'THE GREAT WAR', 'THE WAR TO END WAR', 'WORLD WAR 1'
'What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?
- Only the monstrous anger of the guns.'
from 'Anthem for Doomed Youth'
by Wilfred Owen
From the Publication 'The Women's Peace Crusade, 1917-1918 : |
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Preface by Dr. Alison Ronan Crusading women; an academic/volunteer co-production research funded by AHRC Voices of War and Peace. The Women's Peace Crusade swept through industrial East Lancashire in the summer of 1917. It was part of a series of spontaneous women-led domonstrations across the country, mobilised by socialist and internationalist women, urging the Government to negotitate a peace. This specific piece of research aimed to uncover the ordinary Crusader, the local and 'unheard' women in the cotton spinning and weaving towns of Blackburn, Manchester, Burnley and Nelson, Oldham, Rochdale and Bolton, towns where recruiting was strong. We have also had contributions from researchers in Bradford and Cumbria. The research has been led by a team of dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers working alongside archivists in local archives. Academic Dr. Alison Ronan coordinated the research, working with support from the Centre for Regional History in Manchester Metropolitan University. The volunteers have met regulalrly to compare their research and findings and Dr. Alison Roanan has gone to visit each small team in their archives, working together with the researchers. The newly recovered stories form the basis of the film made by the Clapham Film Unit and scripted by Hazel Roy. The film recreated the Crusades in Lancashire, using the fictional cycle journey of the young Manchester undergraduate and Women's International League member, Mabel Phythian, to link up the Crusades from Manchester to Nelson. Page 1
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Most of these local stories have not been told in any detail before; the research has used material from newspapers of the time, the directory of Crusade organisers and their addresses, published in the Labour Leader in the summer of 1917, census returns and local lists of Conscientious Objectors taken from the Cyril Pearce Register (IWM). Some of the material has changed our understanding of the Crusade locally and has revealed many previously unknown local women who were coordinating local demonstrations. These 'ordinary' women have truly been hidden from history. This book fleshes out some of the stories, writing up biographies of many local women and telling many more of the narratives which have been uncovered. It looks at the newly recovered stories from the textile towns of East Lancashire, each town having a dedicated chapter, some written by the volunteers but each drawing on the material that has come to light in the research. Dedicated space is given to radical women from each town. We hope you enjoy this book as much as we have enjoyed writing it. Page 2
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