Tag Archives: Emily Davison

Happy Holidays from your friends celebrating suffrage centennials!

Holiday greetings from your suffrage centennial friends! on Vimeo.

Happy holidays through the New Year from your suffrage centennial friends!

Statue projects commemorating Votes for Women activists are expensive. There are statues popping up all over the US, including statues of Sojourner Truth and Rosalie Jones planned by the State of New York; the statue of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony in NYC’s Central Park; statues of Tennessee’s suffrage activists involved in the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution; and more.

A statue project to honor Emily Davison, the UK’s suffrage martyr, is underway. Davison died on June 8, 1913. emilydavisonmemorialproject.wordpress.com

No statue exists or is planned to honor Inez Milholland, the US suffrage martyr, who died in 1916 in California.

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Long-awaited book with six-figure advance about English suffragette, Princess Sophia, published by Bloomsbury!

The UK is far ahead of the United States in terms of showering attention on the suffrage movement. And with a new book, Sophia, published by Bloomsbury and written by Anita Anand, 2015 will be a noteworthy year as far as reinforcing the UK’s trailblazing performance. Controversial suffrage activist Princess Sophia Duleep Singh, the subject of the Sophia biography, not only had American suffrage movement associations, but her connections to the English royalty made her stand out among her contemporaries.

The 2012 centennial observance of the death of English women’s suffrage martyr Emily Davison set a pace of public awareness of the suffrage movement that hasn’t stopped since 2012. And the much-anticipated fall 2015 release of the UK feature film “Suffragette” only adds to the buzz. The “Suffragette” feature film is directed by Saran Gavron, written by Abi Morgan. It has an exciting cast including Meryl Streep who plays English suffrage matriarch and activist Emmeline Pankhurst.

The Bloombury advance publicity describes the story this way: “In 1876 Sophia Duleep Singh was born into royalty. Her father, Maharajah Duleep Singh, was heir to the Kingdom of the Sikhs, a realm that stretched from the lush Kashmir Valley to the craggy foothills of the Khyber Pass and included the mighty cities of Lahore and Peshawar. It was a territory irresistible to the British, who plundered everything, including the fabled Koh-I-Noor diamond.

“Exiled to England, the dispossessed Maharajah transformed his estate at Elveden in Suffolk into a Moghul palace, its grounds stocked with leopards, monkeys and exotic birds. Sophia, god-daughter of Queen Victoria, was raised a genteel aristocratic Englishwoman: presented at court, afforded grace-and-favour lodgings at Hampton Court Palace and photographed wearing the latest fashions for the society pages. But when, in secret defiance of the British government, she travelled to India, she returned a revolutionary.”  For more.

Bloomsbury acquired the book in 2012 and paid a well-publicized six-figure advance to Anita Anand, a well-known British broadcast journalist. It’s expected that the book will elicit considerable interest in the UK, the US, Australia, and India.

OTHER RECENT NEWS: UK novelist lists top ten books about suffragettes and the English suffrage movement in newspaper column. Check it out and enjoy. Women’s suffrage highlighted in 2015 NYS Governor Andrew Cuomo inaugural address. Meryl Streep gives interviews about upcoming “Suffragette” film from the UK expected to be released in fall of 2015. Highlights from SuffrageCentennials.com in 2014.

imagesSuffrageCentennials.com has a Facebook page, in addition to Twitter, email subscription, and a Quarterly Newsletter. Stay up to date with postings, audio podcasts, and videos.

SuffrageCentennials.com is a multi-media public platform for announcements and feature articles about local, state, national and international suffrage celebrations, programs, performances, events, news and views. Regular postings, video and audio highlights. Submit announcements and events to OwlMountainProductions at gmail.com.

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Suffrage centennials are hot!

The word is just getting around about how hot suffrage centennials can be. A great example is the aftermath of the 2013 suffrage centennial honoring English suffragette and martyr Emily Davison. The 2013 centennial of her dramatic death received considerable attention. And the observance isn’t over yet, now that’s there’s a wider audience. Suffrage centennials honor the past, and they are opportunities to weave in the present day and a vision for the future. On February 13, 2014 at 6 p.m. in the Jubilee Room, Houses of Parliament in London, the play “To Freedom’s Cause” will be performed, along with a debate about the influence of Davison’s legacy on feminism today.

Supporters will be invited to sign a petition to erect a statue in Parliament and the debate will be opened on Twitter, using the hashtag #Emilymatters.

“To Freedom’s Cause,” was premiered in 2013 at the time of the Davison centennial. For more information, check with play creator Kate Willoughby who calls herself “a temporary suffragette,” and someone who has fallen in love with Emily Davison’s story. The play lays out the powerful tale of the people who came into contact with Emily, those who changed her life and whose lives she changed. Music and song are important elements. The suffragettes were known for their singing. It helped to keep their spirits up during the long spells of imprisonment.

Notes Kate Willoughby: “Emily’s final, iconic act involved the King’s jockey, Herbert Jones. A celebrated sportsman at the peak of his career, Herbert’s life would decades afterwards end in tragedy. However, Herbert’s later life has often been misrepresented and so in “To Freedom’s Cuase’ I seek to redress this.

“Over the years there has been a great deal of speculation about Emily’s motivation for stopping Anmer, the King’s horse: Was it suicide?  Was it naïve?  Or was it just an accident?  ‘To Freedom’s Cause’ offers some insight into the exact truth of the situation.

“Working on ‘To Freedom’s Cause’ has been a labour of love and I would like to thank everyone who has helped me develop this fresh retelling of Emily Wilding Davison’s story. A fun-loving, vivacious woman, whose courage, in the face of adversity, can inspire us all.”

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Youth plant tree to honor suffrage centennial of suffragette Emily Davison

Teignbridge youth parliament members have planted a tree to honor the suffrage centennial of activist Emily Davison’s death. The controversial act of Davison throwing herself in front of the King’s horse to draw attention to an injustice has fascinated people in the UK, especially in this 100th year since Davison’s death. There have been numerous womens suffrage exhibits, performances, demonstrations, books and films associated with this suffrage centennial. This tree planting is yet another example of the attention being showered on this important part of English history. Tree planting was an important part of the suffrage movement. The women who served hard prison time for the cause were encouraged to plant a fir tree at Eagle House near Bath. Only one of these trees remain. For more information: #1. #2.

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