#sufferagette

[scotianostra]

On 26th November 1917 Elsie Inglis, the Scottish doctor, nursing pioneer and suffragette, died.

Elsie Maud Inglis was an innovative Scottish doctor, suffragist, and founder of the Scottish Women’s Hospitals.

Inglis studied medicine at the (then) revolutionary Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women, after three years going on to study under Sir William McEwen at the University of Glasgow, where her interest in surgery began.

After she qualified as a doctor in 1892, Inglis was appointed to a post at what would later become the the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital for Women in London, but which at the time was just an ordinary general hospital. Unhappy with the conditions, and in particular about the standards of care for female patients, Elsie decided that the way forward was to have hospitals run by women.

In 1894 she returned to Edinburgh where she established a medical practice with a fellow female physician. In 1904 she set up a small maternity hospital for Edinburgh’s poor in the city’s High Street, staffed entirely by women. This later became the Elsie Maude Inglis Memorial Hospital.

Inglis had for some time been a member of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies, and in 1906 she launched the Scottish Women’s Suffragette Federation.

In 1914, Elsie offered to help but the Army did not permit women doctors so she set up a medical unit in France instead. Elsie sent 14 teams of women volunteers to give medical help on the battlefields.

In 1915 Elsie went to Serbia, where Serbs were fighting Germans and Austrians. She faced many hardships, dangerous battles, freezing weather and being arrested as a spy. From Serbia, Elsie went to Russia to work as a war doctor.

Elsie will always be remembered in her home town of Edinburgh, I wonder how many of us have a connection to the Elsie Inglis Maternity Hospital, in Edinburgh.

Her poor health meant she was forced to return to Britain, but she died of cancer on 26th November 1917 a day after her ship arrived in Newcastle Upon Tyne. Her body was taken home to Edinburgh, where she lay in state in state at St Giles Cathedral, an

unprecedented honour for a woman back then, it showed the high regard the people of Edinburgh held her in.

Elsie is buried in the city’s Dean Cemetery, three is also Elsie Inglis Memorial in north aisle of St Giles Cathedral Edinburgh.

The City of Edinburgh Council recently approved controversial plans for a statue of Dr. Elsie Inglis on the Royal Mile. The approval was contentious, with a protest and over 1,200 objections, but the council voted 7-2 in favour, overriding an officer's recommendation to lower the plinth. The statue, funded by donations, will be located at New Assembly Close.

The statue, by royal sculptor Alexander Stoddart, will be the first of a woman on the historic Royal Mile.

Artists criticised the decision, saying it was in direct opposition to the core beliefs of suffragist Dr Inglis. They claim the statue should have been designed by a woman and say there should be a plaque explaining her family wealth is linked to the slave trade.

They also object to the fact that the statue shows Dr Inglis is wearing her uniform for the Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Service - rather than showing her links to her work in Edinburgh.

City of Edinburgh Council has received 237 messages of objection to the statue, as well as 408 in support.

Find out more about the statue and it's controversy here https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c930nz200n1o

[wildwitchlady]

All the book's pages are blank.

[cvpsule]

It's really disrespectful not vote when people have died and starved for our right to vote. It's ignorant and lazy not to pay attention to politics. Don't complain to me about your low wages or prescription costs if you aren't politically active. There are people in other countries who don't have the privilege to have a voice.

[bonnie131313]

What the woman who labors wants is the right to live, not simply exist — the right to life as the rich woman has the right to life, and the sun and music and art. You have nothing that the humblest worker has not a right to have also. The worker must have bread, but she must have roses, too. 

Rose Schneiderman - 1912

[shadydreamerdonut]

AppleTV, please stop.

I cannot get through your trailer for the upcoming Emily Dickinson drama, even your abridged one without cringing. Please, stop. 

If you want a girl boss, make a biopic about Marry Wollstonecraft or Emmeline Pankhurst. (I’d recommend Anne Lister but she is already being thoughtfully portrayed) 

If you are looking for feminist writers, you have an endless selection! Virginia Woolf, Erica Jong, Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton and Susan Sontag to name a few!

Emily Dickinson has and never will be, a girl boss. Was she extraordinary? Yes. Was she unbelievably gifted? Yes. And were her talents unprecedented considering the overwhelming chauvinism and oppression of that time period? Also yes. -- But she never, by any means tried to overcome the patriarchy. 

