Pankhurst, Christabel (1880-1958), was a leader of the suffragist movement to grant British women voting rights. In 1903, along with her mother, Emmeline Goulden Pankhurst , she founded the Women’s Social and Political Union. Christabel’s sister, Sylvia, was also active in the movement.
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The Pankhursts were known as suffragettes. Suffragette was a term used in the early 1900’s to describe members of the women’s right-to-vote movement, particularly those in the United Kingdom who used militant tactics, as the Pankhursts did. The Pankhursts’ campaigns included hunger strikes and active disruption of political party meetings. Their slogan was “Deeds Not Words.” Christabel Pankhurst was imprisoned three times for her militant actions. During World War I (1914-1918), the suffrage campaigners turned their attention to helping the British war effort. In 1918, women over the age of 30 who met certain income and property requirements gained the right to vote. That year, Christabel Pankhurst campaigned unsuccessfully for a parliamentary seat. In 1928, women gained voting rights equal to those of men.
Christabel Harriette Pankhurst was born in Manchester , England, on Sept. 22, 1880. She received a law degree from Victoria University (now the University of Manchester ). Pankhurst moved to to the United States in 1921. She became a Christian evangelist in her later years and wrote several books on religious topics. She was named a dame commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1936. Pankhurst died near Los Angeles on Feb. 13, 1958.
See also Women’s movement .
