Noted composer Dame Ethel Smyth wrote the March of the Women (1911) for the Women's Social and Political Union, the leading organization of the suffragists in Britain. It was used as the theme for the BBC's "Shoulder to Shoulder," which was shown on public television in American in the 1970s. I was glued to the TV watching it and the companion book to the series is still on my bookshelf (bottom photo).
Alas this series has never come out on DVD and has apparently not been rebroadcast for decades here or in the UK. Too bad as we need to know and share our history more than ever these days. The book, "Shoulder to Shoulder," is available locally through the South Central Wisconsin Library system.
Since this is a about a song written for the WSPU most of the scenes are of UK feminist parades and actions, including a number of pictures of the famed Pankhurst family, with Emmeline Pankhurst being forcibly removed by the police (above).
But there are also a number of images that are from the USA which are easily detected by the presence of the American flag, references to President Woodrow Wilson and the Cooper Union Hall. American suffragist Alice Paul went to England to work with the Pankhursts and brought their activism to the American suffrage movement. It is worth noting that the first group to ever picket the White House in Washington, D.C. were suffragists demanding the vote for American women as seen in this video!
The graphics of the video are in the public domain, and the performance is that of the Rainbow Chorus from May 2009, posted at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZItUc9..... Thank you to Mark Lause who originally posted the video on YouTube.
We must never forget.
Posted by: Lisa at Greenbow | Thursday, March 08, 2018 at 06:09 AM
Happy International Women's Day! There has been progress made since 1911 but there's still so far to go. Thanks for the link to the song and the images.
Posted by: Peter/Outlaw | Thursday, March 08, 2018 at 08:58 AM