Abstract
The reactions of the various factions of the women’s movement to the coming of war in August 1914 emphasised their differing perceptions of women’s needs. The WSPU rapidly dropped its militant stance in favour of wholehearted support for the war effort, encouraging men to enlist and women to work as noncombatants.1 The Women’s Freedom League (WFL), a less militant offshoot of the WSPU,2 concentrated on assisting women and children of poor families, as the outbreak of war, combined with earlier hoarding of food, had resulted in an immediate rise in prices. The cost of a loaf of bread almost doubled within a week of the start of the war.3 The WFL set up the Nine Elms Settlement in south west London, where children were served 1d or ½d dinners of vegetarian soup and large slices of pudding, which they could either eat at the Settlement or take home. The Settlement also distributed cheap or free milk.4 Sylvia Pankhurst’s East London Federation (ELF), originally part of the WSPU but expelled for its active involvement of men and working-class women, opened a series of cheap restaurants in London.5 The first, a converted pub in Bow, east London, opened at the end of August 1914. ‘The Mothers Arms’, previously ‘The Gunmakers Arms’, served two-course meals for adults and children costing 2d and 1d respectively. By October, similar welfare centres had been opened in Poplar, Bromley and Canning Town.6
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Notes and References
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© 1988 Lynn F. Pearson
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Pearson, L.F. (1988). Communal Living and the War. In: The Architectural and Social History of Cooperative Living. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-19122-2_8
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