The fight for women’s suffrage in the UK grew and gained momentum throughout the Victorian era. WSPU activists, known as suffragettes, engaged in all sorts of law-breaking activities to raise the profile of the movement. At the time, these actions were considered shocking and divided public opinion, but suffragettes remained resolute. Thousands were arrested, imprisoned and force-fed.
Online Exhibitions
Online exhibitions featuring material from our collections and/or based on live exhibitions held at GWL
Life Support – Olivia Plender
Life Support: Forms of Care in Art and Activism considered how artists and activists have addressed and challenged experiences of care, health, education, housing and home life. This online exhibition represents the portion of Life Support by artist Olivia Plender, who was commissioned for this project by GWL.
Book Launch Timeline
This timeline is a work in progress. We are gradually working our way back through past programmes to create a record of all the books launched at GWL since we opened our doors in 1991.
OUT in the Archive
Three Decades of Changing Minds Glasgow Women’s Library (launched in 1991), and Women in Profile (the organisation that GWL grew from), involved LGBTQ+ people right from inception in 1987. For […]
Life Support: Forms of Care in Art and Activism
How have individuals and collectives imagined alternative ways of living and organising? Inspired by our communities and collections, Life Support considers how artists and activists have addressed and challenged experiences […]
Weemin’s Wark
The Weemin’s Wark (Shetland dialect Women’s Work) exhibition and collaborative project (November 2020 – May 2021) aims to increase the visibility of women’s contribution to contemporary island culture by […]
Collecting in the Time of Coronavirus
As the UK-wide lockdown began on 23rd March, the Glasgow Women’s Library team was already working from home. Amazingly, our museum and archive collections continued to grow. Throughout lockdown, thoughtful first-time donors and long-time champions got in touch. All were keen to preserve part of their personal histories at this momentous time.
Postcards and the Fight for Women’s Suffrage
The GWL collections feature a wide variety of books and objects relating to the Suffrage movement but our range of postcards is arguably the most visually arresting. Both for and against women’s suffrage, they have pictures and slogans that are often shocking and grotesque.
Agnes Owens as seen through objects from the Glasgow Women’s Library Collections
Explore the life of Agnes Owens through objects from the Glasgow Women’s Library Archive and Museum collections.
Janet Paisley as seen through objects from the Glasgow Women’s Library Collections
Explore the life of Janet Paisley through objects from the Glasgow Women’s Library Archive and Museum collections.