Category Archives: political women

My review of “Why We March: Signs of Protest and Hope”.

    On 21 January 2017 several hundred women (and  some men) gathered in Albert Square in Manchester in support of women’s rights,  and in solidarity with similar events taking place in Washington DC on Trump’s first full day as … Continue reading

Posted in anti-cuts, book review, education, feminism, human rights, labour history, Manchester, political women, Socialist Feminism, trade unions, Uncategorized, women, working class history | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Days of Hope: an article by Mary Quaile on her visit to the Soviet Union in 1925

2017 is the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution and it is difficult today to understand the hope that the revolution gave to ordinary women and men across the world. One of those women was Mary Quaile. An Irish immigrant … Continue reading

Posted in Communism, feminism, labour history, political women, Socialism, Socialist Feminism, trade unions, Uncategorized, women, working class history, young people | Tagged , | Leave a comment

My Review of The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexievich

  It is only recently that women in the UK have been able to take up frontline roles in the armed forces but in liberation struggles across the world from Northern Ireland to present day Northern Iraq there are plenty … Continue reading

Posted in book review, Communism, education, feminism, labour history, political women, Socialism, Socialist Feminism, Uncategorized, women, working class history, young people | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Political Women: Sandy Rose, Socialist, Feminist, Trade Unionist

  In this occasional series I ask the question; why do some women become political activists?  Sandy Rose was part of the post war generation that lived at a time of great hope, this is her story……….. “I was born … Continue reading

Posted in anti-cuts, biography, Communism, education, feminism, human rights, labour history, Manchester, NHS, political women, Salford, Socialism, Socialist Feminism, trade unions, Uncategorized, women, working class history, young people | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

My review of “Winter Hill” by Timberlake Wertenbaker at Bolton Octagon

Winter Hill, towering over Bolton, is an iconic landmark to people in the northwest: one that in 1896   pushed  thousands of activists to march to it to demand the right to roam. In a new play called Winter Hill, playwright … Continue reading

Posted in anti-cuts, drama, feminism, labour history, NHS, Northern ReSisters Conversations with Radical Women, political women, Socialist Feminism, Uncategorized, women, working class history | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Remembering Eddie Frow: Communist, Trade Union Activist, Historian…

Today it is twenty years since Eddie Frow died.  In his long life Eddie embodied the way in which Communism shaped the life of a man who was an activist in his trade union, a historian, a writer, a rambler, … Continue reading

Posted in Communism, education, human rights, labour history, Manchester, political women, Socialism, trade unions, Uncategorized, working class history, young people | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Political Women; Lisa Turnbull: Single Mum, Durham Teaching Assistant, campaigner

Lisa Turnbull did not want to be a political campaigner but in 2015  her employer Labour-controlled Durham County Council told her and  2,700 of her fellow  Teaching Assistants  that their highly skilled work  would be downgraded  and  their  pay  cut … Continue reading

Posted in anti-cuts, education, feminism, human rights, labour history, political women, Socialist Feminism, trade unions, Uncategorized, women, working class history, young people | Tagged , | 2 Comments

A Better World for Women: British Women Trade Unionists visit the Soviet Union in 1925

In 2017 it feels  like the word hope has left the political vocabulary. Politics today seems to be all  about trying to hang  on to our jobs and our public services. It feels as if we are all in the … Continue reading

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Book Review; Women Workers and the Trade Unions by Sarah Boston

Where can you read about the history of the trade union movement? Over the years I have been on many trade union courses,  but none of them gave me any insight into the history of my union or the origins … Continue reading

Posted in book review, feminism, human rights, labour history, Manchester, political women, Socialist Feminism, trade unions, Uncategorized, women, working class history, young people | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Minutes of Manchester and Salford Women’s Trades Union Council 1903-1905

This is my fourth post about the Manchester and Salford Women’s Trade Union Council, and covers the years 1903-1905. By 1903 the Council was an established organisation which  individuals and organisations contacted,  not just for help with organising women into … Continue reading

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