Introduction

History and Legacy of the Suffragette Fellowship: Calling All Women! offers an extensive history of the breadth of memory work by the Suffragette Fellowship in Australia and England, exploring an unexamined past of member Suffragettes from three broadly defined militant suffrage groups who founded the Fellowship: the Women’s Social and Political Union, the Actress Franchise League, and the Women’s Freedom League. WFL member Edith How-Martyn, driven by anxiety at the misrepresentation of suffrage pasts, turned memory activists and gained a significant foothold in the cultural memory of militant Suffragettes from the 1930s to 1970s. Former militants wedded to the ideals and identity of a Suffragette life, bonded via shared memories of a past forged in fire. were recalled to action and deployed at reunions and commemorations to contribute to contemporary feminist campaigns. The reflective and group nature of commemorating encouraged Fellowship members to recall untold stories of suffrage days in speeches, publications, and oral testimonies sharing stories of defiance and heroism. Study of the Fellowship provides the origin story of the prominent Suffragette Collection now housed at the Museum of London and illustrates the purposeful collecting and curating of meaningful objects attached to suffrage histories.