In 1938 Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence, one of the leaders of the Women’s Social & Political Union (WSPU), published her autobiography, My Part in a Changing World. In it she noted, “My thanks are due also to my secretaries, Miss Esther Knowles…
Category: Women’s History
Reimagining Women’s Sexual Agency in Eighteenth-Century Presbyterian Ireland, by Frances Norman
On 1 December 1710 Sarah Campbell and the married John Wilson appeared before the Presbyterian Kirk Session of Carnmoney, county Antrim, acknowledging their guilt of adultery and desiring baptism for their child. After rebuking the pair for the offence caused,…
Radical Jewish Women: Nina Salaman (1877-1925)
Jewish Museum London is proud to be collaborating with the Women’s History Network on a Radical Women series, focusing on the lives of Jewish women who have made a significant impact, not only within the Jewish Community in Britain, but…
‘The World through a Woman’s Eyes’: Jessie Ackermann and women’s mental mapping at the turn of the twentieth century
When first introduced to the concept of historical mental mapping, which aims to reconstruct shifting spatial imaginaries of continents and countries, I was struck by the overwhelming dominance of men’s accounts as source material. Was it fair to assume that women throughout history perceived the arrangement of the world’s spaces – countries, continents, regions and borders – in the same way as their male counterparts?
A statue for the Past, Present and Future: making space for Betty Campbell, by Angela V. John
Photo courtesy of Ruth Cayford, MWW. Wednesday 29th September 2021 was no ordinary day in Cardiff. For a start there was glorious sunshine sandwiched in between days of seemingly relentless rain. And it was the culmination of years of planning,…
Writing a woman’s trauma: by Kate Clifford Larson
Writing a woman’s trauma. Balancing Fannie Lou Hamer’s silence with newly recovered testimony. By Kate Clifford Larson Please note this post contains discussion of sexual assault and police brutality. On Sunday morning, June 9, 1963, African American Civil Rights activist…
Jeannette Washington: Pittsburgh’s First Black Public Health Nurse, by Adam Lee Cilli
The sight of Jeannette Washington emerging from some tenement in Pittsburgh’s Lower Hill District was common. She had been a fixture in the Hill for half a century, tirelessly working to improve health in the Black community, prevent unnecessary deaths…
27th October: Stella Dadzie
Join us for a special seminar to mark Black History Month: Stella Dadzie, ‘A Kick in the Belly’ Wednesday, 27th October 2021 at 4pm (UK) Register on Zoom here Stella Dadzie is a feminist writer, historian and education activist, best…
Joy as Gendered Resistance in Ashenda Celebrations during the Tigray War, 2020–Present, by Francesca Baldwin
Ashenda is a festival of womanhood, sisterhood, and female joy, celebrated every August in Tigray, Ethiopia. It brings together physical adornment, music, and dance to honour the feminine form, where female participants are gifted food, drinks, and money by the…