Women teachers were key players in twentieth century feminism. They fought for women's suffrage before the First World War and continued their vigorous campaigns for equal pay, equal promotion opportunities and abolition of the marriage bar into the less promising political environment of the 1920s and 1930s. This book is the first to offer a detailed assessment of why women teachers were so politically active, and makes an important contribution to the literature on women's politicisation. Drawing on interviews with women teachers (in state elementary and secondary schools) as well as the records of teachers' associations and central and local government, it explores the tensions in the relationship between their position at the workplace and their family lives and unravels the connections and dissonances between how they saw themselves as both women and professional teachers.

This collection of new essays recovers and explores a neglected archive of women's print media and dispels the myth of the interwar decades as a retreat to 'home and duty' for women.

Women in Teacher Training Colleges, 1900-1960 is an intricate and fascinating investigation of the lives and experiences of women in these important educational institutions of the early twentieth century. The book provides an overview of the historical context of the development of the colleges, using detailed case studies of three colleges: Homerton, Avery Hill and Bishop Otter. Drawing on a wealth of archival material, primary and secondary sources, and on the oral testimonies of former pupils and staff, the book examines the following key themes: *the changing social class of women students *the colleges culture of femininity drawn from the family organization and social practices of the middle-class home *the conflicting public and private roles of the woman principal *the role of the college staff and the residential context of college life *women's sexuality *the last days of the womens colleges.Women in Teacher Training Colleges, 1900-1960 is an essential contribution to women's history and gives a unique insight into this neglected aspect of women's experiences in the twentieth century.

The book fills an extraordinary gap in the published history of schooling in the twentieth century: nowhere is the voice of the teacher, telling his or her own story, to be heard. Their testimony is set alongside more conventional documentary.

Women's Legal Landmarks in the Interwar Years shines new light on 33 legal landmarks, many forgotten today, that affected women in England and Wales between 1918 and 1939. It considers the work of feminist activists to bring about legal change which benefited – or aimed to benefit – women. Areas explored include property, inheritance, adoption, marriage, access to health care, criminal law, employment opportunities, pay, pensions and political representation. It also examines campaigns by key women's organisations, and assesses the impact of early women lawyers and politicians. While some of the landmarks effected change during this period, others provided the foundation for measures in later decades. Together the landmarks demonstrate that far from being a relatively quiet period of British feminism, the interwar period played a key role in ongoing fights for recognition, representation and justice.

In historical writing the interwar years are often associated with the rise of extreme forms of nationalism. Yet paradoxically this period also saw significant advances in the development of internationalism and international-mindedness. This collection examines previously under-researched aspects of the role played by women’s movements and individual female activists in this process. Women campaigners contributed to, and helped to (re)define, what constituted international work in myriad ways. For some, particularly those coming from a radical pacifist background, the central theme after 1919 was the eradication of war and the preservation of world peace. Yet others were more interested in the sharing of medical knowledge across borders, in the promotion of new causes such as physical fitness or the cultural assimilation of immigrants, or in finding fresh and innovative ways of battling for old causes, such as female suffrage and women’s access to education. It was even possible for nationalist women to use the language and practices of internationalism to further their own conservative, illiberal or anti-communist agendas, or to argue for revision of the peace treaties of 1919-20. The volume addresses these different kinds of activism, and the many links between them, by way of particular examples. This book was originally published as a special issue of Women’s History Review.

Considering the role of women as educational policy-makers, and in particular focusing on 29 women members of the London School Board, this book examines the link between private lives and public practice in Victorian and Edwardian England. These political activists were among the first women in England to be elected to positions of political responsibility. Key concerns in the book are issues such as gender and power, and gender and welfare.