Clemence and Laurence Housman found the Suffrage Atelier

"What a woman may be, and yet not have the vote". This banner was produced at the Suffrage Atelier in 1912. Wikimedia Commons.

Following the formation of the Artists' Suffrage League, founded by renowned stained glass artist, Mary Lowndes, in 1907, which produced illustrated banners, postcards, and pamphlets used to promote the campaign for women's enfranchisement in Britain and North America, Clemence and Laurence Housman established their own Suffrage Atelier in 1909. Its practices took place at  artists' homes, before the Housman siblings offered the site of their small home, Pembroke Cottage in Kensington, as its headquarters. Though the location of its headquarters would change three more times within its five operational years, the collective vision of the Atelier remained the same: it was to act as an arts and crafts society which worked towards the enfranchisement of women, with an additional effort to encourage artists to forward the women's movement by means of pictorial publications. (VADS, "The Women's Library: Suffrage Banners")

In contrast with its predecessor, the Artists' Suffrage League, the Housmans' Suffrage Atelier encouraged non-professional visual artists and enthusiasts to submit their work to the cause in addition to professional artists, and also offered a small percentage of the sold works' profits as compensation. The Atelier also contrasted with its associates, the Women's Freedom League (1907-61) and the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) (1903-17), stylistically, by means of the colours its members chose to use in the creation of its feminist propaganda. While the other organizations used white, green, and purple, which are commonly known as the defining colours of the suffrage movement, the Atelier used a broader range of hues, as depicted in one of its banners (at left), wherein blue, black, and gold are used. Clemence led the team, and also lent her talents as an embroiderer, illustrator, and wood engraver to the Atelier, often spending entire days sitting on a floor cushion, doing her needlework or engraving in order to benefit the cause. Laurence designed a number of the Atelier's banners.

As Clemence Housman was a respected member of the WSPU, much of the Atelier's work could be found for purchase within its store chains and also within the pages of its national newspaper. The Atelier held printmaking workshops and competitions in addition to the numerous exhibitions, political rallies and processions its members would regularly attend and circulate their artwork at, while also allowing for new and meaningful relationships to be forged between women as they worked collaboratively to aid a feminist cause which married the artistic with the political. The feminist nature of the workshop's artistic operations also subverted the common belief that embroidery and needlework reinforced women's domestic place within the home. The Suffrage Atelier ran from 1909-14. (Morton, "Changing Spaces: Art, Politics, and Identity in the Home Studios of the Suffrage Atelier")

Death of Wilde

30 November 1900 was the day Oscar Wilde died (in the Latin Quarter, Paris). Image: Photograph of Oscar Wilde. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired.

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Second Boer War

On 11 Oct 1899, war was declared between Britain and the Transvaal Republic and Orange Free State, two independent Boer nations in southern Africa. The Treaty of Vereeniging concluded the Second Boer War on 31 May 1902. The fighting had resulted in c. 45,000 British military casualties and around 40,000 combined military and civilian casualties among the Boers. Eight years later in 1910, the Union of South Africa made the region a dominion of the British Empire. Image: Walter Crane, “Stop the War,” page 297, The War Against War in South Africa, 23 February 1900, wood engraving, courtesy of Yale University.

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Jo Briggs, “The Second Boer War, 1899-1902: Anti-Imperialism and European Visual Culture”

Trials of Oscar Wilde

The trials of Oscar Wilde, which occurred in April and May of 1895, have become legendary as a turning-point in the history of public awareness of homosexuality. By their close, Wilde had gone from being a triumphantly successful playwright to a ruined man, condemned to two years of hard labor for gross indecency. They garnered extensive coverage first in the London press and then in newspapers around the world; the story of the trials continues to be retold in ways that have persistent relevance for contemporary queer culture. Image: Photograph of Oscar Wilde, by Napoleon Sarony. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired.

