Scrapbook [probably of the Artists' Suffrage League]

This scrapbook consists of press cuttings from the national and suffrage press concerning the suffrage campaigns, mainly dating from 1908, but with later additions, 1928-1929. It includes cuttings on the suffrage processions and banners.

<p>London Metropolitan University, The Women's Library also holds other records pertaining to the Artists' Suffrage League (2ASL) and related visual materials in the form of a collection of banners and posters as well as the records of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (2NWS). Posters created by members of the League are held in the Museum of London's collections, as well as in the Communist Party archives. The John Johnson Collection at the Bodleian Library also holds ASL postcards.</p>

The original scrapbook is held at The Women's Library.

This collection is available for research. Readers are advised to contact The Women's Library in advance of their first visit. This item is only available on microfilm.

Whilst the exact provenance of this volume is uncertain, a programme for the United Franchise Demonstration at Queen's Hall, Mar 1928 is annotated 'ML and I sat on the platform...' and the scrapbook contains an inscription on the title page, 'Miss Mary Lowndes, Chairman of the Artists Suffrage League'. It seems probable that the scrapbook was created by the Artists' Suffrage League.

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 (ASL) was established in Jan 1907 in order to assist with the preparations for the 'Mud March' that was organised by the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) in Feb of that year. However, it continued with the creation of suffrage propaganda for the NUWSS after this date. Other than the central committee of chairperson, 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 chairperson Mary Lowndes, Emily Ford, Barbara Forbes, May H Barker, Clara Billing, Dora Meeson Coates, Violet Garrard, Bertha Newcombe, C Hedley 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 National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies.

A copy of this archive is available on microfilm held at The Women's Library.