Artists' Suffrage League

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 106 2ASL
Held at	: Women's Library   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://www.lse.ac.uk/Library/Collections/Collection-highlights/The-Womens-Library ›
Full title	: Artists' Suffrage League
Date(s)	: 1905-1912
Level of description	: fonds
Extent	: 2 oversize boxes
Name of creator(s)	: Artists' Suffrage League
Detailed catalogue	: Click here to view repository detailed catalogue

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

The period between 1903 and 1914 was one of resurgence in the women's suffrage movement. At this time, the methods by all those involved began to change: although the suffragists' efforts were mainly aimed at forming parliamentary opinion, they also began to engage in public demonstrations and other propaganda activities. The ASL was established in January 1907 in order to assist with the preparations for the 'Mud March' organised by the NUWSS in February of that year. However, it continued with the creation of suffrage propaganda for the NUWSS after this date. Other than the central committee of chairperson, vice-chair and treasurer, the organisation had no traditional formal structure or statement of aims. The body was responsible for the creation of a large number of posters, Christmas cards, postcards and banners designed by artists who included the chairperson Mary Lowndes, Emily Ford, Barbara Forbes, May H Barker, Clara Billing, Dora Meeson Coates, Violet Garrard, Bertha Newcombe, C Hedly Charlton and Emily J Harding. The ASL was responsible for the decoration of the Queens Hall for the celebrations in 1918 that had been organised by the NUWSS.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Papers of the Artists' Suffrage League, 1905-1912, including correspondence, drawings, cartoons, prints, poster, postcard, programmes and their covers, notices press clippings, album of designs by Mary Lowndes.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

Conditions governing access:

The collection is open for consultation. Intending readers are advised to contact The Women's Library in advance of their first visit.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Finding aids:

Handlist

Archival Information

Archival history:

These papers may have belonged to the Secretary of the League - Barbara Forbes.

Immediate source of acquisition:

Unknown: the archive was listed in Oct 1989, so the records must have been deposited prior to that date.

Allied Materials

Related material:

Posters created by members of the League are held in the Museum of London's collections, as well as in the Communist Party archives. The John Johnson Collection at the Bodleian Library also holds ASL postcards. The Women's Library holds related visual materials in the form of a collection of banners and posters. Correspondence with the London Society for Women's Suffrage 1911-12 is also held in the Women's Library, reference number GB 16 2/LSW.

Publication note:

Lisa Tickner The spectacle of women: imagery of the Suffrage Campaign 1907-14 (London, Chatto & Windus, 1987)

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
This document was generated by Javascript from an HTML form which structured the input according to the elements of ISAD(G) Version 2. Collection description by the Archives Hub, Oct 2001, amended by Genesis Project Manager, Apr 2002. Fawcett Library Catalogue Oct 1989. 2ASL/11 The Mary Lowndes Album was catalogued at item level by Sam Velumyl, The National Archives / The Women's Library Secondment May 2006. Edited for AIM25 by Sarah Drewery.

Rules or conventions:
In compliance with ISAD (G): General International Standard Archival Description - 2nd Edition (1999); UNESCO Thesaurus, December 2001; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
Dec 2008