I shared this video on my blog last year that makes me cry every time I see it. I have now profiled each woman in this commercial, but there are so many more amazing women to share. I am now adding my own list of inspiring women who have inspired me and made me want to be a stronger, more brave, force for good in this world. I plan on sharing these stories with my daughters.
EMMELINE PANKHURST
Remember when you were little and you watched Mary Poppins and had NO IDEA what Mrs. Banks was fighting for? Let's chat about it today.
Emmeline Goulden was born in Manchester, England, in 1858. She grew up in a politically active family. Her parents were both abolitionists and supporters of female suffrage; Goulden was 14 when her mother took her to her first women’s suffrage meeting. However, Goulden chafed at the fact that her parents prioritized their sons' education and advancement over hers.
After studying in Paris, Goulden returned to Manchester, where she met Dr. Richard Pankhurst in 1878. Richard was a lawyer who supported a number of radical causes, including women’s suffrage. Though he was 24 years older than Goulden, the two married in December 1879, and Goulden became Emmeline Pankhurst.
Over the next decade, Pankhurst gave birth to five children: daughters Christabel, Sylvia and Adela, and sons Frank (who died in childhood) and Harry. Despite her children and other household responsibilities, Pankhurst remained involved in politics, campaigning for her husband during his unsuccessful runs for Parliament and hosting political gatherings at their home. In 1889, Pankhurst became an early supporter of the Women's Franchise League, which wanted to enfranchise all women, married and unmarried alike (at the time, some groups only sought the vote for single women and widows). Her husband encouraged Pankhurst in these endeavors until his death in 1898.
Coping with straitened circumstances and grief consumed much of Pankhurst’s attention for the next several years. However, she retained a passion for women’s rights, and in 1903 she decided to create a new women-only group focused solely on voting rights, the Women's Social and Political Union. The WSPU’s slogan was “Deeds Not Words.”
Many members of Pankhurst’s group were arrested and imprisoned (Pankhurst herself was first sent behind bars in 1908). Pankhurst would encourage WSPU members to rein in their demonstrations when it seemed possible that a bill on women’s suffrage might move forward. But when the group was disappointed—as in 1910 and 1911, whenwomen’s suffrage bills failed to advance—protests would escalate. By 1913, militant actions by WSPU members included window-breaking, vandalizing public art and arson.
Pankhurst was given a nine-month sentence in 1912 for throwing a rock at the prime minister’s residence. In 1913, after an incendiary device went off in an unoccupied house being built for the chancellor of the exchequer, David Lloyd-George, Pankhurst received a sentence of three years of penal servitude for inciting the crime. She was released after a hunger strike.
Then World War I began. Pankhurst decided to call for a halt to militancy and demonstrations. The government released all WSPU prisoners, and Pankhurst encouraged women to join the war effort and fill factory jobs so that men could fight on the front. The contributions of women during wartime helped convince the British government to grant them limited voting rights—for those who met a property requirement and were 30 years of age (the voting age for men was 21)—with the Representation of the People Act of 1918. Later that year, another bill gave women the right to be elected to Parliament.
Pankhurst was 69 when she died in London on June 14, 1928. Pankhurst did not live to see it, but on July 2, 1928, Parliament gave women voting rights on a par with men’s.
Emmeline wrote about her experiences in a book which is titled Suffragette: My Own Story. I just downloaded it to my Kindle App and I can't wait to read it!
Emmeline Goulden was born in Manchester, England, in 1858. She grew up in a politically active family. Her parents were both abolitionists and supporters of female suffrage; Goulden was 14 when her mother took her to her first women’s suffrage meeting. However, Goulden chafed at the fact that her parents prioritized their sons' education and advancement over hers.
After studying in Paris, Goulden returned to Manchester, where she met Dr. Richard Pankhurst in 1878. Richard was a lawyer who supported a number of radical causes, including women’s suffrage. Though he was 24 years older than Goulden, the two married in December 1879, and Goulden became Emmeline Pankhurst.
Over the next decade, Pankhurst gave birth to five children: daughters Christabel, Sylvia and Adela, and sons Frank (who died in childhood) and Harry. Despite her children and other household responsibilities, Pankhurst remained involved in politics, campaigning for her husband during his unsuccessful runs for Parliament and hosting political gatherings at their home. In 1889, Pankhurst became an early supporter of the Women's Franchise League, which wanted to enfranchise all women, married and unmarried alike (at the time, some groups only sought the vote for single women and widows). Her husband encouraged Pankhurst in these endeavors until his death in 1898.
Coping with straitened circumstances and grief consumed much of Pankhurst’s attention for the next several years. However, she retained a passion for women’s rights, and in 1903 she decided to create a new women-only group focused solely on voting rights, the Women's Social and Political Union. The WSPU’s slogan was “Deeds Not Words.”
Many members of Pankhurst’s group were arrested and imprisoned (Pankhurst herself was first sent behind bars in 1908). Pankhurst would encourage WSPU members to rein in their demonstrations when it seemed possible that a bill on women’s suffrage might move forward. But when the group was disappointed—as in 1910 and 1911, whenwomen’s suffrage bills failed to advance—protests would escalate. By 1913, militant actions by WSPU members included window-breaking, vandalizing public art and arson.
Pankhurst was given a nine-month sentence in 1912 for throwing a rock at the prime minister’s residence. In 1913, after an incendiary device went off in an unoccupied house being built for the chancellor of the exchequer, David Lloyd-George, Pankhurst received a sentence of three years of penal servitude for inciting the crime. She was released after a hunger strike.
Then World War I began. Pankhurst decided to call for a halt to militancy and demonstrations. The government released all WSPU prisoners, and Pankhurst encouraged women to join the war effort and fill factory jobs so that men could fight on the front. The contributions of women during wartime helped convince the British government to grant them limited voting rights—for those who met a property requirement and were 30 years of age (the voting age for men was 21)—with the Representation of the People Act of 1918. Later that year, another bill gave women the right to be elected to Parliament.
Pankhurst was 69 when she died in London on June 14, 1928. Pankhurst did not live to see it, but on July 2, 1928, Parliament gave women voting rights on a par with men’s.
Emmeline wrote about her experiences in a book which is titled Suffragette: My Own Story. I just downloaded it to my Kindle App and I can't wait to read it!
*To read all posts in my BRAVE WOMEN series click here.
2 comments
Cool history lesson! Thanks for sharing this.
I can't even imagine. What a woman. I wouldn't fight for it because I'm too scared, but doesn't it seem SO STRANGE that women couldn't vote less than a hundred years ago? I mean, why not? Women are people too! It just seems so...odd to me that this was a thing. I really take my rights for granted I think.
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