Women's History Collection

Votes for Women virtual exhibition

From 2018-19, a landmark temporary exhibition at the Museum of London marked the centenary of votes for (some) women and revealed the extraordinary struggle to achieve female representation in parliament. Now you can experience the full display for free online as a virtual exhibition.
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Women's history Month video series

We worked with fab comedians Samantha Baines, Jenny Bede, Jen Ives, Thanyia Moore and Leila Navabi for a brand new video series! Each have created their own original piece inspired by different objects from our unparalleled women’s history archives. Take a watch now!
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Who were the Suffragettes?

Find out all the fascinating facts about who the Suffragettes were, what they did, and what they achieved in this introductory article.
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Reading between the lines: women on Roman tomb monuments

The stories of women are often less well documented than the stories of men, and this is true of life in Roman London. Senior Curator Francis Grew turns to an unusual source – Roman tomb monuments – to tell us more about Londinium’s female residents.
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Six things you should know about the Suffragette hunger strikes

The Suffragette hunger strike protest remains one of the most poignant and disturbing aspects of the struggle for Votes for Women. Suffragettes in British prisons refused to eat, and often to drink, threatening to starve themselves to force a response from the authorities. Here are six key facts about this extraordinary struggle.
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Women's stories from London history

For International Women's Day, we asked staff from across the Museum of London to pick their favourite object with a female focus from our collections. Here are some of their choices, and the women's stories they tell. Read on!
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Five brides and one wedding dress

This unassuming vintage dress holds a fascinating story: that of the five women who wore it to get married, in the austere London of the Great Depression and the Second World War.
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A fashion for women's suffrage

Our Senior Curator Beatrice Behlen goes through some (by far not all) of her favourite Christina Broom photos and regales you with observations about the clothes worn by the people depicted.
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Shop our Suffragette range

From brooches to decorations, explore our Suffragette collection on our online shop.
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Read more about the Suffragettes

Music score and words for 'The March of the Women' dedicated to the Women's Social and Political Union. Composed by Ethel Smyth in 1911. Printed on one side of a vocal card sold for 1d by The Woman's Press. On the reverse of the sheet are printed advertisements for other vocal cards.

'That Malignant Suffragette': remembering Emily Davison

Diane Atkinson, author of Rise Up, Women!, writes about the life and death of Suffragette Emily Davison and examines her role in the Votes for Women campaign.

Hidden London

How Black Friday changed the Suffragette struggle

When was Black Friday 1910 and how did it change the course of the struggle for women's votes? Read our Discover article about a key moment for the Suffragettes.

Christabel Pankhurst at the women's exhibition, 1909

Londoners

Christabel Pankhurst, Suffragette icon

We talk about a new biography of perhaps the most important Suffragette, Christabel Pankhurst, the daughter of Emmeline Pankhurst and co-leader of the WSPU.

London now

Do the Suffragettes still matter today?

How is the museum's Suffragette collection inspiring people today? Curator Beverley Cook explores the impact of our Votes for Women and Suffragette archives.