The Women’s History Network 34th Annual Conference

Celebrating the Centenary of the Women’s Library and 100 Years of Women’s History (1926-2026)

3-4 September 2026, LSE & Friends House (Euston Road)

Our 34th annual conference coincides with the centenary of the founding of The Women’s Library, and provides the perfect opportunity to celebrate this unique resource, as well as 100 years of women’s history. The Women’s Library is the oldest and largest library in Britain devoted to the history of women’s campaigning and activism and encompasses a library, an archive and a museum. Founded in 1926 as the Library of the London Society for Women’s Service, it became the Fawcett Library in 1953 and was renamed The Women’s Library in 2002. It has moved several times, finding permanent residence at the LSE in 2013.

CALL FOR PAPERS

We welcome submissions that fit within the library’s centenary years, 1926-2026. While these may be connected, directly or indirectly, to material that is held in The Women’s Library collections, this is not a prerequisite.  Possible topics of interest might include, but are certainly not limited to:

• Women and Suffrage, campaigning in public and political life
• Women, prostitution and trafficking
• Women and work
• Women and sport
• Women, welfare, social security and the family
• Women and refugees
• Women’s print media
• Black and Asian Women
• Women and philanthropy
• Feminism and Religion
• Women’s Liberation Movement
• Women and the Environment
• Women and Internationalism
• LGBT+ including, for example Gay Liberation Front, Christian Voices Coming Out

We invite submissions of 150 – 200 word abstracts for 15 minute papers which take a critical look at the chosen area of history. Proposals are welcomed from scholars working at all levels, including those without an institutional affiliation, and from those working outside academia, in heritage, for example, or in other historically linked sectors

All submissions must be on the form which is downloadable here and emailed to: whnconference2026@gmail.com by 29 March 2026