Mangion, Carmen (2025) 'In the interests of justice, morality and religion’: St Joan's Social and Political Alliance, 1920s-1930s. In: Power, M. and Bush, J. (eds.) Lay Catholic Societies in Twentieth Century Britain. Catholic Record Society: Monograph Series 9. Boydell & Brewer. ISBN 9780902832367.
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Abstract
In 1910, women’s suffrage campaigners Gabrielle Jeffery and May Kendall met outside Holloway Prison in London waiting to cheer on released suffragettes. They were allied by their passion for the suffrage cause, but also, as they realised that day, by their Catholic identity. This fortuitous meeting led to the formation of the Catholic Women’s Suffrage Society (renamed St Joan’s Social and Political Alliance in 1923; then St Joan’s International Alliance in 1954). Co-religionists were recruited to the cause of women’s suffrage and by 1913, the Catholic Women’s Suffrage Society claimed over 1,000 members. Over the next 50 years, the Society expanded to 24 countries over five continents. Outlasting most suffrage societies, they successfully moved from their original aim of suffrage for women on the same terms as men, towards broader aims of political, social and economic equalities between men and women. The women of St Joan’s Alliance saw their Catholic faith as an integral component of their feminism; they identified their causes for equality between men and women as ‘elementary justice’ and argued for the ‘essential Catholicity of our feminist creed’. In bringing its resolution and aims before Cardinal Archbishop Bourne in 1911, it highlighting ‘the grave need of admitting women to the parliamentary franchise in the interests of justice, morality and religion’. This chapter identifies how justice, morality and religion were intrinsic to St Joan’s Alliance campaigning activities.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Book Section |
|---|---|
| Keyword(s) / Subject(s): | Catholic feminism, equality feminism, interwar feminism, women’s movements, Catholic laity, periodical press; Catholic organisations |
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Historical Studies |
| Depositing User: | Carmen Mangion |
| Date Deposited: | 17 Jan 2025 14:00 |
| Last Modified: | 24 Mar 2025 11:42 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/52589 |
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