Background

Our collections contain primary source material relating to the campaign for women’s suffrage. The majority of this collection forms part of the Women’s Library, whose roots are founded in the suffrage movement. This collection includes personal papers of suffragists and suffragettes, records of suffrage organisations and the newspapers, journals and pamphlets published by these organisations. There are also badges, postcards, posters, banners and other 3D objects on this subject.

LSE and the suffrage movement

LSE was at the heart of suffrage activity between 1906 and 1914. To mark the historical link between LSE and suffrage, the Towers on campus have been renamed Pankhurst House, Fawcett House and Pethick-Lawrence House after three important suffrage campaigners and their specific connections to LSE.

The offices of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), the suffragette organisation led by Emmeline Pankhurst, were on the site now occupied by the former Tower 3. This was the London home of Emmeline and Frederick Pethick-Lawrence who also financed and edited Votes for Women, the newspaper of the WSPU.

LSE is the custodian of the Women's Library, which has its roots in the suffrage movement. The Women's Library also holds the papers of Millicent Garrett Fawcett and of the Fawcett Society. Millicent Garrett Fawcett was a suffragist and women's rights campaigner who made it her lifetime's work to secure for women the right to vote.

Votes for Women: a history of the women’s suffrage campaign & its legacy at LSE

Find out more about LSE and suffrage in these blogs: 

• Alice Paul – a suffragette from LSE
• Alice Clark – a suffragist from LSE
• Clement’s Inn – the first home of the Women’s Social and Political Union in London
• 24 Women at LSE in 1918
• Suffragettes and LSE’s early neighbours

Millicent Garrett Fawcett and the early suffrage movement

• Mill-Taylor collection contains correspondence between John Stuart Mill and Helen Taylor with the main suffrage campaigners of the time.
• Millicent Garrett Fawcett was a suffragist who campaigned for women’s suffrage from 1866 until the passing of the Equal Franchise Act in 1928 when women over 21 gained equal voting rights with men. Find out more about the papers of Millicent Garrett Fawcett held at The Women's Library.
• London National Society for Women’s Suffrage was founded in 1867, and it is from this, that the Fawcett Society, renamed in 1953, traces its descent.
• Read The Common Cause, the journal of the National Union for Women’s Suffrage Societies, and discover insights into the suffrage campaign. You can also access physical copies of The Common Cause at The Women's Library.
• Oral histories on the suffragette and suffragist movement carried out in the 1970s. 
• The Women's Suffrage Pilgrimage of 1913 organised by the NUWSS.

The Pankhursts and Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU)

Material relating to Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters, Christabel and Sylvia, is dispersed throughout the collection. Papers relating to the WSPU can be found in the personal papers of suffragettes.

• Independent Labour Party collection contains correspondence between Emmeline Pankhurst and Keir Hardie, along with the letters of many other women’s suffrage campaigners.
• The Emily Wilding Davison online exhibit features photographs, papers and objects from the collection relating to her role in the campaign for Women's Suffrage and her death at Epsom race course. The collection contains Emily Wilding Davison's personal papers relating to her work with the WSPU as well as papers and objects relating to her death.
• Oral histories on the suffrage movement  carried out in the 1970s.  Listen to an interview about the organising of Emily Wilding Davison's funeral.
• Women’s Freedom League was formed in 1907 following a split within the Women’s Social and Political Union.
• Read Votes for Women and the Woman’s Dreadnought which provide insights into the campaign. You can also access physical copies of Votes for Women and the Woman's Dreadnought at the Women's Library.

Some other characters of the WSPU

May fearlessly took part in suffrage demonstrations in her tricycle. 
Learn about Rosa May Billinghurst in this online exhibition. 

Sophia was part of the Women’s Tax Resistance League and this card shows the auction of her goods instead of paying taxes as part of the ‘No Vote, No Tax’ campaign

During the First World War, Vera 'Jack' Holme was an ambulance driver for the Scottish Women's Hospital in Serbia. Learn about Vera in this online exhibition. 

Susila Bonnerjee and Nolini Bonnerjee were active in the Church League for Women’s Suffrage seen in the the bottom right of this photograph from 1913

Pro-suffrage men

• Men’s League for Women’s Suffrage was founded in 1907 and supported the work of the WSPU and Women’s Freedom League. Records of the Men's League for Women's Suffrage and other men’s suffrage societies are dispersed throughout the collection.
• George Lansbury was a Labour MP who became borough councillor in Poplar in 1903 and Leader of the Labour Party in 1931 to 1935. He was a supporter of the women’s suffrage campaign. His archive contains letters from Emmeline, Christabel and Sylvia Pankhurst. View the Lansbury archive.

Anti-suffrage societies

• Women's National Anti-Suffrage League was founded in 1908 at a time when support for the women’s suffrage movement was rising again. Records of other anti-suffrage societies are dispersed throughout the collection.

Women's suffrage collection on the Digital Library

Explore the women’s rights collection on LSE Digital Library. It contains two sets of suffrage newspapers and journals, pamphlets and leaflets and the annual reports of suffrage groups, covering the campaign from the late 19th century to 1928 when women achieved equal voting rights with men. Here are the three main suffrage newspapers:

• The Common Cause was the newspaper of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies published from 1909 until 1920. Helena Swanwick was its first editor.
• Votes for Women was co-edited by Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence and her husband, Frederick. This was the newspaper for the Women’s Social and Political Union, published between 1907 and 1918.
• The Vote was the newspaper of the Women’s Freedom League. Its first editor was Charlotte Despard and it was published from 1909 to 1933.

Online resources

• The Suffrage Interviews - see our Suffrage Stories clips on YouTube.
• Was your (great) grandmother a suffragette? A blog post with tips for researching suffrage history.
• Digitised suffrage images. High resolution images are ready for download from Flickr.
• An iconic Artists' Suffrage League album, containing over 212 designs for suffrage banners, badges, posters etc. View the Mary Lowndes Album.

How to search 

You can find more material on this topic using a person’s name, by organisation, by event eg 'Black Friday', or by keyword such as anti-suffrage, emancipation, franchise, suffrage, suffragette, suffragist, in these catalogues.

• Archives catalogue
• Library Search

View lists of further resources covering:

• Suffrage organisational papers
• Personal papers of suffragists and suffragettes
• Suffrage letters

How to access

Most of the material highlighted here is stored in closed access and must be consulted in The Women’s Library Reading Room. Find out how to book your place and order material on our access archives and special collections  page.

Further information 

If you need specific help with any of the collections mentioned here get in touch with our Curator for Equality, Rights and Citizenship, Gillian Murphy.