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Andrew Elfenbein, “On the Trials of Oscar Wilde: Myths and Realities”

"Ten Days in a Mad-House" Released

Nellie Bly, an American journalist, releases her book, Ten Days in a Mad-House. The book reflects Bly’s ten day experience going undercover into a female only insane asylum. The asylum was located on Blackwell Island, which was filled only by the asylum, a poorhouse, a smallpox hospital and a prison. She describes the asylum as so horrid that it made her “look insane.” The asylum was freezing cold with poor food and consisted of several women who had no reason to be there. Some were immigrants and were mistakenly committed to the asylum because they couldn’t understand English, and some were just poor and believed they were going to the poorhouse on the island. Not long after her book was published and received overwhelming support, the asylum was given $1 million more dollars to improve the conditions. Bly broke barriers as being one of the first successful female journalists and earning a reputation as a “stunt girl.”

Bly was under an immense amount of pressure, as neither her nor her editor believed she’d be able to convince experts that she was insane and needed to be admitted into an asylum. To make her act believable, she explains that she looked in the mirror and tried to reflect all qualities she has seen in “crazy people.”  Her alias was a Cuban immigrant who suffered from amnesia. She would stay in boarding houses and refuse to sleep or eat and would wander around and yell out random phrases. Eventually, one of the assistant matrons called the police and she was then admitted into Blackwell Asylum.

While in the asylum, Bly explains that she acted somewhat calm and the doctors and officers would say there was no hope for her to recover because she was “positively demented.” She writes that these doctors did not really know for sure if these people belonged in an asylum. In the asylum, Bly met many different people who she didn’t feel belonged in the asylum. One was a German woman who spoke very little English and could not put together a case that the court would understand to prove she was not crazy. This woman was sent away for life “without even being told in her language why and wherefore.”

There were over 1600 women in the asylum, with poor conditions throughout. These conditions made the women sick and would often make them seem crazier than they really were. They were treated inhumane, and when Bly was able to be released from the asylum, she published this book and gained the attention of people in high power. They were able to expand the budget of the asylum which improved the conditions tremendously. Bly’s written experience was a major step in reforming asylums and stopping the racism and sexism that were the cause of thousands of people’s admittance.

Source:

Bly, Nellie. Ten Days in a Mad-House. 2017.

Associated Articles:

Blackwell's Island (Roosevelt Island), New York City (U.S. National Park Service). www.nps.gov/places/blackwell-s-island-new-york-city.htm.

The Paris Commune

The Paris Commune was a 71 day socialist uprising in the heart of Paris, France. The preceeding half century up to this point, the Parisians became more and more discontent with the way the French government operated. Despite their attempts to shift the discourse to the left by overthrowing the Orleanist monarchy and replacing it with the second French Republic, Napoleon III seized power and announced the creation of the second French Empire. Parisians grew in anger and a revolutionary fire began to burn in their hearts. They all agreed that the monarchy must go, but many had shifted all the way into anarchist and/or Marxist extremism. So when the Franco-Prussian War erupted, they had no support from the Monarch to protect them. 

Paris was essentially left defenceless. The wealthy all fled the city before Prussian siege began. Many Parisians began to starve. Paris was left destitute after the war and daily protests plagued the city for weeks. Being abandoned by its governing body meant that Paris was directly controlled by the main French Government. So the Parisians, desiring more local governance, appointed their own city council. The Paris Commune was born.

While they never directly declared independence from France, the laws that the Paris City Council passed were in direct opposition to the president of France, Adolphe Thier’s strict economic regulations. Additionally, many of the laws that the Paris Council passed were reflective of Leftist ideology, and for this reason it is memorialized in history as one of the first attempts at a socialist society. Among their legislation were the following: The separation of church and state, the abolishment of death penalty, and ending conscription. 

There was also several large women’s movement that emerged place during this time, and much of the commune had a foundation in a struggle against capitalism and the patriarchy. Though, much of the struggle would never be fully realized due to the short time the Commune lasted. Nathalie Lemel created the Women’s Union for the Defence of Paris and Care of the Wounded. Elisabeth Dmitrieff created The Union des Femmes which brought women more control over their own labor and demanded equality of wages for women. 

