Emmeline Pankhurst, 1913

In 1903 Emmeline Pankhurst founded the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), an organization dedicated to obtaining the vote for women in Britain. The WSPU became militant over the years, smashing windows and burning unoccupied buildings to bring attention to its cause. Pankhurst was jailed for the first time in 1908, at which time she continued her protest through a hunger strike. She undertook hunger strikes during subsequent arrests and was released and then re-arrested depending on her health.

UPI/THE BETTMANN ARCHIVE

Appears in these articles

Cat and Mouse Act; Feminism

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