women in london

a directory of london based women's groups

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Sylvia Pankhurst Memorial Committee : Buildings in Manchester named after Suffragettes

Three ex-municipal buildings in Manchester are being named after Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters, Sylvia and Christabel.

This followed an open competition from developers Urban Splash and a suggestion from Gina Holbrook(*).

The Pankhurst family in 1903 created the Women’s Social and Political Union in their house on Nelson Street close to the present-day Manchester Royal Infirmary. The house is open to the public and includes a recreation of the parlour where the union was founded.

A couple of years later this organisation pioneered the phase ‘Votes for Women’ at a meeting in the Free Trade Hall. As they became increasingly militant, its members attracted the nickname ‘Suffragettes’.

There has been no public commemoration of the Pankhursts on Manchester streets, a source of controversy and shame. These names etched in huge neon across the North Manchester skyline at last mark their local and national significance.

Click here for a view from the recently restored and renovated 1960s tower blocks in Collyhurst. (from Manchester Confidential)

(*) Gina Holbrook from Bury heard Brenda Dean on Radio 4 talking about SPMC campaign for a lasting memorial to Sylvia Pankhurst and was inspired to enter a competition... Property developer Urban Splash were seeking names for its 3 Towers development in Manchester - Gina suggested Emmeline, Sylvia and Christabel and won! http://sylviapankhurst.gn.apc.org/