WOMEN, SUFFRAGE AND POLITICS
The Papers of Sylvia Pankhurst, 1882-1960, from the Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis, Amsterdam

Part 1: Inventory Numbers 1-224

"To understand Sylvia Pankhurst the Pan-Africanist, I also had to understand Sylvia Pankhurst the monarchist - and beyond that Sylvia the anti-Fascist of the early 1930s, the communist of the early 1920s, and the suffragette and socialist of the 1910s ... she was in contact and correspondence with some of the most important personalities of her day." 
Professor Patricia W Romero
writing in E Sylvia Pankhurst: Portrait of a Radical (Yale University Press, 1990)

Of all the Women's Studies research titles currently available, the Papers of Sylvia Pankhurst are perhaps the most suitable for use in courses for "World History". This rich collection reveals that her activities stretched well beyond the Suffrage Movement , the Third International or the East London Toy Factory. This archive opens up many opportunities for comparative study, it is an excellent source for women's studies, gender studies, politics and social history.

Ethiopia, Somalia and the Pan-African Movement - Sylvia devoted the period from 1936 to 1960 to an unceasing campaign on behalf of Ethiopia. As editor of the New Times and Ethiopia News, 1936-1956 and the Ethiopia Observer, 1956-1960, she made a major contribution to African affairs and maintained contacts with leading figures in the Pan-African Movement. WEB DuBois remarked that "the great work of Sylvia Pankhurst was to introduce black Ethiopia to white England." She drew attention to Italian atrocities in Abyssinia, vigorously opposed the return of Eritrea and Somaliland to the Italians after the war, fought for Ethiopian independence never shirking conflict with the British Foreign Office, assumed the role of unofficial spokesperson for Emperor Hailie Selassie, and raised funds for a vital hospital. Scholars can assess whether she was a "True Ethiopian patriot" or a misguided "puppet of the Emperor". Seven manuscript notebooks provide Sylvia’s innermost thoughts on Ethiopia.

Italy - there is much material on the rise of fascism and European politics. Sylvia married an Italian, Silvio Corio, and he supported her in her tireless efforts against fascism and oppression in Ethiopia. Manuscripts include New Italy, The opposition in Italy, Mussolini’s women soldiers and Civil servants in Italy, censorship and espionage.

Germany - there is material on the Anti-Nazi Council, negotiations with Czechoslovakia in 1938 and her notes on leading German Socialists.

The Soviet Union - Sylvia became an enthusiastic adherent of the Russian Revolution and set up a "Russian People’s Information Bureau". She was an influential English correspondent of the Communist International periodical International Communist. In June 1920 she re-baptised the Workers’ Suffrage Federation into the Communist Party, British Section of the Third International. She attended the second congress of the Third International in Moscow. One notebook covers her journey to Russia in 1920.

Rumania - ten notebooks cover her concern for this country and her interest in the poet Mihail Eminescu. Her outpouring of articles on Rumania are typical of her fascination with people and places beyond Britain.

Albania - there are notes on her support of King Zog.

Ireland - notes on the Irish Civil War.

the United States - observations on her long journeys through the United States in 1910 and 1912.

India - notebook on Buddhism and her "questionnaire for Indian women".

In addition to a wealth of material on these subjects, the collection provides:

Letters covering the early years of the suffrage movement, especially from Lydia Becker to Dr Richard M Pankhurst, Mrs Jacob Bright to Emmeline Pankhurst and Mrs Wolstenholme Elmy to Sylvia Pankhurst - the latter providing Sylvia with information about the early women's movement when she was writing The Suffragette (1911).

Correspondence with James Keir Hardie, Dora Russell, Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence, Christabel Pankhurst and Ramsay MacDonald.

Minute Books and Papers of the East London Federation/Workers' Suffrage Federation, 1913-1924.

Heavily annotated proofs for Annual Reports of the East End Movement in London.

Records of the Women's Franchise League, 1896-1897.

Documents on Sylvia's involvement with the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU)

All Sylvia's manuscript notebooks including drafts on the Suffragette Movement, Women's Work and Red Twilight - along with notes on Lydia Becker, the First World War, the General Strike and Maternity Care.

A large section on the Workers' Dreadnought, 1917-1924.

This archive opens up many opportunities for comparative study. It is an excellent source for Women's History, Social History, Politics and World History.

This project is split into two parts and we have supplied the Contents of Reels so that scholars can see how the material is arranged.

"To understand Sylvia Pankhurst the Pan-Africanist, I also had to understand Sylvia Pankhurst the monarchist - and beyond that Sylvia the anti-Fascist of the early 1930s, the communist of the early 1920s, and the suffragette and socialist of the 1910s ... she was in contact and correspondence with some of the most important personalities of her day."
Professor Patricia W Romero
writing in E Sylvia Pankhurst: Portrait of a Radical
(Yale University Press, 1990)