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Modern World History

This guide is designed to assist students in finding resources for their Modern World History classes. Timeline 1400-Present

Women's History Guide

Scholarly Sources within the JSCC Library

Emmeline Pankhurst 1858-1928

Emmeline Pankhurst

Emmeline Pankhurst, a middle-class mother of five from Manchester, England, changed history when, in 1903, she formed the Women's Social and Political Union. Under her fiery and unorthodox leadership, this militant group-given to church burning, window smashing, and royal slurs-won the parliamentary vote for women. Today, Pankhurst is immortalized for the defiance and strength that led the suffrage movement to victory and made her a twentieth-century heroine. Who was she, before and after suffrage, and how did her actions influence the Second Wave of feminists in the 70s? Historian June Purvis, with vivid language and a storyteller's skill, brings this celebrated leader to life in the context of her times. In the first full-length biography in seventy years, Purvis utilizes a host of original sources to paint the fullest picture yet of Pankhurst: from young womanhood and political awakening to her war work and activism until her death in 1928. Here too is the passion, fear, kindness and invincibility that have made this twentieth-century woman one of the most influential people of our time.

Emmeline Pankhurst

In this well-structured, fluent and lively account, Paula Bartley uses new archival material to assess whether Pankhurst should be seen as a heroine or a tyrant, a conservative or a progressive. Emmeline Pankhurst was the most prominent campaigner for the women's right to vote and was transformed into a popular heroine of the early twentieth century. Early in life she was attracted to socialism, she grew into an entrenched and militant suffragette and ended up as a Conservative Party candidate. This new biography examines the guiding principles that underpinned all of Emmeline Pankhurst's actions, and places her achievements within a wider social and political context.

Suffrage Discourse in Britain During the First World War

In the first in-depth study of the relationship between the suffrage campaign in Britain and World War I, Angela K. Smith explores the links between these two defining moments of the early twentieth century. Did the opportunities afforded by the war enable women finally and irrefutably to demonstrate their right to full citizenship? Or did World War I actually postpone women's enfranchisement?

Suffrage Days

This is a history of the suffrage movement in Britain from the beginnings of the first sustained campaign in the 1860s to the winning of the vote for women in 1918.

Votes for Women

Votes for Women provides an innovative re-examination of the suffrage movement, presenting new perspectives which challenge the existing literature on this subject. This fascinating book charts the history of the movement in Britain from the nineteenth century to the postwar period, assessing important figures such as; Emmeline Pankhurst and the militant wing, Millicent Garrett Fawcett, leader of the constitutional wing, Jennie Baines and her link with the international suffrage movements.

Votes for Women

In 1918, after years of campaigning, many British women over the age of 30 gained a parliamentary vote. Cheltenham was the hub of activity in the Cotswolds, and before the First World War it had a number of vigorous societies and individuals. From being imprisoned for trying to approach the prime minister to refusing to be counted in the 1911 census, local women – and many men – from across the region fought a valiant and dignified campaign to make their voices heard.

Vanishing for the Vote

Vanishing for the vote recounts what happened on one night, Sunday 2 April, 1911, when the Liberal government demanded every household comply with its census requirements. Suffragette organizations urged women, all still vote less, to boycott this census.