Emmeline Pankhurst – UK Suffragist, Secured the Right for Married Women to Vote for Local Offices

Emmeline Pankhurst – UK Suffragist, Secured the Right for Married Women to Vote for Local Offices

Name: Emmeline Pankhurst
Birth Date: July 04, 1858 – June 14, 1928
Job Functions: Feminist
Fields: Suffrage Movement
Known For: In 1889, founded the Women's Franchise League, which secured the right for married women to vote for local offices.

The mini biography of Emmeline Pankhurst is important because we need reminders of what others did so that we have the rights and freedoms that we often take for granted today. Emmeline Pankhurst's militancy brought national attention to women's suffrage. Many have died so that we might live.

Emmeline Pankhurst’s Steps to Success

1. 1. Emmeline Pankhurst's parents were strong supporters of the antislavery movement in the US.
   2. As a child, she helped her mother to collect money to aid African Americans.
   3. Grew up in a town where the women's rights movement was very strong.
   4. When she was 14, Pankhurst attended a suffrage meeting with her mother and from that time on she became involved in the women's movement.
   5. At age 21, she married Richard Marsden Pankhurst, an attorney, who was a social reformer, and active in the women's suffrage movement.
   6. Despite having four children, Pankhurst found the time to be actively involved in the suffrage movement.
   7. Pankhurst who was initially a member of the Manchester Women's Suffrage Committee, aligned herself with Clara Bright – wife of Jacob Bright – to form their own committee to work on the cause.
   8. Pankhurst supported Married Women's Property Bill of 1882, drafted by husband, which gave wives the right to control their own earnings.
   9. Following her husband's death in 1898, Pankhurst held a minor governmental position as a registrar of births and deaths.
   10. Ardent supporter of important causes such as: Calling attention to the inadequate treatment of the elderly in British poorhouses; the plight of undernourished school children; and the low wages of female teachers. Her work for women's suffrage was still a priority.
   11. Pankhurst and her daughter Christabel founded the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). Two years later, the organization was in the news when Christabel and her friend Annie Kenney questioned House of Commons member, Sir Edward Grey about women's suffrage. When he refused to answer, they asked the question a second time, and they were forced to leave the meeting. The two young women were arrested and it was reported in the media.
   12. In 1906, Pankhurst organized a rally to coincide with the opening of Parliament and was promptly arrested.
   13. Over the years the WSPU organized many rallies and the leaders were arrested.
   14. Dissatisfied with their progress, the WSPU stepped up protest by becoming more aggressive. In 1909, they went on window-breaking sprees and outright attacks on the gathering places of male politicians, who were unsympathetic to women's causes.
   15. In March 1912, Pankhurst broke a window in the prime minister's official residence, while her followers smashed shop windows throughout London – 200 women were arrested. The following day, Pankhurst was arrested and sentenced to nine months in prison. She began a hunger strike and other detainees followed. When they tried to force feed them, although she was very weak, she threatened to attack the prison doctor. She was released the next day.

1. Pankhurst continued with her protests, and once again she was arrested. This time her hunger strike nearly cost her, her life. She was released under a newly enacted legislation, officially known as the Temporary Discharge for Ill-Health Act and unofficially known as the “Cat and Mouse Act”.
2. Over the years, Pankhurst was in and out of prison for protesting, until World War I, where she and some of her supporters scaled down their protests to assist with war efforts. Other suffragists believed this was a betrayal of the women's movement.
3. In 1916, parliament enacted the Representation of the People Act which permitted women over 30 to vote.
4. In 1928, women were granted full and equal suffrage when the second Representation of the People Act (1928) lowered the voting age for women to 21.
5. Pankhurst died months later – she had completed her life's work.

Biggest Accomplishments/Why Emmeline Pankhurst’s Contribution Matters

1. In 1903, founded the Women's Social and Political Union.
2. In 1906, Pankhurst organized a march on Parliament.
3. In 1909, she called for the use of militant measures to secure suffrage.
4. In 1912, WSPU offices were raided, Pankhurst was arrested, and goes on hunger strike in prison.
5. In 1928, women were granted full and equal suffrage to men at age 21. 

Lessons from Emmeline Pankhurst

1. Having no time isn't a reason for inaction: You can find the time for the things that are important to you.
2. Do not favor one child over another. Pankhurst favored Christabel which created a lot of strife in her family. 

Works by Emmeline Pankhurst

• The Trial of the Suffragette Leaders, 1900.
• The Importance of the Vote, 1908.
• Verbatim Report of Mrs. Pankhurst's Speech, delivered Nov. 13, 1913, at Parsons' Theatre, Hartford, CT, Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association (Hartford, CT), 1913.
• My Own Story, 1914. 

Sources Cited/Referenced

Merriam Webster's Biographical Dictionary
Historic World Leaders
Crime and Punishment: Essential Primary Sources
Europe 1789-1914: Encyclopedia of the Age of Industry and Empire
Contemporary Heroes and Heroines
Contemporary Authors Online

Books By/About Emmeline Pankhurst

Emmeline Pankhurst (Little People, Big Dreams)
Emmeline Pankhurst: A Biography (Women's and Gender History)
Suffragette, the Autobiography of Emmeline Pankhurst (Illustrated)
History VIPs: Emmeline Pankhurst