On the Secret Library this week we hear from Local and Family History’s Josh Flint who in celebration of International Women’s Day writes about the first women to be Mayor of Leeds, Jessie Beatrice Kitson and examine how she is represented in the Local and Family History Collection. This pioneer was part of the famous…
Tag: International Women’s Day
Searching for Alice Mann
As part of our series for International Women’s Day, librarian Antony Ramm lays out the path that took him to one of his favourite women of Leeds: Alice Mann… I first came across the name of Alice Mann (1791-1865) while reading Derek Fraser’s collection of articles in Volume 53 of the Publications of the Thoresby…
The ‘Vivacious’ Audrey Mann
When looking through our collection of playbills, it’s easy to let them all blur into one. Girls! Strip shows! Dancing! But what was it like to be one of those girls, and were they all doing the same thing? Librarian Zoe Scott Fitzgibbon chatted with Audrey Mann to find out more. Audrey Mann, born in…
Staff Picks – Favourite Women of Leeds
For International Women’s Day 2021 our staff have chosen some of their favourite women with Leeds connections. We hope you enjoy reading about Catherine, Beryl and Sue. Catherine Buckton (1826-1904) was a writer and campaigner who was passionate about women’s education, child welfare, suffrage and social reform. She was in fact the first woman to…
Waging War on the Wiki Gender Gap
As part of our International Women’s Day series of blog posts our Senior Librarian Manager Louise Birch chatted with Curator Lucy Moore of Leeds Museums & Galleries about the gender imbalance of Wikipedia, the nature of who should be creating content, existing barriers and specifically the Wikiproject Women in Red, a project addressing the gender…
Glimpses of Mary Gawthorpe
As International Women’s Day approaches, we look at some inspirational women of Leeds, as chosen by Local and Family History staff. Here librarian, Helen Skilbeck, reveals her admiration of a local suffragist. A personal favourite of mine is Mary Gawthorpe (1881-1973) who was a teacher, suffragist, suffragette, organiser and public speaker for the WSPU (Women’s…
International Women’s Day and Suffrage in Leeds
In celebration of International Women’s Day and the anniversary of a Leeds suffragette and socialist we are highlighting the Mary Gawthorpe collection and other Leeds Library Collections documenting women’s suffrage in Leeds. Born January 12th, 1881 in the Woodhouse area of Leeds, Mary Gawthorpe was the middle of 5 children to John and Anne, a…
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