However, despite all these large steps, the Commune never nationalised anything. In fact, one of the biggest Leftist criticisms of the Commune is that the Parisians worked together with the bank of France located in Paris, rather than raid and steal all the gold. 

Eventually, Thier amassed an army that could take back Paris and over the course of The Bloody Week.

Works Cited:

Hoffenberg, Peter H. “1871-1874: The South Kensington International Exhibitions.” BRANCH: Britain, Representation and Nineteenth-Century History. Ed. Dino Franco Felluga. Extension of Romanticism and Victorianism on the Net. Web. 9 Oct 2020

Eichner, Carolyn Jeanne. Surmounting the Barricades Women in the Paris Commune. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2004. Web. 8 Oct 2020

Merriman, John M. Massacre : The Life and Death of the Paris Commune. 2014. Web. 8 Oct 2020

Civil suit against Edward John Eyre nullified

Appeal before the Exchequer Chamber of the civil suit brought by Jamaican citizen Alexander Phillips against ex-Governor of Jamaica, Edward John Eyre, for assault, battery and false imprisonment during martial law from October 13 to November 13, 1865 at Morant Bay, Jamaica, results in the upholding of the Jamaica Assembly’s Indemnity Act for military and administrative actions under martial law, nullifying Phillips’s right to sue Eyre in English courts. Image: Photograph of Governor Edward John Eyre, circa 1870, by Henry Hering. The Caribbean Photo Archive. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired.

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Sarah Winter, “On the Morant Bay Rebellion in Jamaica and the Governor Eyre-George William Gordon Controversy, 1865-70″

Lydia Thompson's contribution to 19th Century Burlesque Theater in America

Burlesque Theater was first introduced in America in the 1840s and quickly gained popularity for its sexually suggestive performances, witty dialogue, and revealing costumes. Burlesque performances originated in London but gained attention in America due to its resemblance to minstrel shows. When Burlesque shows were first established in America, they primarily centered around humorous sketches but later shifted to more elements of strip tease in the early 20th century. Although the shows themselves were not primarily risqué, audiences flocked to theaters in order to observe women portraying their sexuality on stage. To this day, scholars continue to study the impact that these performances had not only on the historical elements of stage performance, but on women’s sexuality as it pertains to the arts. 

To further understand Burlesque theater, Robert G. Allen, author of Horrible Prettiness: Burlesque and American Culture states the following:

“Without question, however, burlesque’s principal legacy as a cultural form was its establishment of patterns of gender representation that forever changed the role of the woman on the American stage and later influenced her role on the screen. The very sight of a female body not covered by the accepted costume of bourgeois respectability forcefully if playfully called attention to the entire question of the “place” of women in American society.”

- Robert G. Allen, Horrible Prettiness: Burlesque and American Culture (Univ. of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1991), pp. 258-259.

An important historical figure in the Burlesque movement was Lydia Thompson (1838-1908). Lydia, otherwise known as the “queen of Burlesque” was the first woman to wear tights on stage in 19th Century England. Thompson, along with her Burlesque troupe “The British Blondes,” made history in autumn of 1868 when they introduced Victorian Burlesque to New York Theatres. Their first production, “Ixion, or, The Man at the Wheel” shocked audiences in America because the women wore revealing tights and were seen depicting male roles. Additionally, the women wrote and produced this production with no assistance from a male counterpart. This event was pivotal in American theater because it was the first instance that a Victorian Burlesque troupe had attempted to independently perform a theatrical production depicting males. The production was immensely popular and attracted the attention of both men and women across America. In fact, Thompson and her troupe made over $370,000 in their first season in America. 

Thompson’s female driven Burlesque shows in the late 1860’s sparked much debate. Most audience members applauded the women for fighting against the standards set for women during these times. In both England and America, women were pressured to dress modestly and primarily wear only long dresses that wouldn’t draw attention to their figures. These women were going against these societal standards and pushing for a society that allowed women to openly express their sexuality without fear of repercussion. 

