A feminist family history - The Lunar Society welcomes Dr Kate Curruthers Thomas
On 22 October 2025 we welcomed members and guests to hear from Dr Kate Curruthers Thomas.
The event took place in Precision Health Technology Accelerator’s (PHTA) new life sciences building on Aston Webb Boulevard.
Kate’s talk A Feminist Family History - Women's Lives in Space and Time drew on information gleaned about eight of her own grandmothers and great grandmothers over ten generations. Kate used facts from oral history and geographical and social perspectives. She interpreted absent information from public records using male relatives’ records and with other patchy information, painted an accurate personal picture of times past.
In her freely available podcast on a number of platforms she marries fact with historical timelines bringing Lillian UK, Philadelphia USA, and all in between to life. You can listen to Kate’s podcast here.
Much has been written about the founders of the Lunar Society but there is scant regard in the literature to the role and achievements of the women, wives and daughters connected with the Lunar Society over 250 years ago. The talk highlighted this void and was enlightening on many levels.
A vote of thanks was given by our Vice Chair - Tina Swani, and the questions afterwards were both lively and relevant, proving that this type of research used as a vehicle is a very valid one to use. Bringing the past into the present into our ever-changing lifetime 'landscape' brought much to the audience participation.
Our thanks to our Patrons, PHTA, for hosting this event.