Women's Library

The Women’s Library is the oldest and largest library in Britain devoted to the history of women’s campaigning and activism. It was officially inaugurated as the Library of the London Society for Women’s Service in 1926 and it had two aims: to preserve the history of the women’s suffrage movement, and to provide a resource for newly-enfranchised women to take their place in public life. The books and archives deposited in the early decades bear witness to the activities of the London Society and to the interests of its members, both as participants in the campaigns of the women’s movement of their day, and as individuals following their own professional pursuits. There’s an opportunity to see items from The Women’s Library at these exhibitions and museums. Two suffrage banners at The Last Princesses of Punjab at Kensington Palace. Items from the archive of Amelia Scott, suffragist and social reformer, at The Amelia Scott in Royal Tunbridge Wells. Prison letters and hunger-strike medal of Elsie Duval on display at Prison Nursing Unlocked at the Royal College of Nursing in Edinburgh. The Women’s Library contains personal and organisational archives, books, journals, pamphlets, zines, audio-visual, objects, textiles and visual materials relating to campaigning and activism from the late 19th century onwards. There are many themes to be found. Some of them are listed below. New archives are no longer fitted into this structure, but standalone eg, COCKBURN Papers of Cynthnia Cockburn, AWS Association of Women Solicitors. The Women’s Library has a rich print collection of books, pamphlets, journals and zines. They are either stored in the vault or in the reference collection on the 3rd floor of the Library. To locate these: If you are interested in magazines / periodicals, download this spreadsheet listing the titles of magazines and journals from The Women's Library . The Sadd Brown Library was set up in 1938 in memory of suffragette and internationalist Myra Sadd Brown. It contains many books, pamphlets and journals relating to campaigns for and by women in the commonwealth countries. The Women’s Library has a rare book collection made up of the libraries of various individuals. These include a book collection from the MP Nancy Astor originally bought for Crosby Hall, the headquarters of the British Federation of University Women, who could no longer accommodate them. Ruth Cavendish Bentinck, a socialist campaigner for women’s rights and member of the London Society, donated about 1000 books and pamphlets in 1931. Ruth continued to donate books to the Library until her death in 1954. Painting by Bertha Newcombe of Emily Davis and Elizabeth Garrett presenting the suffrage petition to John Stuart Mill in Westminster Hall on 7 June 1866. TWL.1998.60 The collection covers the constitutional, the militant and the anti-suffrage campaigns around the enfranchisement of women from 1866 until the passing of the Equal Franchise Act 1928 when women could vote on equal terms with men. Many women who were involved in the suffrage movement continued campaigning for women’s rights and children’s rights beyond 1918. Some examples include: Includes papers on Black women in the arts, material relating to Olive Morris and Brixton Black Women’s Group, Claudia Jones and West Indian Gazette, and Asian Women’s Refuge. Collections cover equal opportunities in the workplace, careers, professional life, economic equality, and more recent attempts to change working patterns. Collections include campaigns to increase women’s representation in local and national government and other public bodies. Some examples include: Campaigns for maternity rights, abortion, childcare, the rights of married women, the rights of single mothers and the rights of lesbian mothers. Some collections include: Includes the records of Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp and peace activists such as Cynthia Cockburn . Listen to 'These Dangerous Women', oral historie