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Our story - 70th Anniversary film celebrates generations of visionary women

Film explores the pioneering history of New Hall/51¸£ÀûÉç

Black and white image of women students in gowns in front of an old brick house, 1954
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To mark the 70 years since the arrival of our first cohort of students in 1954, we made a film charting our remarkable history.

It tells the story of our battle to exist as Cambridge University's third foundation for women, then called New Hall, and hears from one of our very first undergraduates, Ann Cullen, who recalls the earliest days in the College's first home, borrowed, building in Silver Street.

We celebrate the unstoppable spirit of our first President, Rosemary Murray, who famously not only taught students but emptied the bins and fixed the plumbing, and hear from key figures such as the Vice Chancellor of Cambridge, Professor Deborah Prentice, and our alumna, the award-winning novelist Maggie O'Farrell.

The film explores the creation of our iconic modernist buildings, a concrete tribute to women's ascent through learning, and of The Women's Art Collection, developed from a handful of gifted works to the largest collection of art by women in Europe.

And of course, we hear from our current President, Dorothy Byrne, and today's students, who sum up the ambitious, unconventional character of this extraordinary Cambridge college today.

Many thanks to our film makers, Jonathan Howard and Oggi Tomic, for creating this wonderful tribute to our unique history and the visionary women who came before us.