Rare suffragette hunger strike medals go on display in Glasgow

Glasgow Women’s Library’s new exhibition, We Deserve a Medal: Militant Suffrage Activism, will also include medals awarded to Glasgow sisters Frances and Margaret McPhun, who were jailed for smashing windows in London in 1912 as part of the suffrage movement.

Frances McPhun, third from right (Image: Newsquest)

The museum successfully bid for Maud Joachim’s medal, which hangs on a length of ribbon in the colours of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), after more than 500 people donated to a crowdfunding appeal which raised £28,500.

Maud was arrested in Dundee in October 1909, along with Adela Pankhurst, a daughter of Emmeline Pankhurst, and four others for interrupting a meeting led by Winston Churchill. When interviewed later, he called them “a band of silly, neurotic, hysterical women.”

Sue John, co-director of Glasgow Women’s Library said the successful appeal was an “astounding demonstration of support for GWL’s work.”

Maud's medal (Image: Glasgow Women's Library)

She added: “We knew that raising the money would be a challenge, but we did it! This is exceptional crowd-source fundraising, and we would like to thank everyone who donated for their generosity.

“It was a privilege to finally hold Maud’s medal - such a small and humble item, but with huge significance in suffrage history. It was an emotional moment, and a reminder of the bravery of generations before us. Maud’s medal will be treasured at Glasgow Women’s Library.”

The WSPU began awarding medals in 1909, in recognition of suffragettes who had gone on hunger strike or were force-fed while in prison for a militant act as part of the ‘votes for women’ campaign.  The medals are extremely rare.

One of the postcards in the collection (Image: Glasgow Women's Library)

The new exhibition, which starts on Thursday, February 1, will honour suffrage activists, many of whom were arrested, imprisoned and force-fed as a result of “militant” actions which divided public opinion. The GWL women's suffrage collection comprises more than 250 individual items, including posters, objects, ephemera and artworks.

Margaret McPhun (Image: Newsquest)

Representing the Joachim family, who supported the GWL appeal, Reverend Dr Margaret Joachim, MBE, said: “Maud Joachim was one of the magnificent band who campaigned fearlessly and often at great personal cost for women to be able to vote.

"Helping to secure her hunger strike medal for the library is an acknowledgement of the rights she helped to secure for us – and a personal thank you for my own life-long involvement in politics.”

We Deserve a Medal: Militant Suffrage Activism will run at Glasgow Women’s Library in Bridgeton until May 31.