LSE Library: Happy Women's History Month! We're proud to be home to the Women's Library — the oldest and largest library in Britain devoted to the history of women’s activism. A brief history 🧵

Happy Women's History Month! We're proud to be home to the Women's Library — the oldest and largest library in Britain devoted to the history of women’s activism. A brief history 🧵

The Women's Librarywww.lse.ac.uk Learn about the Women’s Library which tells the story of women in the UK and the great political, economic and social changes of the past 150 years.

The Women’s Library was officially opened as the Women’s Service Library in 1926 by the London and National Society for Women’s Service. Vera Douie was appointed as the first full-time librarian and stayed in post until 1967.

Vera was born in Lahore in 1894 to a wealthy Anglo-Indian family but she renounced them and insisted on living in London on a modest wage as a librarian.

During her time as librarian, Vera was dedicated to two aims: to preserve the history of the women’s suffrage movement and to provide a resource for newly-enfranchised women taking their part in public life.

The origins of the London Society, and of its Library, developed from the Women’s Suffrage Committee founded in London in 1866. Find out more about the 1866 origin...⬇️

The 1866 women's suffrage petition - Google Arts & Cultureartsandculture.google.com Discover why a petition presented to Parliament by MP John Stuart Mill, in 1866, was a pivotal moment in the early suffrage campaign.

By the 1920s, the London Society had developed quite a collection of material. Vera transformed this small society library into a major research resource. The Library was housed at 35-37 Marsham Street, Westminster, a converted pub. This became Women’s Service House.

The Library attracted prominent feminists as members such as Virginia Woolf and Vera Brittain. During the 1930s, Woolf used the collection to do research for ‘Three Guineas’. She became a member of the London Society, gave talks, and donated many books to the Library.

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