The
Pankhurst Centre Above is a photograph of
the Pankhurst Centre in early 2010. Below is an
image of the house in the 1960s. It was taken by
Pauline Leech and generously donated by Chetham's
Library, where Pauline worked for many years.
 The Pankhurst Centre
stands on Nelson Street completely surrounded by the
buildings of the University of Manchester, the
Manchester Royal Infirmary and the Royal Eye
Hospital. Number 62 Nelson Street, on the left,
was home to Emmeline Pankhurst and here daughters
Crystabel, Sylvia and Adela between 1897 and 1907.
 The Centre provides
a heritage area open to all and a women-only space
that is a unique environment in which women can
learn together, work on projects and
socialise. A website about the centre says
that it "is a living memorial to the Pankhurst
Women and incorporates a reading/reference
area with books, magazines, newspapers and
memorabilia from the suffrage period onwards lots
of useful information on women's issues, women's
history and the campaign for votes for women, an
exhibition room and a parlour, recreated as it may
have been during the time the Pankhurst family
lived here."
  In 1889, Emmeline Pankhurst founded the Women's Franchise League, which campaigned to allow married women to vote in local elections. In 1903, she helped found the Women's Social and Political Union. The WSPU employed direct action and the members were christened 'suffragettes'. Daughters Sylvia and Christabel were active members. In Collyhurst three tower blocks have been refurbished by "Urban North" and renamed Sylvia, Christabel and Emmeline in honour of the Pankhursts.  Close Window |