Overview

Strand

Discrete Collections	The Women's Library
Title	Strand 2: Women's Suffrage Societies
Ref No	Strand/02
Date	1867-1994
Extent	21 archives (174 A boxes)
Admin Biographical History	Please see the following corporate histories for an overview of the women's suffrage movement: Birmingham Women's Suffrage Society; 1868- Manchester Women's Suffrage Committee; 1867 Manchester Society For Women's Suffrage; 1867- Edinburgh Women's Suffrage Society; 1867 National Union of Womens Suffrage Societies; 1898-1919 National Union of Societies for Equal Citizenship; 1918-1945 Bristol Women's Suffrage Society; 1868- Please see the following corporate histories for the predecessor bodies of the the Fawcett Society: The Women's Suffrage Petition Committee [aka Kensington Committee] (1865-1866) Women's Suffrage Provisional Committee (1866-1867) [London Branch] National Society for Obtaining Political Rights for Women (1867) London [National] Society for Women's Suffrage (LNSWS) (1867-1871) [split into two organisations:] Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage (CNSWS)(1871-1877) London National Society For Women's Suffrage (LNSWS) (1871 -1877) [merger:] Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage (1877-1888) [split into two organisations:] Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage (1888-1897) Central National Society for Women's Suffrage (1888-1897) [name changes, respectively:] Central & East of England Society for Women's Suffrage (1897-1900) Central & Western Society for Women's Suffrage (1897-1900) [merger:] Central Society for Women's Suffrage (1900-1907) London Society for Women's Suffrage (1907-1919) London Society for Women's Service (1919-1926) London & National Society for Women's Service (1926-1953) Fawcett Society (1953-fl.2007)
Custodial History	This Strand comprises some of the 'foundation archives' - archives that were deposited shortly after the creation of the Women's Service Library by the London Society for Women's Service in 1926. Their records are held in this Strand as 2LSW (later the Fawcett Society) and many of the other archives were donated to the Library by members of the Society or closely related organisations.
Description	The Women's Library Archives Strand 2: Women's Suffrage Societies, contains the records of key suffrage organisations. The archives consist of minutes, annual reports, correspondence including policy and subject files, legal and financial papers, pamphlets, scrapbooks, photographs, press cuttings and memorabilia. Please see individual catalogues for full details. The archives include papers dating from both before and after the granting of the franchise to women. Represented are international, national and regional campaigning organisations. There are also some very sector-specific campaign societies represented, such as the Artists' Suffrage League (2ASL). Although known as the 'Suffrage Strand', several of these organisations (the Fawcett Society and International Alliance of Women) are still in existence today, actively campaigning for the equality of women. These archives continue to accrue and reflect the continuity of many of the gender equality campaigns from the 19th century to the present day. Material is predominantly in English with other languages used where material is of an international nature. The Strand comprised the following archives: * 2AFL Actresses' Franchise League * 2ASL Artists' Suffrage League * 2BWS Bristol & West of England Society for Women's Suffrage * 2CSS Consultative Committee of Constitutional Women's Suffrage Societies * 2HWS Hitchin, Stevenage and District Women's Suffrage Society * 2IAW International Alliance of Women * 2LSW Fawcett Society and its Predecessors [notably the London Society for Women's Suffrage] * 2MNS Manchester National Society for Women's Suffrage * 2NCS New Constitutional Society for Women's Suffrage * 2NSE National Union of Societies for Equal Citizenship * 2NWS National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies * 2OWS Oldham Women's Suffrage Society * 2PRI Memento from 'Practical Suffragists' to Anna M Priestman, Mary Priestman, Margaret A Tanner and 'honoured friends' * 2PWS National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies: Portsmouth Branch * 2SBA Susan B Anthony Memorial Committee * 2SEC Societies for Equal Citizenship * 2SJA St Joan's International Alliance * 2SWH Scottish Women's Hospitals * 2WFL Women's Freedom League * 2WFS Women's Freedom League Sheffield Branch * 2WNA Women's National Anti-Suffrage League * 2WTR Women's Tax Resistance League
