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Primary sourceNewspaper article10 October 1907

Votes for Women

Frederick Pethick-Lawrence and Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence · 10 October 1907

The weekly newspaper of the Women's Social and Political Union, founded in 1907, which published Pankhurst's speeches and reported her campaigns and imprisonments.

This newspaper was the official organ of the WSPU, the organisation Pankhurst led, publishing her speeches and campaigns.

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Front page of the Votes for Women supplement, dated October 10, 1907, with a large banner title, editors' names, a notice box, and an illustration of a giant seated woman over London's Parliament and Big Ben.
Votes for Women, supplement, 10 October 1907.

About this source

What it is

Votes for Women was a newspaper founded in October 1907 by Emmeline and Frederick Pethick-Lawrence, who were its joint editors. Until 1912 it was the official paper of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), the organisation led by Emmeline Pankhurst.

Why it matters

The paper was a key recruitment and fundraising tool for the WSPU, sold on the streets by suffragettes despite harassment from passers-by and police. It published speeches and reports connected to Pankhurst's campaigns, making it an important source for how the movement presented itself to the public. Later it continued independently after the Pethick-Lawrences were expelled from the WSPU.

Look closer

  • Why would a movement need its own newspaper instead of relying on mainstream papers?
  • What does the illustration of a giant woman over Parliament suggest about the paper's message?
  • Why might selling the paper on the street have been risky for the women involved?

This newspaper article is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Emmeline Pankhurst on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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