I’m sure most of you know about the suffragettes: Emmeline Pankhurst, and her daughter Cristabel; their organisation, the Women’s Social and Political Union; chaining themselves to railings; smashing windows; the forced feeding. You probably were taught it in school. The problem is, it’s wrong.

Ok, so those things all did happen, but it is a very narrow view of what the movement was, who the women were, and why they were even doing it. Today, we are setting the record straight.

In this episode we talk to the historian David Rosenberg, to challenge our ideas about the campaign for female franchise, and why women in East London were so important to the movement.

David runs East End walking tours, both virtually and in person. New dates will be posted to his website from the end of January. See http://www.eastendwalks.com/ for further details.

David has also written a number of books about East End history. His book, Rebel Footprints has a chapter on the East London Suffragettes. You can order a copy here: https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745338552/rebel-footprints-second-edition/

If you really want to dive into this fascinating history, then why not sign up to David’s forthcoming online course with the Bishopsgate Institute https://www.bishopsgate.org.uk/whats-on/activity/activists-who-changed-the-east-end

This is the last episode of this series. Make sure you are subscribed to the podcast to make sure you get notified when our new series launches. Don’t miss out!

For further stories about East London women visit our website eastlondonwomen.org.uk Or find us on Twitter, Facebook, You Tube, Instagram or Pinterest.

Rebel Women is part of the Women Activists of East London project, which has been developed by Share UK, a non profit community group based in London.

Special thanks to the William Morris Big Local for funding today’s episode.

Main theme by Dano Songs. Incidental music by Purple Planet Music.

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