Women's Library - History

History

The Women's Library @ LSE's origin derives from the London National Society for Women's Suffrage, a women's suffrage organization established in 1867. The library was first formally organised in the 1920s, with the first Librarian, Vera Douie, appointed on 1 January 1926. At this time, and for many years afterward, it was called the Women's Service Library, in accordance with the name of the society which since the outbreak of World War I had been called the London Society for Women's Service. Vera Douie remained in post for 41 years, during which time she took a small but interesting society library and turned it into a major resource with an international reputation.

It was originally housed in a converted public house in Marsham Street, Westminster, which in the 1930s was developed into Women's Service House, a major women's centre within walking distance of Parliament. Members of the society and library included writers such as Vera Brittain and Virginia Woolf, as well as politicians, most notably Eleanor Rathbone. Woolf wrote about the Library to Ethel Smyth: "I think it is almost the only satisfactory deposit for stray guineas".

During World War II it suffered bomb damage, and the library had no permanent home until 1957, when it moved to Wilfred Street near Victoria railway station. By this time, the society and library had changed their names to the Fawcett Society and the Fawcett Library, in commemoration of the non-militant suffrage leader Millicent Garrett Fawcett, and of her daughter, Philippa Fawcett, an influential educationist and financial supporter of the society.

In the 1970s the society found it increasingly difficult to maintain the library. It was rescued by the then City of London Polytechnic (now London Metropolitan University) in 1977. It then spent the best part of 25 years in a cramped basement increasingly liable to flooding, while increasing considerably its stock, its user base and its contacts with other such resources both nationally and internationally.

It became increasingly apparent that these facilities were not adequate to store a collection of such significance, and a project was launched to improve the housing of the material and increase access to the Library by members of the general public. In 1998 the Heritage Lottery Fund awarded a grant of £4.2 million to the then London Guildhall University for a new building to house the collections on the site of the old East End wash houses in Old Castle Street, Aldgate, London E1. Changing its name from the "Fawcett Library" to "The Women's Library", the new institution opened to the public in February 2002. Its new purpose-built home by Wright & Wright Architects, encompassing a reading room, an exhibition hall, several education spaces, and specialist collection storage, was the recipient of an award from the Royal Institute of British Architects.

Since 2002, The Women's Library has hosted a changing programme of exhibitions in its museum space; topics have included women's suffrage, beauty queens, office work, 1980s politics, women's liberation, women's work, and women's domestic crafts. Its exhibition and education programme on prostitution was long-listed for the 2007 Gulbenkian Prize. It has held public talks, shown films, run reading groups and short courses, offered guided tours, and worked with schools and community groups. Its Reading Room is free to use and open to everyone, male and female.

Three individuals have been recognised by the UK honours system for their work with the Library: Vera Douie OBE; David Doughan MBE (Services to Women's Studies); and Jean Florence Holder MBE (For voluntary service to the Women's Library).