Emmeline, Christabel, and Sylvia

Pankhurst
By: Mysia Perry, Hallie Whiting, and Stephanie Hagan
Emmeline Pankhurst
● 1858-1928
● Mother of Sylvia and Christabel
● Born into a radical family, she
always had a hunger for being
involved in politics
● Known for her militancy
● Founder of Women’s Franchise
League, WSPU, and a part of four
others
Christabel Pankhurst
● 1880-1958
● Co-founded WSPU with mother, Emmeline, and
became the organising secretary of WSPU
● Dubbed “Queen of the Mob” by media after
multiple arrests
● Fully supported her mother’s ideals regarding
militancy in achieving goals
● Wanted criminal because of her efforts, hid away
in France for ~two years in order to escape arrest
● The “German Peril” speech given in London
Sylvia Pankhurst
● 1882-1960
● Wrote The Suffragette, The Suffragette
Movement, and The Homefront
● Passion for art
● Really involved in social justice movements
○ “Joined a cause, fought hard, then
switched to another even before the
first battle had been won”
○ “She would rather accept nothing and
fight for another all than compromise”
(Pankhurst, R., 1979)
The Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU)
● First to be referred to as
“suffragettes”
● The Suffragette journal
● “Will the Liberal Government
give women the vote?”
● Known for its militant activities
resulting in prison time for
many of the members
Effects of WSPU
● Militant protests attracted massive
media attention
● Attracted many young middle class
women, but lower class women rejected
the violent protests
● Radicalized American Feminist
Movements
Future Research
● Importance of Militancy
● Role, if any, of National Union of Women’s
Suffrage Societies, in obtaining the right to vote
for women
● Role of Richard Pankhurst in the rise of the
Pankhurst family
● Other organizations involved in the Suffragette
movements of the early 1900s
Bibliography
Barley, P. Emmeline Pankhurst. (New York: Routledge, 2002).

Pankhurst, R., & Pankhurst, E. S. Sylvia Pankhurst, artist and crusader (New York: New York: Paddington Press, 1979).

Pankhurst, E. S. The Life of Emmeline Pankhurst: The Suffragette Struggle for Women’s Citizenship (New York: New York:
Kraus Reprint Co., 1969).

Pankhurst, E.S. The Suffragette Movement: An Intimate Account of Persons and Ideals (London: Longmans, Green and Co.,
1932).

Romero, Patricia W. E. Sylvia Pankhurst: Portrait of a Radical (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 1987).
http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt211qwv9.

Susan Homewood. N.d. “Sylvia Pankhurst.” Accessed March 21, 2018.

http://www.sylviapankhurst.com/about_us/about_us.php

Trueman, C. N. "Christabel Pankhurst" The History Learning Site, 17 Mar 2015. 21 Mar 2018.