“I’m going to be the best poet that ever lived.” No, no, no. Did she achieve this? Perhaps to some. She certainly became one of the most well known. But was that her ambition? NO, not by a long shot, you silly gillyflowers! 99.5% of the poems that she ever wrote, 1200 of them were not published until AFTER her death. Getting published or overcoming the odds was not her life’s ambition. 

Also she never was trying to surpass the oppression of her Father. Her Father actually supported the education of her and her sisters. But sure, I’ll give you a benefit of a doubt that he might have been misogynist towards her. 

*Cue scene of her dancing with friends, sneaking out to parties and flirting* ALSO NO. It’s strongly supported that she never dated, never wanted to get married and was incredibly introverted. To quote a book actually written about her, with an author who you know, actually did research 

“Evidence suggests that Dickinson lived much of her life in isolation. Considered an eccentric by locals, she developed a penchant for white clothing and was known for her reluctance to greet guests or, later in life, to even leave her bedroom. Dickinson never married, and most friendships between her and others depended entirely upon correspondence”

You’re probably thinking: But who would want to watch a film about a woman who suffered from depression and never left her room ? Who lived such reserved life? Actually, a lot of people. At least I would, because despite this -- she still left an incredibly legacy. One hardly rivaled in the world of literature. 

She was not outspoken nor did she ever probably feel safe to be that way. But no matter how quiet, mute she might have been in her every day life. The words that she wrote would deafen out even a lion’s roar. Or in this case, your film. 

[jaimedsworld]

Thank you @penguinrandomhouse for the book. Everyone should learn how the battle begun.

[michaelmoonsbookshop]

Votes for Women

unusual novelty postcard from the early 20th century - with a concertina of Images of Buxton hidden beneath the newspaper hoarding 

[scotianostra]

Agnes Forbes Blackadder was born on December 4th 1875 at Broughty Ferry, Dundee.

Agnes earned her Master of Arts degree in 1895 from the University of St. Andrews University, the first female to do so there. Soon after she began a medical degree at Queen Margaret College in the University of Glasgow, which had just recently begun awarding degrees to women. Agnes was one of first female medical students at Queen Margaret, cementing her role in paving the way for ambitious young women of this era. Agnes graduated with her MD in 1901, and married Thomas Dixon Savill (also a physician) the same year. Her marriage led her and Thomas to London, where she became a Consultant in Dermatology at St. John’s Hospital and a member of the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland.

Agnes gained experience in radiological work during this time, which would become immensely useful during World War I.In 1912 she was one of three distinguished doctors (the other two being male surgeons), who conducted an inquiry into the appalling treatment of women hunger strikers in prison and published papers on the subject.

During World War One, she went out to France for several work periods, joining the staff of the Scottish Women’s Hospitals,returning to her post in London when she could, usually in the winter when there was a lull in the fighting. Her great contribution was in making the best use of a state-of-the-art x-ray car which they had been given, courtesy of the French General Le Bon. She had an acute appreciation of the dangers and mechanisms of gas gangrene and worked hard to mitigate its effects with prompt diagnosis and treatment. Her studies of the x-ray appearances of the gangrene were pioneering. She trained staff and threw herself into the work so selflessly that in July 1918, during a particularly busy period, it was noted that she looked ill and ‘absolutely cavernous’.

While serving in France, Blackadder borrowed a pianola from Paris and installed it at the hospital. She noticed that both patients and staff benefited from playing it and listening to it and she later wrote a book about the importance of music to well-being. The book, Music, Health and Character, was published in 1923. It led to the establishment of the Council for Music in Hospitals. After the war, Blackadder returned to London and continued to practice medicine. She edited her husband's textbook, Savill's System of Clinical Medicine, which she completed in 1942. She also became interested in ancient history and in 1955 she published Alexander the Great and his Times. Agnes Blackadder died in London on 12 May 1964. Agnes also wrote a book about Alexander the Great

In October 2012 students of the University of St Andrews voted to honour Blackadder by renaming the university's largest hall of residence Agnes Blackadder Hall. The hall is the first student hall at St Andrews to be named after a woman.