The Society Page: Annie Rogers

Today a special moment will occur when Ms Annie Rogers will walks across the stage at Oxford University. She is proof that perseverance pays off.

Ms Rogers has finally been awarded the degrees, which she earned more than thirty years prior. Famously, Ms Rogers was able to sit the degree-level exams in both Latin and Greek and Ancient history in 1877 and 1879 respectively. Ms Stone was even allowed to lecture at the famously ancient university without an official degree.

Readers may recognize Ms Rogers from the famous (or infamous depending on the angle you take) photographic works of beloved author Lewis Carrol. She posed for the author as a girl and was featured in several of his photographs of children.

More recently Ms Stone has been working to improve the funding for women’s education. She has also been working with self-taught women to help them earn the degrees from which they have been barred for so long.

While it is only this writer’s opinion, it does seem strange that it takes so long for men (who are claiming to be the smarter, stronger sex) to allow women into the fold. One would think that they would be happy to prove their prowess. The barring of women from all types of realms seems to speak much more to fear than to any real advantage.

But that’s just this writer’s opinion.