This postcard appears to show a group of international students at the University of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. Perhaps they were members of a club or student association? I was hoping to identify some of them, but so far no luck.
A few are old enough to be graduate students, or possibly faculty members.
If anyone in the group looks familiar to you, please leave a comment!
Nice to see quite many girls in the group! 🙂
LikeLiked by 3 people
Yes!! Out of 33 people in the photo, 15 are women.
LikeLiked by 3 people
An interesting eclectic bunch!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Remarkably diverse! I wish we knew where they all came from.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Nice to see such a diverse group. And each one had a story. Good luck identifying someone! Good looking group too and rather relaxed and pleased.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Many of them would have traveled a very long way to arrive at that place at that moment. And most would have gone back to their home countries after their studies. Each would have had a fascinating life story.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I also thought they looked like a pretty happy bunch overall.
LikeLiked by 2 people
The smiles are nice to see, aren’t they? I’m so accustomed to serious expressions.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, they are. I hadn’t thought about what it must be like for you to spend so much time with images of unsmiling faces!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, I get a kick out of most of them, but a smile is always a pleasant surprise!
LikeLiked by 1 person
😀
LikeLike
They look happy! A very congenial group. I hope someone sees a relative they know.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Happy, congenial and impeccably dressed!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Two of the young women had some seriously marcelled hair.
LikeLiked by 3 people
All the women have more or less the same length hair, but each has her own personal style.
LikeLike
Handsome group!! Perhaps Leeds has yearbooks or directories available to public?
LikeLiked by 2 people
I hoped to find something like a yearbook online, but I didn’t. Maybe I didn’t try hard enough. There must be one somewhere!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Maybe an email to Leeds will elicit something helpful. Good luck!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you! I may also try to find a Leeds alumni group.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, they look cool. Love the hairstyles of the women!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Short hair was definitely in style (but not too short).
LikeLike
I can’t help with identification of the people, but I can contribute this photo of a machine designed to create those Marceled hairdos. I found it in a museum in West Columbia, Texas. Apparently women in rural Texas wanted to be as stylish as those in Leeds!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Wow, that device is … bizarre. On the other hand, I’m not surprised in the least that women in rural Texas kept up with the latest trends. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
A really nice group photo. A camaraderie has built up here, perhaps over a short time. The relaxed atmosphere is also a tribute to the photographer, who knows how to handle a group.
It is possible that they attended a conference or summer school. Some are sporting oval tags, which could allow the wearer access to certain buildings. Either that, or those people were facilitators or group leaders ?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very insightful points, Michael. I wondered what those round pins or tags might signify. If this was a summer program, that might help explain the relaxed atmosphere. Another thing I’ve been wondering is whether the group consists entirely of foreign students or is a combination of foreign and British. A conference or summer school might include both, depending on the subject matter, whereas a club for foreign students probably wouldn’t.
I should write to someone in Leeds about this, but I haven’t decided where to start. Maybe the university archive?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I zoomed in on the fellow in the bottom left corner, whose tag is facing the camera:

LikeLike
It’s an extraordinary picture and represents the diversity of the background of the students/staff members. It seems Leeds University encouraged/embraced diversity as early as in 1934.
As part of my B.A in International Marketing, I studied one year at Leeds Metropolitan University (now Leeds Becket University) in 1999 before moving to London. Catch up soon Brad!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s interesting that you spent a year in Leeds, Isabelle. I wondered where you had done your training. Like you, I was struck by the diversity of this group, especially for the time period. I’ve never run across such a photo before.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I went on studying six months in London after spending one year in Leeds. I got a job about two weeks after returning to Oslo in January 2001. It’s my first degree and then I went to university again in 2011 and later graduated with a M.A in English 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Age-wise, most of them look more like professors than students but then I wondered if maybe they were all part of a foreign student exchange programme. To me a lot of the men look Indian or maybe Ceylonese (Sri Lankan). It might be worth contacting Leeds University and finding out if they can throw any light on the photo (I expect they’d be glad to see it, anyway!).
Britain has always been open to people of different nationalities and ethnicities.
LikeLiked by 1 person
After hemming and hawing, I sent a link to this post to Leeds University Library and asked if they had a yearbook for 1934. Someone responded quickly and said I needed to contact Special Collections. I don’t think anyone at the library looked at the post. More hemming and hawing….
LikeLike
A lot of these departments are closed at the moment, due to the Pandemic. Try again at a later date, I’m sure someone will eventually respond. Or maybe see if they have something online.
LikeLiked by 1 person