Inside History: Protest. Revolt & Reform
For our next issue we take a closer look at the theme of Protest from the events of Peterloo to the fall of the Berlin. Inside we cover a whole range of historical protests and the individuals who led the charge for change. This issues includes:
John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, The Suffragettes, Billie Holiday and the role music has played in protests, The Civil Rights Movement, Protest and Sport, We are the People: The Fall of the Berlin Wall, Bloody Sunday at Trafalgar Square, and much much more.
For our next issue we take a closer look at the theme of Protest from the events of Peterloo to the fall of the Berlin. Inside we cover a whole range of historical protests and the individuals who led the charge for change. This issues includes:
John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, The Suffragettes, Billie Holiday and the role music has played in protests, The Civil Rights Movement, Protest and Sport, We are the People: The Fall of the Berlin Wall, Bloody Sunday at Trafalgar Square, and much much more.
FIGHTING TO VOTEAnnie KenneyTHEOVERLOOKEDSUFFRAGETTEIf you were asked to name a suffragette, the chances are that a memberof the Pankhurst family would be mentioned. Yet, the movement reliedheavily on the passion and leadership of others. Tom Daly from TheMinistry of History, takes a closer look at Annie Kenney who was alsoessential to the cause.Annie Kenney (1879–1953)(Public Domain Library of Congress)Friday, 13th October 1905 was a dreary autumn dayin Manchester, but there was excitement in theair. In the city’s trade hall, the Liberal party, at thistime the only other major political party in Britainalong with the Conservatives, were holding ameeting as they tried to gather momentum for thegeneral election the following year. During themeeting a certain Winston Churchill, a young localMP and one of the most radical members of theLiberal leadership, took to the stage, but wasinterrupted during his speech by a question from asoft-looking, blue-eyed woman in her 20s. ‘If youare elected, will you do your best to make women’ssuffrage a government measure?’ she asked.Churchill was hesitant, and appeareduncharacteristically lost for words. Receiving noreply, the woman and her friend unfurled a bannerthat had the slogan ‘votes for women’, and they wereswiftly thrown out of the meeting and arrested.Of the two women arrested that day in Manchester,one was suffragette royalty. She was ChristabelPankhurst, daughter of the famous campaignerEmeline Pankhurst and sister of Sylvia Pankhurst.Together, the Pankhurst women would go on tobecome the public face of the struggle to winwomen the right to vote. The other woman, whoasked the question of Winston Churchill, is less wellremembered but sacrificed just as much for thesame cause. She had met Pankhurst only a few30 INSIDE HISTORY
months previously and been utterly inspired, and herarrest that day was the first of 13 arrests she would rackup during her time as a campaigner. Her name wasAnnie Kenney, and she was not only a fierce campaignerfor women’s suffrage but also a committed socialist. Hersoft features disguised a steel inside her that led her tostrike fear in the heart of the British establishment.A childhood in povertyAnn ‘Annie’ Kenney was born on 13th September 1879in Springhead, which is now part of Greater Manchester,the fifth of eleven children born to Nelson HoratioKenney and Anne Wood. The Kenney family were poorand none of the children received much formaleducation, although their mother taught all of them toread and write. Annie would later recall that her motherwas an outgoing woman who encouraged all of herchildren to think openly and express themselves, whileher father was a something of an introvert who ‘hadvery little confidence in himself.’ Like all of her siblings,Annie was forced to work from an early age tosupplement the family income. She started work at alocal cotton mill at the age of ten, losing one of herfingers to an accident soon after. She worked longhours and was expected to help with housework whenshe returned home, an expectation that made herdevelop a sense of solidarity with her mother, sistersand other women around her. This gender solidaritywas complemented by her sense of class solidarity withthe working-class people she grew up with, as sheworked at the mill for a further 15 years and becameinvolved in Labour and Trade Union politics.Introduction to the Women’ssuffrage movementIt was her involvement in Labour politics that led to hermeeting with Christabel Pankhurst in early 1905.Pankhurst gave a speech on women’s voting rights at aLabour party meeting that Annie attended with two ofher sisters, Jenny and Jessie. Annie was inspired by thecharismatic Pankhurst and immediately joined theWomen’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), whichPankhurst had recently formed with her mother andsister, and within months the two new friends foundthemselves interrupting Winston Churchill’s speech andbeing arrested after a policeman claimed Pankhurstspat on him as he tried to eject them from the meeting.They were given the option of paying a fine or going toprison, and they chose prison, knowing the publicitywould rally more women to their cause. Sure enough,when Kenney was released after her short sentence shewas greeted outside the prison by a crowd ofsupporters.After her release, though Kenney had been scarred bythe harshness of life in an Edwardian prison, shedeclared that there was no woman in the WSPU whowould not gladly go to prison ‘to win freedom for hersisters.’ She began working for the organisation full time,moving to London to lead the WSPU branch in the city’seast end and developing a reputation as a passionateand charismatic speaker. She was also known for herpublicity stunts. In 1906, after the Liberal party won alandslide victory in the election, Kenney led a group ofwomen to the home of the Chancellor of the Exchequer(and future Prime Minister) Herbert Asquith. Sheknocked on the door incessantly and refused to leave,securing herself another short prison sentence. Onanother occasion, she unfurled a banner with the slogan‘votes for women’ at the Royal Albert Hall.In 1907, Kenney was sent to Bristol to run the WSPU inthe west of England. It is interesting to note at this pointthat although she was fully committed to theorganisation and felt a sense of gender solidarity withthe Pankhursts and others, Kenney was one of the onlyworking-class women who were given leadership roles inwhat was a very middle-class organisation. Kenney was afeminist but also a socialist, sympathetic to the plight ofworking-class men – many of whom also did not havethe right to vote – and carefully supportive of the trulyradical economic reforms the Liberal governmentstarted to implement in 1906-1914.INSIDE HISTORY 31
- Page 1: ISSUE 7VOLUME 1HISTORYbraveryUK £6
- Page 4 and 5: INSIDETHIS ISSUE06Peterloo: How wom
- Page 6 and 7: PETERLOOA coloured print of the Pet
- Page 8 and 9: PETERLOOAt previous meetings, the a
- Page 10 and 11: REBECCA RIOTSPROTEST &PETTICOATSTHE
- Page 12 and 13: To some, John Brown was a revolutio
- Page 14: For Brown, the continued talk of th
- Page 17 and 18: Bringing Shields Green to life is D
- Page 19 and 20: cynical about their motives. Their
- Page 21 and 22: Bloody Sunday, 1887. This engraving
- Page 23 and 24: 20th CenturyIn 1909, Clara Lemlich
- Page 25 and 26: or risk a hard cold winter without
- Page 27 and 28: “Remember thedignity of yourwoman
- Page 29: (Above) Christabel Pankhurst, Flora
- Page 33 and 34: WSPU’s newspaper, Suffragette, wa
- Page 35 and 36: The drive behind Rosa’s fight was
- Page 38 and 39: FIGHTING TO VOTEPhoto: Rokeby Venus
- Page 40 and 41: "I know you will sentence me, but i
- Page 42 and 43: sticks and umbrellas - were bannedf
- Page 44 and 45: BILLIE HOLIDAY& THE IMPACT OFSTRANG
- Page 46 and 47: BILLIE HOLIDAYIt wouldn’t take lo
- Page 48 and 49: WORDS: Ben PurdieWHEREWORDSFAIL...4
- Page 50 and 51: When the war in Vietnam began, many
- Page 52 and 53: PROTEST &SPORT52 INSIDE HISTORY
- Page 54 and 55: PROTEST & SPORTfrom the 1972 Summer
- Page 56 and 57: Demonstrators marching in the stree
- Page 58 and 59: “Let us notseek tosatisfy ourthir
- Page 60 and 61: WIR SINDDASVOLK!WEARETHEPEOPLE!Mond
- Page 62 and 63: internment camps” including Ranis
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FIGHTING TO VOTE
Annie Kenney
THE
OVERLOOKED
SUFFRAGETTE
If you were asked to name a suffragette, the chances are that a member
of the Pankhurst family would be mentioned. Yet, the movement relied
heavily on the passion and leadership of others. Tom Daly from The
Ministry of History, takes a closer look at Annie Kenney who was also
essential to the cause.
Annie Kenney (1879–1953)
(Public Domain Library of Congress)
Friday, 13th October 1905 was a dreary autumn day
in Manchester, but there was excitement in the
air. In the city’s trade hall, the Liberal party, at this
time the only other major political party in Britain
along with the Conservatives, were holding a
meeting as they tried to gather momentum for the
general election the following year. During the
meeting a certain Winston Churchill, a young local
MP and one of the most radical members of the
Liberal leadership, took to the stage, but was
interrupted during his speech by a question from a
soft-looking, blue-eyed woman in her 20s. ‘If you
are elected, will you do your best to make women’s
suffrage a government measure?’ she asked.
Churchill was hesitant, and appeared
uncharacteristically lost for words. Receiving no
reply, the woman and her friend unfurled a banner
that had the slogan ‘votes for women’, and they were
swiftly thrown out of the meeting and arrested.
Of the two women arrested that day in Manchester,
one was suffragette royalty. She was Christabel
Pankhurst, daughter of the famous campaigner
Emeline Pankhurst and sister of Sylvia Pankhurst.
Together, the Pankhurst women would go on to
become the public face of the struggle to win
women the right to vote. The other woman, who
asked the question of Winston Churchill, is less well
remembered but sacrificed just as much for the
same cause. She had met Pankhurst only a few
30 INSIDE HISTORY
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