However, the women did face backlash for their actions. While most audiences enjoyed the stance against societal pressure on women, the press thought otherwise. Comments in newspaper publications deemed Thompson as a prostitute and claimed that her blonde hair was a wig. Some reporters went so far as to call the women immoral. Wilbur Storey, owner of The Chicago Times, had a significant amount of negative feedback for the women and labeled the women as “low and degrading.” In response, Thompson and her troupe went to Storey’s home and beat him with a horsewhip. The women were charged with assault, however the incident made audiences fall even more in love with the women and their performances. Shows were selling out even quicker and the women were benefiting from the increase in sales. 

In later years when questioned about the Storey incident, Thompson responded, “The persistent and personally vindictive assault in the Times upon my reputation left me only one mode of redress...They were women whom he attacked. It was by women he was castigated… We did what the law would not do for us.” 

Although Burlesque theater still has several negative connotations to its name in present day America, Thompson and her troupe made strides in both theatrical productions and the feminist movement. Their passion to stand up for their sex left audiences with a deeper understanding of the societal pressure that women were facing during this time. 

(The dates referenced in this entry include the start of Thompson’s troupe to Thompson's final performances)

Works Cited:

Allen, R. (n.d.). Horrible Prettiness: Burlesque and American Culture (Cultural Studies of the United States).

Greer, K., Kane, L., Leonard-Rose, M., Morrison, M., Staveski, C., Sigrid Freeburg,  R.,  Bench, H. (2015, October 21). Spectacles of Agency and Desire: The British Blondes and The Media. Retrieved from https://scalar.usc.edu/works/spectacles-of-agency-and-desire/the-british-blondes-and-the-media.8 Accessed 6 October 2020.

Shields, D. (n.d.). Lydia Thompson. Retrieved from https://broadway.cas.sc.edu/content/lydia-thompson. Accessed 6 October 2020.

Second Reform Act

On 15 August 1867, the Representation of the People Act, 1867 (also known as the Second Reform Act), received the royal assent. This act increased the electorate of England and Wales to approximately one man in three, theoretically including substantial numbers of working-class men. Image: The Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

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Edward John Eyre indictment hearing

The Jamaica Committee’s first attempted indictment, at Market Drayton in Shropshire, of Edward John Eyre, ex-Governor of Jamaica, for the murder of George William Gordon; hearing ends in Eyre’s discharge by the grand jury. Image: Photograph of Governor Edward John Eyre, circa 1870, by Henry Hering. The Caribbean Photo Archive. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired.

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Hyde Park demonstration

Hyde Park Demonstration of the Major Reform League on 23 July 1866. After the British government banned a meeting organized to press for voting rights, 200,000 people entered the Park and clashed with police and soldiers.

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Morant Bay Rebellion

A rebellion by Black peasants against unjust treatment by Jamaican courts breaks out at Morant Bay, Jamaica on 11 October 1865. Image: Photograph of Governor Edward John Eyre, circa 1870, by Henry Hering. The Caribbean Photo Archive. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired.

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Sale of the final piece of Chartist property

June 1858 saw the sale of the final piece of Chartist property, definitively bringing to an end the efforts of the Chartist Cooperative Land Company. The Chartist Land Company was a large-scale, explicitly political version of freehold societies. Conceived by the Chartist leader Feargus O’Connor in 1842, the Company, like freehold societies, purchased large tracts of land through subscriptions and then sold smaller parcels to subscribers. It attempted to re-create village life by building cottages, hospitals, and schools, and setting aside one hundred acres for common use.

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Indian Uprising

The Indian Rebellion or Uprising, also known as the Sepoy Mutiny, began as a mutiny of sepoys of the British East India Company's army on 10 May 1857, in the town of Meerut, and soon escalated into other mutinies and civilian rebellions. It was not contained until the fall of Gwalior on 20 June 1858. Image: Felice Beato, Print of the hanging of two rebels, 1858 (albumen silver print). This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired.

