New research! How Chicago shaped the East London suffragettes

Happy Birthday Sylvia Pankhurst! In honour of the occasion, I am delighted to be able to share a new piece of research published in Chicago History, the publication of the wonderful Chicago History Museum. You can access it here. In it, I show how Pankhurst's support for the striking garment workers in Chicago led to her forging important friendships with labour activists including the novelist Miles Franklin and Zelie Emerson - who later helped establish the East London Federation of Suffragettes. I share some facsinating stories about Emerson, who played a crucial role in the garment strike, that shed some light on this often overlooked, but immensely interesting, individual - including her intervention in a husband and wife's quarrel over a "votes for women" banner on their house! The piece has been lavishly illustrated, which really brings these stories to life. Huge thanks to Chicago History and the Museum for kindly granting me permission to share this on my blog. I hope that this is enjoyable to read as it was to research and write. Any comments welcome. Watch this space for more research on Emerson!

Image of Zelie Emerson reconcilling William Murray to the banner on his house, from Chicago Tribune, 4 April 1912.

Video: Talk on Sylvia Pankhurst in America for Socialist History Society

Warm and comradely thanks to the Socialist History Society for inviting me to talk about Sylvia Pankhurst in America and for making the film of the talk available online. You can watch it here: