Female historians and the historical society of Nigeria: 1955 - 2017 Olali Stephen Temegha1 1Senior Research Fellow, Ph.D, Institute for Niger Delta Studies, Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Bayelsa State, Nigeria, Email id: voiceofhistory2@gmail.com Online Published on 02 May, 2023. Abstract When the Historical Society of Nigeria (HSN) was founded in 1955, only one expatriate female historian, Jean Margaret Bradshaw, was among the seven signatories to the Memorandum of Association. The first indigenous professional female historian in Nigeria, Professor Bolanle Alake Awe, emerged in 1960. Since then, various Departments of History have been established across Nigerian universities and other tertiary institutions, with female historians and students teaching and studying History. Although there is a relative paucity of female historians in comparison to male historians, majority of the few female historians, as shall be analyzed in this paper, have not been consistently active in the HSN. This accounts for why in sixty-two years of its founding and existence, only a few female historians, prominent amongst who are Professor Egodi Uchendu, Dr Winifred Akoda and Dr Mfon Ekpootu, have served in the Council of the HSN. The paper, using the example of active female historians in the HSN, illustrates how greater participation by female historians in its affairs will contribute to building a more vibrant Historical Society of Nigeria. Top Keywords Female, Historians, Nigeria, 1955–2017. Top |