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First National Women's Rights Convention

In 1850,  the first National Women's Rights Convention was held in Worcester Massachusetts and Paulina Wright Davis was the primary organizer for the movement.  This historic convention oversaw the discussion on women's rights with "representatives from nine states" attending this convention to see to the 'question of Women's Rights, Duties and Relations', (Quarles). The convention lasted two days, running from October 23-24. Women and men from different backgrounds came together from all different places, including the Midwest and the Northeast to call on giving women equal rights as men, such as, the right to vote as well as to own their own property. Word was even spread to Britain where a woman by the name of Harriet Taylor heard about it and wrote about all that had happened within the convention over the course of the two days. 

This convention came two years after the Seneca Falls Convention in New York where the discussion on women's rights was first brought up and launched the beginnings of the talk for equal rights amongst women and men. It was organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton who would end up continuing to be a part of the women's suffrage movement during the First National Women's Rights Convention. It ended up having a profound impact on emphasizing the issues women are facing and putting priority on giving women equal rights. The Declaration of Sentiments was a document signed by many that was outlined similar to the Declaration of Independence. The Seneca Falls convention altogether paved the way for future conventions, such as the National Women's Rights Convention in Worcester. 

The National Women's Rights Convention meeting began with Davis giving a profound address on the objective of the conventions and amount of injustice there is in the world while speaking on the fact that inequality is a problem in the United States and women should be seen and heard. She demanded and listed the necessary steps that should be taken for women's equal rights, such as with the foucs on education and allowing women to be educated as well as go to univerisites. Many other advocates came in support of this issue and calling to action the need for equaility; these people include, Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Harriot Hunt, as well as  others.

Abby H. Price made an address on human rights and how men and women were created equally. She wanted to focus on equal opportunity in being employed as well as the workplace, political rights for women and men, women should have independence apart from men. Women should not be treated lower than men, they should be respected and act as their own person rather than viewed as property by men. This was a convention that would continue the fight for equal rights for women and would give people the chance to address this issue more promiently. 

Quarles, Benjamin. “Frederick Douglass and Women's Rights.” Jstor, The University of Chicago Press, https://www.jstor.org/stable/2714400?origin=crossref&seq=3#metadata_info_tab_contents.

“ National American Woman Suffrage Association Collection Copy.” The Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/resource/rbnawsa.n8286/?sp=19.

Harriet Tubman Introduced to Underground Railroad

The general of the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman, was first introduced to the secrecy of this organization in 1849. Through her journey of rescuing and transporting slaves, her ability to master the art of escaping led her to save over seventy fugitives without losing a single member. She began this act by first saving herself, then returning to bring freedom upon her family. In total, she made 13 trips from the south to many northern states, as well as, Canda. These trips journeyed on foot would take around five days and three weeks to complete. Not only was she a master of escape, but she also understood the beauty of a helping hand. This was witnessed through her providing assistance to many soldiers: nursing, cooking, and laundering. Her personality was not one of fear and retreat. For example, she led an attack on her enemies of the south commonly known as the Combahee River Raid. To further help fugitives, she guided around 700 of them on the battlefield. In her later life, she showed a passion for women's suffrage by vocally representing her views and opinions. In 1908 the opening of the Harriet Tubman Home for Aged and Infirm Negroes, her reputation was further boosted. 

Works Cited:

Conrad, Earl. “I Bring You General Tubman.” The Black Scholar, vol. 1, no. 3-4, 1970, pp. 2–7., doi:10.1080/00064246.1970.11430666.

“Harriet Tubman.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 8 Oct. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Tubman.

Lasch-Quinn, Elisabeth. “Harriet Tubman: An American Idol.” The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, no. 43, 2004, pp. 124–129. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4133571. Accessed 12 Oct. 2020.

Chartist Rally, Kennington

On 10 April 1848, Chartists rally on Kennington Common, south London. Image: Poster advertising the "Monster" Chartist Demonstration, held on 10 April 1848, proceeding to Kennington Common, Rodney Mace, British Trade Union Posters: An Illustrated History. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired.

