BSA Auto/Biography Study Group Summer Conference 2023: “Too Dangerous to Address Girls”, exploring Ethel Snowden’s importance to socialism and feminism in the early years of the 20th century.

Description

Edge Hill University has recently opened access to its archives, as the first non-denominational teacher training college for women (1885), this new beginning was key in the discovery of notable alumni. One such remarkable former student was Ethel Annakin/Snowden (1881-1951). Ethel was a Socialist, a campaigner for women’s suffrage, for temperance, and a lifelong believer in pacifism. A member of the Fabian Society, the Independent Labour Party, and The Women’s Peace Crusade, she gained a reputation for being a powerful and passionate speaker, her “inspirational style” was referred to as “sparkling with epigram, bright with humour and satire, and sympathetic with pathos and feeling” (Cross p.68). Given these qualities and talents we may ask why Ethel Snowden is largely absent from contemporary publications and why her influence seems fundamentally ignored by history. Perhaps her marriage to Philip Snowden (later Viscount Snowden) MP and Chancellor of the Exchequer in the first Labour Government (1924) overshadowed her own importance to women’s socialist history. A woman of beauty and grace as well a strong opinion, Ethel Snowden’s lectures could arouse feelings of admiration, and could empower audiences through her conviction, yet her oratory also prompted remarks of being “too dangerous to address girls” (Washington Times 1908). This paper seeks to explore the cultural and political beginnings of socialist writing directly aimed at women, through Ethel Snowden's first publication 'The Woman Socialist' (1907). In this publication Ethel speaks thoughtfully and directly to supporters and opponents of socialism, and to future socialist women.

Period	13 Jul 2023
Event title	BSA Auto/Biography Study Group Conference 2023: New Beginnings
Event type	Conference
Location	OxfordShow on map