MacFormat 1996 July/macformat-039.iso/DATABASE/SHARED.DIR/01288_138.cap.txt

Text File | 1996-03-14 | 4.7 KB | 286 lines

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Mrs Pankhurst
said her earliest
recollection was
going to a bazaar
to raise money for
the newly emanci-
pated slaves in
America. "Young
as I was - I could
not have been
more than five -
I knew perfectly
well the meaning
of the words
"slavery" and
"emancipation"
#
Mrs Pankhurst
founded the
Women's Social
and Political
Union in 1903 to
win the vote for
women. She was
arrested countless
times in the years
that followed for
what amounted to
terrorist methods
of political struggle
#
The suffragettes
were experts at
propaganda. Their
posters used eye-
catching artwork
and snappy slogans.
And in Christabel,
Emmeline's elder
daughter, they had
a fine strategist
whose imaginative
publicity stunts
kept the cause of
votes for women
in the news
#
In 1918 women
over 30 were
given the vote,
but men had the
vote at 21. Equal
voting rights did
not come until
May 1928, when
21 was made the
voting age for all
British citizens.
Mrs Pankhurst died
just three weeks
later, having lived
to see the fulfil-
ment of her
life's struggle
#
There were many
opponents to the
idea of votes for
women. Curzon
believed that if
women were given
political power
they would hinder
the business of
empire-building
by raising senti-
mental objections
to measures such
as declaring war.
Others said it was
plain unnatural
for women to take
an interest in the
affairs of state
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Chaining them
selves to railings
became a favorite
form of protest
with suffragettes
because it caused
the maximum of
disruption without
putting the chained
suffragette in
physical danger.
The incident at the
prime minister's
London residence
was the first use
of this tactic
#
Not all suffrage
campaigners used
violent or unlawful
methods. Some
fought by means
of rallies, parades
and letter-writing.
Millicent Fawcett,
leader of Britain's
moderate suffrage
organisation, held
the belief that
women should aim
to prove they were
worthy of the vote
by showing them-
selves to be
good citizens
#
Lady Constance
Lytton, a leading
associate of Mrs
Pankhurst, hid
her aristocratic
identity to gather
information on
the appalling
treatment of
suffragettes in
prison. Her first-
hand account of
the horrors of
force-feeding
caused a storm of
controversy
#
In 1913 Emmeline
Pankhurst was
sentenced to three
years in  prison for
acts of terrorism .
She went on hunger
strike, was released
when she became
dangerously ill, but
was re-arrested to
continue her punish-
ment as soon as she
had recovered. The
constant rounds of
prison and self-
starvation ruined
Pankhurst's health
#
The suffragettes
liked to target
London landmarks
for their activities:
the prime minister's
house, the Houses of
Parliament, the
National Gallery.
On this occasion
some suffragettes
were tackled by
the police as they
attempted to storm
Buckingham Palace,
the residence
of King George V
@
Emily Davison, a
veteran suffragette,
threw herself under
the King's horse at
the Epsom Derby
in 1913. Some said
Davison's act was a
deliberate suicide
protest, others that
she wanted to tie
the colors of the
WSPU to the horse's
bridle. At any rate,
she died of her
injuries days later,
the first martyr
to the cause of
women's suffrage
#
In 1912, in a highly
planned operation,
a small batallion
of suffragettes
simultaneously
smashed shopfront
windows the whole
length of Oxford
Street and Regent
Street in the West
End of London.
After this specta-
cularly destructive
action, Christabel
Pankhurst issued a
statement to the
newspapers
#
The militants seem
to have understood
that they were
involved in a war
for publicity. The
stunts they carried
out were bound to
make the papers
because they had
a degree of variety
and sheer daring
which a modern
urban guerrilla
might be proud of.
At the same time,
they were careful
not to harm anyone:
they only ever
attacked property
#
Mary Richardson
set out to destroy
the Rokeby Venus
in the National
Gallery. She was
sentenced to six
months' in jail. The
judge told her no
amount of money
could replace such
a picture. Miss
Richardson replied
that no amount of
money could ever
replace Mrs Pank-
hurst, who she said
was being slowly
murdered by her
spells in prison
#
If Mrs Pankhurst
was queen of the
suffragettes, then
Christabel was
their iron-willed
commander-in-
chief. Her actions
were like military
operations. In 1912,
at the height of the
suffrage outrages,
she fled to Paris to
escape arrest. With
her mother behind
bars, she ran the
movement from
beyond the reach
of the British police
#
The suffragettes
invited arrest to
publicise their
cause. Shortly
after this picture
was taken, Mrs
Pankhurst (second
from the left)
slapped Inspector
Jarvis, the police
officer, and all
three ladies were
taken into custody
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