Related Material	The Women's Library holds extensive collections related to the campaigns for women's suffrage. The Printed Collections, Archives and Museum Collections all hold material on the suffrage campaigns. As at 2008 a source note (subject guide) to suffrage was available on The Women's Library website. The Women's Library, Archives relating to suffrage: The Women's Library, Archives Strand 3 3JSM James Stansfeld Memorial Trust The Women's Library, Archives Strand 5 5DMM Dame Margery Corbett Ashby Memorial Fund# 5ICW International Council of Women 5LCM League of Church Militant The Women's Library, Archives Strand 7 7AAB Alice Ann Burbury 7ACP Alicia Percival 7AMP A Muriel Pierotti 7AMR Agnes Maude Royden 7ARA Annie Ramsay 7BMC Papers of Barbara McCrimmon related to Barbara Bodichon [née Leigh Smith] 7BRA Metropolitan Police Notice of Georgina Brackenbury 7BSI Bayard Simmons 7CFD Charlotte Despard 7EES Edith Eskrigge 7EFR Elsa Fraenkel 7EGA Dr Elizabeth Garrett Anderson 7EGM Eunice Guthrie Murray 7EHM Edith How-Martyn 7EIJ Ellen Isabel Jones 7ELB Elsie Edith Bowerman 7ELR Eleanor Rathbone 7EMW Edith Mary Watson 7ESP Sylvia Pankhurst 7ESW Eva Stephenson and Maurice Wilkins 7EWD Emily Wilding Davison 7FBG Fiona Billington Greig and family 7FCS Florence C Stevens 7GLS Gertrude Lind Setchfield 7HAM D Hamer and John Ellerton 7HAS Anne Haskall 7HAY Sylvia Haymon 7HCR Helen Craggs [Lady Pethick-Lawrence] 7HFD Hugh Franklin and Elsie Duval 7HMC Harriet McIlquham 7HRM Harriet Martineau 7HMS Hilda Marjory Squire 7JKE Jessie Kenney 7JMS Jane Maria Strachey 7KDC Kathleen D'Olier Courtney 7KGG Katie Gliddon 7KMA Kitty Marion [Katherina Schafer] 7LAC Annie Lacon 7LEB Lydia Becker 7LGA Louisa Garrett Anderson 7MAR Mary Ann Rawle 7MBC Mary Beatrice Crowle 7MBY Margaret Byham 7MDS Mary Danvers Stocks 7MER ME Roberts 7MET Mary Ellen Taylor 7MGB Millicent Garrett Fawcett 7MHE Margaret Heitland 7MHK Speech by Mary Kingsley 7MLB Mary Leigh Browne 7MMI Suffrage notebook [Gift of Mary Mills] 7MPR Millie Price (nee Browne) 7MSB Myra Sadd Brown 7MSH Mary Sheepshanks 7NLA Nina Last 7NOR Lady Florence Priscilla Norman 7PHS Philippa [Pippa] Strachey 7RCB Ruth Cavendish Bentinck 7RLY Rose Lamartine Yates 7RMB Rosa May Billinghurst 7SCT St Clair Townsend 7SWW Sybil W White 7TBG Teresa Billington-Greig 7VDG Vida Goldstein 7VJH Vera (Jack) Holme 7VLI Victoria Lidiard 7WAR Winifred Adair-Roberts The Women's Library, Archives Strand 8 - Records of oral history and research projects 8SUF Oral evidence on the suffragette and suffragist movements The Women's Library, Archives Strand 9 - Autograph Letter Collection 9/01 Women's suffrage 9/03 Emancipation of Women, British Commonwealth and United States of America 9/09 Suffrage and Women in Industry 9/11 Letters Related to William Thomas Stead 9/13 Letters to and from Harriet McIlquham 9/14 Letters from Mrs Fawcett To Mrs Badley 9/15 Women's Institute 9/19 Keir Hardie 9/20 Millitant Suffragettes, the Webbs and Ramsay MacDonald 9/21 Letters of Constance Lytton 9/22 Scholars and Learned Ladies 9/25 Biographical notes by Mrs Billington Greig 9/26 Taylor Collection 9/27 Strachey Letters 9/28 Becker Collection 9/29 Letters of Rosa May Billinghurst and Dr Alice Ker The Women's Library, Archives Strand 10 - Scrap Books and Press Cuttings 10/01 Scrapbook [probably of the Artists' Suffrage League] The Women's Library Museum Collection contains a variety of objects relating to women's suffrage, primarily created to support campaigining activities. See the following collections for more details: * Badge Collection * Banner Collection (these include 51 banners relating to women's suffrage) * Photograph Collection * Postcard Collection * Poster Collection Key collections on women's suffrage can also be found at The Museum of London (the Later Modern Collections include the Suffrage Fellowship Collection, key material from the Women's Social & Political Union. Surviving regional campaigning organisations archives can be located in local record offices.
Access Status	Open
Access Conditions	Readers are advised to contact The Women's Library @ LSE in advance of their first visit. Uncatalogued archives are not currently available for consultation, but access status is under review; please contact us for further information. A number of catalogued files are closed in accordance with the Data Protection Act. A number of items in the archives will require remedial conservation work before they can be accessed by the public - these are indicated on the catalogue. Please see individual catalogues for further information Items are sometimes in exhibitions, on site or externally - these are indicated on the catalogue

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