Volume 14 , Issue 12

1913 English Militant Suffragets

This photograph was taken especially for The Day Book, dated October 20, 1913, by photographer Van Oeyen, shows Mrs. Emmeline (Goulden) Pankhurst (15 July 1858-14 June 1928), the great leader, British political activist of the English militant suffragets, being quizzed by Untied States immigration officials on board the French line La Provence, on which she came to America.

It was a result of this examination that Mrs. Pankhurst was detained at Ellis Island. The lower picture was a snapshot of Mrs. Pankhurst, still smiling and still defiant, as she stood on the dock at Ellis Island. It was a most characteristic portrait of the womb who was being hailed as the "Moses of the Mothers."

Emmeline Pankhurst was named in 1999, in the Time as, "she shaped an idea of women for our time; she shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back." Emmeline was raised in Moss Side, Manchester, England by politically active parents. She was introduced at the age of 8 to the women's suffrage movement.

In 1878 Emmeline Gouldn married Richard Pankhurst, a barrister 24 years her senior known for supporting women's right to vote. They had five children over the next ten years. He also supported her activities outside the home, and she quickly became involved with the Women's Franchise League, which advocated suffrage for women.   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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