Enquiry 1 What’s the story of the women’s suffrage campaign?

Enquiry overview Lesson 1: How did women win the vote? Lesson 2: How did the suffragettes make themselves the story? Lesson 3: What story of the women’s suffrage campaign did George Dangerfield tell? Lesson 4: How have historians tried to tell different stories of who won the vote for women? Lesson 5: How do different sources complicate the story of how women won the vote? Lesson 6: What’s the story of the women’s suffrage campaign? Outcome activity: Storyboard a cartoon answering the enquiry question.

Lesson 3 What story of the women’s suffrage campaign did George Dangerfield tell?

Lesson 3 overview Content covered in the lesson: How is the suffrage movement portrayed in the media? George Dangerfield’s The Strange Death of Liberal England. The Pankhursts – Sylvia’s autobiography. Comparing contrasting portrayals.

What’s the story of the women’s suffrage campaign? Recap: In pairs, write down your top three reasons for why the suffragette story became the dominant story of the women’s suffrage campaign. Compare your lists.

How is the suffrage movement portrayed in the media? As you watch the trailer for the film Suffragette, add ideas to complete this sentence: The story of how women won the vote is about… Q: How similar is this story to the story the suffragettes told of how women won the vote? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HdQ0iVrl2Y Why did the suffragette-centric story stay the story of the campaign for so long?

George Dangerfield’s The Strange Death of Liberal England In 1935, a writer and historian called George Dangerfield published an account of the campaign to win the vote. He was the first male historian to treat the suffrage campaign seriously. His book influenced what many people at the time and in later years thought about the campaign. Q: Who might you expect to challenge the suffragettes’ version of the story? So what story did Dangerfield tell about the suffrage campaign, and about the suffragettes in particular?

Activity 1: Dangerfield’s The Strange Death of Liberal England What story of the women’s suffrage campaign did George Dangerfield tell? Underline in one colour any adjectives that are used to describe the suffragettes. In a second colour underline any verbs that describe the actions of the suffragettes and reactions to them. The energy of the whole movement… increased in the most infuriating manner. The country now detested militancy. And yet – it was very peculiar – the more outrageous these militants became, the more support their cause received. The WSPU might be considered an organisation of intolerable lunatics, but the same could hardly be said of the United Suffragists. … Could it be that – in spite of these odious Pankhursts – women’s suffrage was actually to be achieved? 

But that wasn’t all he had to say… Activity 2: George Dangerfield’s The Strange Death of Liberal England What did George Dangerfield seem to be saying about the suffragettes? The suffragettes were dangerous and damaged the campaign for votes for women. The suffragettes were heroic and won votes for women. But that wasn’t all he had to say…

Activity 2: George Dangerfield’s The Strange Death of Liberal England In the story he told, Dangerfield: Virtually ignored the story of the suffragist campaign. Portrayed Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst as dictators. Patronised ordinary suffragette campaigners by describing them as being like ‘sheep’. Mocked the suffragettes’ behaviour as hysterical (‘irrational’) and dangerous. So how did he end up writing such a negative story of the campaign and of the suffragettes?

Sylvia Pankhurst, younger sister Activity 2: The Pankhursts – Sylvia’s autobiography When Emmeline Pankhurst founded the WSPU (suffragettes), all three of her daughters joined. Sylvia, however, increasingly came to question her mother and sister’s leadership. In 1914, she helped set up a new organisation, the East London Federation of Suffragettes. In 1931, she wrote a 700-page autobiography. This became an important source for George Dangerfield’s book. Image credit: © IWM (Q 81490) Emmeline Pankhurst, mother Christabel Pankhurst, older sister Sylvia Pankhurst, younger sister Whenever you see something in the source that might support one of Dangerfield’s claims, colour-code it.

Comparing contrasting portrayals So far we have two different stories of how women won the vote… Q: Are you completely happy with either story? Why? Image credit: (L) Popperfoto/Getty Images The suffragettes’ story George Dangerfield’s story

What’s the story of the women’s suffrage campaign? Homework task: Comparing contrasting portrayals Your challenge is to try to work out why these stories of how women won the vote differ. Tasks: Complete the first two rows of the table. Version of the story The story in a sentence Problems with the story What sources of evidence is the story mostly based on? The suffragettes’ story George Dangerfield’s story

What’s the story of the women’s suffrage campaign? Plenary: Which story do you think was more convincing?