Josephine Kamm – författare

The long and bitter struggle for the vote is certainly the most spectacular part of the history of women’s emancipation. Originally published in 1966 Rapiers and Battleaxes tells the story in its wider aspect and in terms of the pioneers in the various fields.

Just a hundred years previously – in 1866 – the first women’s suffrage committee was formed in London with the object of collecting signatures to petition for the enfranchisement of women which John Stuart Mill, MP for Westminster, had undertaken to present in Parliament. Prominent among the committee members were Barbara Bodichon, who had been active ten years earlier in the agitation for the Married Women’s Property Bill; Emily Davies, pioneer of higher education for women; and Elizabeth Garrett, who was the first woman to obtain a medical training in this country. Among the pioneers also are Mary Wollstonecraft, whose book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman sparked off the women’s movement; the philanthropist Angela Burdett-Coutts; the social reformers Mary Carpenter, Louisa Twining and Octavia Hill; Emma Paterson and her work for women’s trade unions; Sophia Jex-Blake, who forced an entry for women into the medical profession; and Josephine Butler and her courageous campaign for the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts. In the political field, of course, are Emmeline Pankhurst and her followers; and also Millicent Fawcett, Elizabeth Garrett’s younger sister, the statesmanlike leader of the constitutional suffragists, and Eleanor Rathbone, MP, her successor in the campaign for equal rights.

The story is brought up to date with the work of other women in Parliament and the appointment in 1965 of the first woman High Court Judge. And it points to the outstanding problem at the time, which was not so much lack of equal pay – although this still existed, particularly in trade and industry – but of equal opportunity. Subjects still being fought today, this reissue can be read in its historical context.

The long and bitter struggle for the vote is certainly the most spectacular part of the history of women’s emancipation. Originally published in 1966 Rapiers and Battleaxes tells the story in its wider aspect and in terms of the pioneers in the various fields.

Just a hundred years previously – in 1866 – the first women’s suffrage committee was formed in London with the object of collecting signatures to petition for the enfranchisement of women which John Stuart Mill, MP for Westminster, had undertaken to present in Parliament. Prominent among the committee members were Barbara Bodichon, who had been active ten years earlier in the agitation for the Married Women’s Property Bill; Emily Davies, pioneer of higher education for women; and Elizabeth Garrett, who was the first woman to obtain a medical training in this country. Among the pioneers also are Mary Wollstonecraft, whose book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman sparked off the women’s movement; the philanthropist Angela Burdett-Coutts; the social reformers Mary Carpenter, Louisa Twining and Octavia Hill; Emma Paterson and her work for women’s trade unions; Sophia Jex-Blake, who forced an entry for women into the medical profession; and Josephine Butler and her courageous campaign for the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts. In the political field, of course, are Emmeline Pankhurst and her followers; and also Millicent Fawcett, Elizabeth Garrett’s younger sister, the statesmanlike leader of the constitutional suffragists, and Eleanor Rathbone, MP, her successor in the campaign for equal rights.

The story is brought up to date with the work of other women in Parliament and the appointment in 1965 of the first woman High Court Judge. And it points to the outstanding problem at the time, which was not so much lack of equal pay – although this still existed, particularly in trade and industry – but of equal opportunity. Subjects still being fought today, this reissue can be read in its historical context.

Originally published in 1971,this volume is much more than a history of the Girls’ Public Day School Trust; it examines the growth of educational opportunities for girls and is set against a background of changing social attitudes and ideas. The book is mainly concerned with a small group of schools which pioneered girls’ education in the nineteenth century; schools which to this day, whether maintained, direct grant or independent are all concerned to provide the best possible educational opportunities for development and fulfilment to their pupils.

Originally published in 1971,this volume is much more than a history of the Girls’ Public Day School Trust; it examines the growth of educational opportunities for girls and is set against a background of changing social attitudes and ideas. The book is mainly concerned with a small group of schools which pioneered girls’ education in the nineteenth century; schools which to this day, whether maintained, direct grant or independent are all concerned to provide the best possible educational opportunities for development and fulfilment to their pupils.

Hope Deferred, initially published in 1965 traces the history of girls’ education from Anglo-Saxon England to modern times, telling the story largely through the leading personalities whose opinions and prejudices shaped this history. It outlines the progress of popular education and the work of the pioneers who fought to bring girls’ education at every level into line with boys’; and it carries the story into the second half of the twentieth-century to discuss the problem of whether girls are really receiving the right kind of education.

Hope Deferred, initially published in 1965 traces the history of girls’ education from Anglo-Saxon England to modern times, telling the story largely through the leading personalities whose opinions and prejudices shaped this history. It outlines the progress of popular education and the work of the pioneers who fought to bring girls’ education at every level into line with boys’; and it carries the story into the second half of the twentieth-century to discuss the problem of whether girls are really receiving the right kind of education.

Frances Mary Buss, who began her teaching career at fourteen, was only twenty-three when she founded the North London Collegiate School, the forerunner and model of Girls’ High Schools throughout the country. Her friend Dorothea Beale was for nearly fifty years Principal of Cheltenham Ladies College, which she changed from an insignificant local school into a school and college with a comprehensive teacher training department and with upwards of a thousand pupils. She was also the founder of St.Hilda’s College, Oxford. Imbued with strong religious principles and endowed with immense energy and industry, the two women exercised a powerful influence on the development of women’s education in Britain. Yet both had to contend with bitter opposition and disillusionment. This is the first joint biography of Miss Buss and Miss Beale and it gives a fascinating comparison of their methods and widely differing characters. The author had access to hitherto unpublished material, and gathered information from pupils of both schools and from others who knew the two headmistresses, ensuring that the book, whilst full of anecdotes, is also authoritative.

Frances Mary Buss, who began her teaching career at fourteen, was only twenty-three when she founded the North London Collegiate School, the forerunner and model of Girls’ High Schools throughout the country. Her friend Dorothea Beale was for nearly fifty years Principal of Cheltenham Ladies College, which she changed from an insignificant local school into a school and college with a comprehensive teacher training department and with upwards of a thousand pupils. She was also the founder of St.Hilda’s College, Oxford. Imbued with strong religious principles and endowed with immense energy and industry, the two women exercised a powerful influence on the development of women’s education in Britain. Yet both had to contend with bitter opposition and disillusionment. This is the first joint biography of Miss Buss and Miss Beale and it gives a fascinating comparison of their methods and widely differing characters. The author had access to hitherto unpublished material, and gathered information from pupils of both schools and from others who knew the two headmistresses, ensuring that the book, whilst full of anecdotes, is also authoritative.