shows Jennie in her graduation robes in 1926.
An article titled "Brains and Beauty" was written about Jennie in 1928 when, at the age of 24, she was already beginning to break down barriers of class and gender. In it she reveals that she had considered a career in law – although the financial requirements would have been difficult, if not impossible, to meet.
