Artists' Suffrage League

The Artists' Suffrage League (1907-c.1918) was one of several suffrage societies founded in this period. 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 Artists' Suffrage League was established in Jan 1907 in order to assist with the preparations for the Mud March organised by the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies in Feb 1907. However, it continued with the creation of suffrage propaganda for the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) after this date. Other than the central committee of Chair, 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 Chair 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.

References

Based on the Administrative history for the Artists' Suffrage League catalogue, used with permission by the Women's Library, at the Library of the London School of Economics

Archives

The archives of the Artists' Suffrage League are held at The Women's Library at the Library of the London School of Economics, ref 2ASL