Davison Emily Wilding (1 results)

A scarce memorial leaflet printed to announce the death and public funeral of Emily Wilding Davison, who died four days after her protest at the Epsom Derby on 4 June 1913. On 14 June, Davison's body was moved from Epsom and escorted to St George's Church in Bloomsbury. The large procession which accompanied her coffin was described by Davison's biographer June Purvis as "the last of the great suffragette spectacles" (p. 358). The event - which was filmed by Pathé for newsreels - was the combined effort of the WSPU, the WFL, the New Constitutional Society, the WWL, the Church League for Women's Suffrage, and the Actresses' Franchise League. This leaflet contains a short biography of Davison, articles entitled "Why did she stop the King's Horse?" and "A petition to the King", and an announcement of the order of service. The imagery and language employed in both the pamphlet and the event itself was that of the moral and Christian right to female suffrage. The tone of the eulogy framed Davison as a martyr, and spoke of her repeated sacrifices, all done to abate "the suffering of others". The hymns chosen included "Onward Christian Soldiers" and "Fight the Good Fight". Davison was known for her militant actions, often controversial within the movement. Her death came "at a time when militancy was reaching a crescendo" (Crawford, p. 163). We have traced copies at only ten institutions: the British Library, the London School of Economics (Women's Library), the Parliamentary Archives, Lambeth Palace Library, Bourne Hall Museum, and the National Library of Scotland in the UK; the International Institute of Social Studies in the Netherlands; the University of Waterloo in Canada; the American Antiquarian Society in the US; and the State Library of Victoria in Australia. Elizabeth Crawford, The Women's Suffrage Movement, 1999; June Purvis, "Remembering Emily Wilding Davison (1872-1913)", Women's History Review, 22 (3), 2013, pp. 353-62. Single bifolium (page size 191 x 128 mm) of cream paper, text printed in black across 4 pp. within mourning borders. Photographic portrait of Davison in academic dress, set within a laurel wreath border, on first page. A few small nicks at extremities, else fine.…