Wonderful tote bag featuring Sylvia Pankhurst (1882-1960), British women's rights activist/suffragette, artist and campaigner who was a key figure in the work of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU).

The bag is hand printed on both sides, with one side giving a brief description of her life and achievements and the other side displaying a picture and a quote. It is made of 100 % cotton, measures 42 by 38 cm and is machine-washable with cold water.

The text reads on one side:

Sylvia Pankhurst (1882-1960) made a profound impact on the fight for women’s rights as both an artist and a campaigner and was a key figure in the work of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), set up with her mother and sister in 1903.

She designed badges, banners and flyers for the WSPU and her symbolic ‘angel of freedom’ was essential to the visual image of the campaign.

 

The WSPU was the militant wing of the British women suffrage movement. In 1908, for example, its members began a campaign of property destruction targeting the existing power structure to gain maximum publicity. Their activities included pouring acid in mailboxes, breaking windows, defacing artwork in the National Gallery and tearing up golf courses. The WSPU was prepared to attack the things considered most valued by contemporary society: ‘money, property and pleasure’.

 

More than 1,000 suffragettes were jailed between 1908 and 1914, including Pankhurst who was imprisoned several times for her actions and force-fed in Holloway prison in north London.

 

She went on to work closely with working women in the east End of London, setting up a toy factory, a crèche and a cost price restaurant to support those in need and started her own newspapers. Pankhurst firmly believed that working women needed to be at the heart of the campaign rather than limiting the involvement to an educated few.

 

She later became involved in helping raise awareness of the threatened invasion of Ethiopia by the Italian fascist leader Mussolini in 1935 and befriended the Emperor Haile Selassie when he was a refugee in the UK.

 

Towards the end of her life Pankhurst left the UK to live in Ethiopia.

She died and is buried there and is honoured by the Emperor as a patriot of Ethiopia.

 

A bag that is not only handy but also a great way to spread information and educate people in a playful way and - obviously - using a cotton bag instead of plastic is also good for the environment.

Besides this it is a bag that does good on every level: 10 percent of the profit from the sale of each bag is donated to one of the four charities listed below. All these charities defend girls and women's rights and support or protect the independence of women.

1. Terre des femmes in Germany
2. Freedom charity in the UK
3. The AHA Foundation in the USA
4. Femmes for Freedom in the Netherlands

The whole set of 6 suffragettes for £ 70 instead of £ 84, so one bag for free!

Free postage anywhere in the UK or come and have a look and pick them up from our market shop in Bricklane in east London. Worldwide shipping is available as well and is roughly £ 5 to £ 8. Please message us and we will let you know the exact postage.

For whole sale enquiries please contact us and we'll be in touch asap.

Let's bring back some REAL heroines and honour them by acknowledging their achievements and remembering what they fought for!