'...The noble cause of Siberian society.' Siberian Higher Women's Courses in Tomsk

About exhibition

The exhibition reveals the history of the Siberian Higher Women's Courses in Tomsk in 1910–1920 against the backdrop of the profound shifts in Russian public consciousness at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries. It tells about the courses' founders, teachers and students: who taught what, what everyday life for the young women was like, and what some graduates went on to become. The core of the exhibition is authentic materials from the collection of the Scientific Library of Tomsk State University: reference publications on the activities of the Siberian Higher Women's Courses, textbooks from the courses' library, and scholarly works by professors and alumnae. Photographs, documents and letters are preserved as parts of personal archival collections. A substantial portion of the exhibition consists of materials from the archive of one of the SHWC's founders, Nadezhda Ivanovna Mikulina-Ivanova (1873–1967) — a physician and active participant in the Society for Raising Funds for the Siberian Higher Women's Courses. A number of exhibits shown are kept in the personal archives of well-known Tomsk residents — G.N. Potanin, F.E. Molin, G.E. Iogansen and P.M. Makushin. Visits are by prior reservation for paid guided tours: - TSU Tour and Educational Center: tel. (3822) 52-98-34; mustsu@mail.tsu.ru - Department of Manuscripts and Book Monuments: tel. (3822) 78-51-09; kk.tsu@yandex.ru