| Reference number | RAHE/8/3/22 |
| Title | Souvenir of the Women's Suffrage March and Mass Meeting at the Albert Hall |
| Description | This event was the first of two major gatherings to be held in June 1908. The NUWSS had in fact staged their first march in February 1907 (known as the 'Mud March' due to the bad weather). Their march on 13 June 1908, which this souvenir commemorates, was timed to coincide with the International Conference for Women's Suffrage in Amsterdam on the 15th. The other main suffrage demonstration organised by the WSPU, culminating with a huge rally in Hyde Park - known as 'Woman's Sunday' - was held the following week on 21 June.
On the afternoon of 13 June 1908, 10,000 women gathered on the Embankment and, led by the NUWSS President Millicent Fawcett, marched to the Royal Albert Hall: 'When they arrived [on 13 June 1908] the Hall must have looked spectacular, decorated with the Suffragette colours of purple, white and green, and the Suffragists colours of red, white and green. Flowers were picked to match the colour scheme and swathes of muslin in the colours hung from the balconies around the Hall, along with banners and shields representing different parts of the country'.
The Royal Albert Hall was the venue for some of the most memorable speeches and events in the fight for women to gain the vote and held almost thirty events for groups on both sides of the suffrage debate. It was referred to as a 'Temple of Liberty' by the suffragettes and features as the activists' base in the board game Suffragetto. After the escalation of violence by the WSPU, the Trustees of the Hall banned them from further use of the Hall - the first political group to be accorded this dubious honour. However, after the passing of the Representation of the People Act of 1918, when the vote was given to some women, they were once again allowed to hire the hall for their Celebration of Women Suffrage Victory meeting. |
| Date | 13 June 1908 |
| Physical Description | Engraved portrait, blue, red and green border of flags, leaves and roses, one page, printed on crepe paper, |
| Format | Printed document |
| Extent | 1 item |
| Level | Item |
| Creator Name | Printed and published by Mrs S Burgess, 14 Artillery Lane, Bishopsgate, London E.C., 1908.
The creator of these crepe paper souvenirs was Mrs S. Burgess of Artillery Lane, London. According to Kenneth Florey, the WSPU had mixed feelings about her producing such unauthorised 'official' programmes but '...they nevertheless pointed it out as an example of "how the movement interests the public". Mrs Burgess' products demonstrated quite clearly how important the concept of a suffrage 'souvenir' or collectable had become to suffrage sympathisers... a tangible memory of a major event...' (Kenneth Florey, Women's Suffrage Memorabilia: An Illustrated Historical Study, 2013, p.108). |