NLS EXHIBITION HONOURS WOMEN IN THE MOUNTAINS
A new exhibition at the National Library of Scotland focuses on the historical achievements of women in the mountains.
When Paula Williams became the curator of maps and polar collections at the National Library of Scotland, it wasn’t long before she began wondering why women were so frequently absent from the history books.
“The Library has extensive collections of material documenting pioneering mountaineers, and I found that, historically, women’s achievements were at best ignored, at worst vilified,” she says.
Paula began a quest to rediscover Scotland’s first female mountaineers and to tell their stories. The result is a new free exhibition – Petticoats and Pinnacles: Scotland’s Pioneering Mountain Women – currently showing at the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh.
“This exhibition is the result of considerable research into Scotland’s first known women mountaineers,” she says. “These women defied social convention and overcame considerable obstacles in their quest for adventure. Many of them were also celebrated poets, diarists and artists – all inspired by the breathtaking landscapes of Scotland, as well as the Alps, the Himalayas, the Rockies and Yosemite.”
The exhibition spans 250 years of mountaineering history. Stories range from a young woman who climbed Ben Lomond in 1760 (and was home fresh as a daisy in time for tea) to the first all-female exhibition to the Himalayas in 1955. It combines lesserknown adventurers with famous names such as The Living Mountain author Nan Shepherd and Jane Inglis Clark, founder of the Ladies Scottish Climbing Club. Most were ignored and undervalued, despite their convention-smashing achievements.
“To scale a mountain is one thing,” says Paula. “To do that as a woman, overcoming the obstacles of social convention and expectation, sets their achievements at an even greater height.”
Petticoats and Pinnacles will run at the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh until 28 May 2022. For more information visit nls.uk