The Pankhursts

Presented by Jessica Nadel, Julia Raimondi, Alice Vo

Emmeline (1858-1928)
Her husband, Richard Pankhurst, was a feminist and socialist and she vowed
to continue her husbands work after he died.
Established the Womens Social & Political Union (WSPU) in 1903.
May 12, 1905 was her first demonstration.
Led a violent suffragette movement where women smashed shop windows
in the Strand, slashed paintings in the National Gallery, and swung from ropes
in meeting halls (Rollyson).
She called these violent acts practical politics because it was the only way
women could express their displeasure without a vote.
Emmeline (Cont.)
She didnt want men involved in the WSPU and encouraged
members to join the war effort.
Joined forces with her political enemy, Lloyd George, to
demonstrate for womens employment in munitions factories.
In the end she turned her back on socialism and embraced
conservative capitalism, as she believed socialism threatened a
just society.
Encouraged to run for Parliament but died before she could.
Christabel
 Christabel
One of the driving forces of the Suffragette movement.
In 1903, Christabel along with her mother co-founded the Womens Social and
Political Union (WSPU) ("The Pankhurst Family").
Christabel, mother, and her sister viewed National Union of Womens Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) as
too passive since the org. Did not believe in direct action.
In 1905 she was put in prison for interrupting a meeting of the Liberal Party ("The
Pankhurst Family").
This event highlighted the Suffragette cause. As a result, many more women decided to join
WSPUs approach grew more militant when Parliament refused to accept the
notion about women suffrage.
Christabel was jailed in 1907 and 1909 and was
dubbed the Queen of the Mob by the media.
Influential in the WSPUs anti male phrase and wrote
The Great Scourge and How to End It.
 Christabel
In 1908, after being released, she gave a speech justifying why women should have the rights to vote.

The reasons why women should have the vote are obvious to every fair-minded person.
The British constitution provides that taxation and representation shall go together.
Therefore, women tax payers are entitled to vote. Parliament views questions of vital
interest to women such as education, housing and the employment questions and upon
such matters, women wish to express their opinions at the ballot box. (Source 16:
Christabel Pankhurst).

She also justifies the WSPUs militant actions by mentioning that men have obtained the
right to vote through similar measures.
Christabel
1912 - 1913: lived in France. She was arrested on her return. She had been
sentenced to three years in jail but only served 30 days.
She supported WWI and the WSPU newspaper was renamed Britannia in 1915.
She made frequent attacks in Britannia against politicians she saw as being
soft on war (WWI).
In the 1918 election Christabel stood as a Womens Party candidate in
Smethwick. She narrowly lost to the Labour Party candidate.
In 1921, Christabel left the UK and moved to America ("The Pankhurst Family").
She became an evangelist and joined the Second Adventist movement.
Christabel returned to England in the early 1930s and in 1936 she was
appointed a Dame Commander of the British Empire.
This newspaper front page from 1907
shows the Pankhursts outside the law
courts (The British Library).
Sylvia (1882-1960)
Started out on board with her familys WSPU
movement
Her background in art allowed her to
contribute to the WSPU by making logos,
posters and banners
Organized the East London Federation of the
Suffragettes (ELFS) a branch of WSPU to
represent working class women in the
movement
Expelled from the WSPU when she would not
allows the ELFS to attack the labour party for
being unsympathetic towards the suffrage
movement
Sylvia (cont.)
After being expelled from the WSPU her whole area of passion began to
change
Started the ELFS newspaper called The Womans Dreadnought which later
became The Workers Dreadnought
Disagreement with her mother and sister was all routed in her newfound
passion for socialism as influenced by Keir Hardie
She greatly opposed the war and her mother and sister were in major support
Believed in exploited the bottom of society meanwhile her family believed that women would
gain power from wartime jobs
Later transitioned into a fascist protestor
Quote from The Suffragette
In writing this history of the Militant Womens Suffrage
Movement, I have endeavoured to give a just and accurate
account of its progress and happenings, dealing fully with as
many of its incidents as space will permit. I have tried to let
my readers look behind the scenes in order that they may
understand both the steps by which the movement has grown
and the motives and ideas that have animated its promoters
Suffragette (2015)
In 2015, Sylvia Pankhursts book Suffragette was adapted into a major motion
film starring Meryl Streep as Emmeline Pankhurst.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=056FI2Pq9RY
 Works Cited
Global Reach Internet Productions, LLC - Ames, IA - globalreach.com. "Emmeline Pankhurst." Women's Political Communication Archives. 2017.
Accessed March 09, 2017. http://www.womenspeecharchive.org/women/profile/speech/index.cfm?ProfileID=356&SpeechID=2253.

History Learning - HistoryLearning.com. "Christabel Pankhurst". History Learning. Accessed March 12,. 2017. http://historylearning.com/
The-role-of-women- 1900-1945/christabel-pankhurst/

Rollyson, Carl . "A Conservative Revolutionary." The Virginia Quarterly Review, 2003.

Sylvia Pankhurst.com - an Interactive Learning Resource. "The Pankhurst Family." Sylvia Pankhurst Trust. Accessed March 12,. 2017. http://www.
sylviapankhurst.com/about_sylvia_pankhurst/the_pankhurst_family.php.

Pankhurst, Christabel. Source 16: Christabel Pankhurst. The British Library Board. Accessed March 12,. 2017. http://www.bl.uk/learning/
histcitizen/21cc/struggle/suffrage/sources/source16/christabel.html

Purvis, Jane. Sylvia Pankhurst (1882-1960), suffragette, political activist, artist and writer. Gender and Education 20, no.1 (2008): 81-87

Trueman, Chris. Christabel Pankhurst, Last modified August 16, 2016. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/the-role-of-british-
women-in-the-twentieth-century/christabel-pankhurst/

Winslow, Barbara. Sylvia Pankhurst. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History. Oxford University Press, 2008.