Led by Feargus O’Connor, an estimated 25,000 Chartists meet on Kennington Common planning to march to Westminster to deliver a monster petition in favor of the six points of the People’s Charter. Police block bridges over the Thames containing the marchers south of the river, and the demonstration is broken up with some arrests and violence. However, the large scale revolt widely predicted and feared fails to materialize.

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Formation of the Chartist Land Company

In April 1846, the Chartist National Delegates Meeting approved the formation of the Chartist Cooperative Land Company. The Chartist Land Company was a large-scale, explicitly political version of freehold societies. Conceived by the Chartist leader Feargus O’Connor in 1842, the Company, like freehold societies, purchased large tracts of land through subscriptions and then sold smaller parcels to subscribers. It attempted to re-create village life by building cottages, hospitals, and schools, and setting aside one hundred acres for common use. Image: Plaque commemorating Feargus O'Connor at Heronsgate, Hertfordshire. This image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

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Manchester strike

Manchester strikes began on 8 August 1842. Following the rejection of the second petition, the Chartists sought to join forces with striking workers in the industrial region around Manchester, who were protesting a reduction in wages, but once again government forces moved quickly to suppress the ensuing riots. Image: Engraving depicting a Chartist riot from 1886 book True Stories of the Reign of Queen Victoria by Cornelius Brown. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired.

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Newport uprising on 3-4 November 1839. This was an armed uprising in support of the Chartist Petition. A few months after the rejection of the first Chartist petition, 9,000 laborers—some of them ignorant of the intentions of their leaders—marched into Newport with the plan of taking control of the town, but were quickly routed by local forces. Image: The attack of the Chartists on the Westgate Hotel, Newport, Mon. Nov 4th 1839. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired.

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First Chartist Petition

On 14 June 1839, the First Chartist Petition was presented to the House of Commons. The Petition was summarily rejected without a hearing on 12 July 1839. The Petition sought universal male suffrage, a secret ballot, and parliamentary reform. Image: Engraving depicting a Chartist riot from 1886 book True Stories of the Reign of Queen Victoria by Cornelius Brown. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired.

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Slavery Abolition Act

The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 received the Royal Assent (which means it became law) on 29 August 1833. The Act outlawed slavery throughout the British Empire; Britain’s colonial slaves were officially emancipated on 1 August 1834 when the law came into force, although most entered a form of obligatory apprenticeship that ended in 1840. Image: The Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Image: the Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

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On 30 October 30 1831, a crowd of 10,000 took possession of Queen Square in Bristol, as rioting in nine cities and towns marked the failure of the second version of the First Reform Bill in the House of Lords.

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Indian Removal Act

In the spring of 1830, United States President Andrew Jackson signed into order the Indian Removal Act. This act forced Native American tribes out of the land they were already living in because that land was considered to be a part of the American state. Jackson wanted this new "American"  land to be settled and tamed by those who were considered American citizens (primarily white men). In signing this act, Jackson promised the Native Americans that they could live in the mostly unsettled lands west of the Mississippi, however, he made it clear that they were not welcome to stay within American borders. As an incentive, Jackson promised the native tribes that if they left their homelands willingly, the government would help them move to their new homes and give them material goods to make their lives easier. He also promised them that they would be under the protection of the United States government forever. Because of these promises, a handful of tribes left willingly. Most tribes did not immediately follow Jackson's instruction, however, as they had signed treaties with the United States government before, and it never ended well for the tribes. This caused many tribes to be removed with force. As a direct result of this act, the "Trail of Tears" occurred, where many native people lost their lives journeying from their homelands to the untamed west. 

Drexler, Ken. “Indian Removal Act: Primary Documents in American History” Library of Congress, 22 Jan. 2019, guides.loc.gov/indian-removal-act#:~:text=The%20Indian%20Removal%20Act%20was,many%20resisted%20the%20relocation%20policy. Accessed 6 Oct. 2020.