Open Door Council

Last updated

The Open Door Council, established in May 1926, was a British organisation pressing for equal economic opportunities for women. It opposed the extension of 'protective legislation' for women, regarding such legislation as 'restrictive' and arguing that it effectively barred women from better-paid jobs such as mining. [1] In 1929 an international version was established, Open Door International, with Chrystal Macmillan serving as president until her death in 1937.

Mining The extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef or placer deposit. These deposits form a mineralized package that is of economic interest to the miner.

Chrystal Macmillan British feminist and pacifist

Jessie Chrystal Macmillan was a Scottish Liberal politician, barrister, feminist and pacifist, and the first female science graduate from the University of Edinburgh as well as that institution's first female honours graduate in mathematics. She was an activist for women's right to vote, and for other women's causes. She was the first woman to plead a case before the House of Lords, and was one of the founders of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.

The Open Door Council was established by Lady Rhondda of the Six Point Group, Elizabeth Abbott of NUSEC, Sarah Clegg (died 1931) of the London Society for Women's Service, Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence of the Women's Freedom League and Virginia Crawford of the St Joan's Social and Political Alliance. [2] Membership of the Open Door Council overlapped considerably with that of the Six Point Group. [1]

The Six Point Group was a British feminist campaign group founded by Lady Rhondda in 1921 to press for changes in the law of the United Kingdom in six areas.

Wilhelmina Hay Abbott, also known by the name "Elizabeth Abbott," was a Scottish suffragist, editor, and feminist lecturer, and wife of author George Frederick Abbott.

The organisation continued until 1965. [1]

Papers relating to the Open Door Council are held at the Women's Library. [3]

Womens Library Library and museum resource on women and the womens movement

The Women's Library @ LSE is England's main library and museum resource on women and the women's movement, concentrating on Britain in the 19th and 20th centuries. It has an institutional history as a coherent collection dating back to the mid-1920s, although its "core" collection dates from a library established by Ruth Cavendish Bentinck in 1909. Since 2013, the library has been in the custody of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), which manages the collection as part of the British Library of Political and Economic Science in a dedicated area known as the Women's Library @ LSE.

Related Research Articles

League of Nations 20th-century intergovernmental organisation, predecessor to the United Nations

The League of Nations, abbreviated as LN or LoN, was an intergovernmental organisation founded on 10 January 1920 as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. Its primary goals, as stated in its Covenant, included preventing wars through collective security and disarmament and settling international disputes through negotiation and arbitration. Other issues in this and related treaties included labour conditions, just treatment of native inhabitants, human and drug trafficking, the arms trade, global health, prisoners of war, and protection of minorities in Europe. At its greatest extent from 28 September 1934 to 23 February 1935, it had 58 members.

Royal charter Document issued by a monarch, granting a right or power to an individual or organisation

A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the British Magna Carta of 1215, but since the 14th century have only been used in place of private acts to grant a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organisations such as boroughs, universities and learned societies.

Scottish Trades Union Congress

The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) is the national trade union centre in Scotland. With 39 affiliated unions as of 2007, the STUC represents around 630,000 trade unionists.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) is a British charity that aims to save lives and prevent life-changing injuries which occur as a result of accidents. In the past, it has successfully campaigned on issues of road safety, including playing an integral role in the introduction of drink-drive legislation, the compulsory wearing of seatbelts and the ban on handheld mobile phones while driving, as well as on issues of occupational health and safety.

British Dental Association professional body for dentists in the United Kingdom

The British Dental Association (BDA) is the professional association and registered trade union organisation for dentists in the United Kingdom.

The National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), also known as the suffragists was an organisation of women's suffrage societies around the United Kingdom.

Womens Liberal Federation

The Women's Liberal Federation was an organisation that was part of the Liberal Party in the United Kingdom.

The National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS) is a national, not-for-profit, animal welfare organisation, based in London, that actively campaigns against animal testing for commercial, educational or scientific research purposes.

The Sumac Centre is an independent community and social centre in Nottingham, UK. It is a secondary co-operative and a member of Radical Routes. It provides resources, meeting spaces and workshops for groups and individuals. It supports campaigning for human rights, animal rights, the environment, peace and co-operation worldwide. It is part of the UK Social Centre Network. Veggies is based at the centre.

The World Young Women's Christian Association is a movement working for the empowerment, leadership and rights of women, young women and girls in more than 120 countries. The members and supporters include women from many different faiths, ages, backgrounds, beliefs and cultures. Their common goal is that

[B]y 2035, 100 million young women and girls will transform power structures to create justice, gender equality and a world without violence and war; leading a sustainable YWCA movement, inclusive of all women.

Sybil Morrison British pacifist

Sybil Morrison was a British pacifist and a suffragist as well as being active with several other radical causes.

The International Socialist Group (ISG) was a Trotskyist organisation in Britain. It was the British section of the Fourth International (FI) until July 2009 when it dissolved into Socialist Resistance.

London Trades Council

The London Trades Council was an early labour organisation, uniting London's trade unionists. Its modern successor organisation is the Greater London Association of Trades (Union) Councils

International Workingmens Association

The International Workingmen's Association (IWA), often called the First International (1864–1876), was an international organisation which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing socialist, communist and anarchist groups and trade unions that were based on the working class and class struggle. It was founded in 1864 in a workmen's meeting held in St. Martin's Hall, London. Its first congress was held in 1866 in Geneva.

Helen Archdale Feminist and journalist

Helen Alexander Archdale was a Scottish feminist, suffragette and journalist. Archdale was the Sheffield branch organiser for the Women's Social and Political Union and later its prisoners' secretary in London.

Marian Reeves was a British feminist activist.

The Glasgow and West of Scotland Association for Women’s Suffrage was an organisation involved in campaigning for women’s suffrage, based in Glasgow, with members from all over the west of Scotland.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Gordon, Peter; Doughan, David (2001). "Open Door Council". Dictionary of British Women's Organisations, 1825-1960. London & Portland, Or.: Woburn Press. pp. 115–6. ISBN   0-7130-0223-9.
  2. ↑ Open Door Council at the Women's Library
  3. ↑ Collection: Open Door Council
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.