Women Are Taking to the Streets to Save London's Beloved Feminist Library | by Mari Shibata

Women's Studies | Archives | Feminism

February 26, 2017

 

Around a hundred women gathered in London on Wednesday to protest the possible eviction of the Feminist Library, one of the most beloved and culturally significant archives of women's history in the UK. Armed with books written by women and banners to save the library and 'herstory,' the protesters took the solitary activity of reading to the streets.

According to historians, the Library is essentially irreplaceable.Opened in 1975 in Southwark, south London, the historic archive focuses its efforts on preserving rare materials of the second-wave movement from the late 1960s to the 1990s, with an aim to bridge the gap from the Suffragettes to contemporary feminism.

"I used the Feminist Library for research my PhD, which has resulted in my recently published book, Race, Ethnicity and the Women's Movement in England," said Dr. Natalie Thompson, a historian at the University of Wolverhampton. "Without a doubt, I would not have been able to write my book without using the unique archival resources of the Feminist Library. Its loss would represent an unimaginable blow to future generations of historians." Read more...