Votes for Women: Tracing the Struggle in Birmingham

“…The city could also be a place of danger and chaos…
perceived as ‘dangerous’ for women”

This guide provides information on Birmingham based suffrage groups, illustrated through the city’s archives.

• How have women changed Birmingham?
• How has sexism been challenged in the city?
• Women's experiences have repeatedly been 'silenced' in accounts of the nation.
  How can they be 'recovered' through the archive?
• What stories would you like to share or discover?

Chapters in this research guide include:

• Introduction: Votes For Women in Birmingham
• The Rise of Women’s Suffrage Societies
• Birmingham and the Women’s Social and Political Union
• Questioning The Evidence of Suffragette History in Birmingham
• Key Information on Suffragette Movements in Birmingham

DOWNLOAD this research guide
Please note it may take up to a minute dependent upon your connection speed.

People and places mentioned in this research guide include: Suffragettes at Aston Parliament; The Representation of the People Bill; Equal Franchise Act; Birmingham Women's Suffrage Society; Birmingham Branch of the National Council of Women; Women Workers Union Reports; Elizabeth Cadbury Papers; Female Society for the Relief of British Negro Slaves; Birmingham Association for the Unmarried Mother and Her Child; Records of the Birmingham Settlement; Records of Anstey College and the Anstey Association; Birmingham Town Hall; National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies [NUWSS]; The Subjection of Women; The Englishwoman's Review; Mrs William Taylor; Miss Johnson; Eliza Sturge; Dr Mary Sturge; Elizabeth Crawford; Women's Social and Political Union [WSPU]; Julia Varley; Catherine Osler; Rhoda Anstey; Mrs Pankhurst; Bingley Hall, Broad Street; arson; Birmingham Fire Service; Winson Green Prison; Cat and Mouse Act; force feeding; Hilda Evelyn Burkett; Laura Ainsworth; Mabel Capper; Mary Edwards; Ellen Barnwell; Charlotte Marsh; and, Birmingham Women's Liberation.

Further links and research:

Women's Journeys Through the Archive

This gallery of images reflect on histories of migration, travel, journeys and diaspora that can be found in Birmingham's Archive & Heritage collections.

Staff Recommends - Women at Work

This is an additional miscellaneous resource list of materials on the subect of 'women at work', developed during research seminars held by the Birmingham Stories project.