Showing 43 results

Authority record
Take Root
TR · Corporate body · 1993 - 2000s

Take Root was a self-build group which existed from 1993 to the early 2000s. It was formed from staff from the Glasgow Women’s Library and aimed to provide women on low income, and in need of housing, the opportunity to build their own homes. It followed the work of Walter Seagal, the architect who pioneered easy-to-build, cheap houses with timber frames.

NWN1 · Corporate body · 1985 - 2000

The National Women’s Network for International Solidarity (NWN) was a feminist networking group focused on facilitating contact for women concerned with international issues. The network was formed in 1985 during the run up to the Third World Conference in Nairobi, and was officially established in 1995. It was a non-profit organisation coordinated by volunteers and funded by grants and membership subscriptions. It aimed to connect women’s groups and individuals, and promote feminist solidarity for women’s organisations in the UK and abroad. The network also campaigned for change in the policies of governments, aid agencies and other institutions. The group dissolved in 2000 due to lack of finance.

LO1 · Corporate body · 1975-1985

The London Lesbian Offensive Group (L.L.O.G.) was a feminist lesbian activist group focussed on contesting anti-lesbianism. It was officially formed after strong interest shown at the 1982 Lesbian Conference workshop called “On Anti-Lesbian in the WLM”. It was comprised of women with differing feminist politics, all concerned with the prevalence of anti-lesbianism, and sought to prove the anti-lesbianism should be identified as political oppression. There was also a strong focus on the treatment of lesbian mothers, as most of the core members were mothers themselves. They held meetings and workshops for other women to attend, wrote articles and collaborated with other lesbian activist groups, and held discussions considering the Women’s Liberation Movement and its impact on lesbian women.

KM1 · Person · 1912 - 2008

Katharine Morton (1912 – 2008) was an architect and conservation activist. She grew up in the Lake District with her father Sir Samuel Haslam Scott, an important figure in the National Trust for conservation in the Lake District, and showed a talent for drawing from an early age. During this time, it was not conventional for women to have a career, and as such she didn’t start training until 1937. She qualified as an architect during WW2, as well as marrying her husband in 1944. Together they moved to Carlisle where Katharine became involved with Care of Churches work for the Carlisle Diocese and committee work for the National Trust. They moved to London in 1976, and remained until her husband died in 1987, whereupon she moved to St Johns Wood and continued to work and travel. She was regularly involved in community groups such as the Girl Guides, as well as giving lectures, most notably for interior design. Katharine was also an avid sailing and skiing fan, and spent much of her life indulging in the pastimes. She passed away in her flat in 2008 under the care of her daughter and live-in carer.

KC1 · Person · 1950 -

Kate Charlesworth is a cartoonist and artist who has regularly contributed to LGBT and equality campaigns with her art. In 1988, when Clause 28 of the Local Government Act was pushing to ban the promotion of and education about homosexuality, she and three other local cartoonists produced a series of postcards to campaign against it. Her work has appeared in LGBT publications such as “The Pink Paper”, “Gay News”, “Strip AIDS”, and “Dyke’s Delight”, as well as “The Guardian”, “The Independent” and “New Internationalist”. She has also illustrated multiple books, including The Cartoon History of Time (2013), All That – the Other Half of History (1986), and Sally Heathcote: Suffragette (2014). Further, she has done work for the National Association of Local Government Officers (NALGO), a union which merged with two others to form UNISON in 1993. Her work has appeared in several exhibitions, including Rainbow City in 2006, and sh[OUT] in 2009. Her autobiography, Sensible Footwear: A Girl’s Guide, was published in 2019, and explores the evolution of LGBT experiences and perceptions in society from the 1950s to present day. She is openly lesbian, and currently lives with her partner in Scotland.

JM 1 · Person · 1936 - present

Jessie McKirdy (1936 - present) is a peace activist who was born in Scotland and has lived in the USA since 1997. She was a member of the Glasgow Women for Peace in Glasgow in the 1980’s protesting against nuclear armaments being deployed in Scotland. As part of this, she attended the Greenham Commons Women’s Peace Camp on December 12th, 1982. Following the closure of the camp in 2000 to make way for the memorial site, McKirdy put together the papers she had kept on the Greenham Commons camp, including photographs and newspaper clippings.

Josephine Butler Society
JBS1 · Corporate body · 1962 - present

The Josephine Butler Society, originally known as the Ladies National Association (LNA), was founded by Josephine Butler (1828 – 1906), and was created in order to oppose the Contagious Disease Acts of 1864, 1866 and 1869. These Acts focussed on suppressing venereal disease in the armed forces. The 1869 act controversially forced women suspected of being a prostitute to be examined and, if found to be infected, be quarantined for up to three months. The LNA campaigned against such measures, and in 1886 the Contagious Diseases Acts were repealed. The LNA further campaigned against sex trafficking and child prostitution, and it was their efforts that raised the age of consent to 16 in 1885, as well as introducing measures to suppress brothels and prevent trafficking. In 1915, the LNA joined with the British Branch of the International Abolitionist Federation (IAF), also founded by Josephine Butler, to become the Association for Moral and Social Hygiene (AMSH). The society took Josephine Butler’s name in 1962. The society acts to this day as a pressure group campaigning against the legalisation of prostitution, the trafficking of women and the marginalisation of those vulnerable to being forced into the profession.

GB1534 BM1 · Person · c.1920s-2010s

Barbara Robertson MacKinnon was born on the Isle of Skye. Her first language was Gaelic. She trained at the Royal Infirmary in Greenock in 1943 and worked there until 1947. She then worked at the Bellshill Maternity Hospital from October 1948 to November 1949. She was a district nurse from January 1953 to May 1953 and then became a Staff Nurse at the Infirmary in Greenock from October 1947 to October 1948. After this, she worked at a number of hospitals and as a district nurse in several areas in Scotland, including hospitals in Inverness, Moray and Nairn, John Martin Hospital on the Isle of Skye, Argyll and Bute, Dr Grays Hopsital in Moray, and the Orkney Islands. She finished her career by working at the Nursing Offices in Orkney until 1981.

GB 1543 WCR1 · Corporate body · 1989-1996

Following the end of the United Nations decade on women in 1985, a working party exploring the position of women in church was set up in Scotland. On 19 March 1988 an open meeting was held at which Sister Mary Kilpatrick, Secretary Justice and Peace Commission and Mary Shanahan, a Roman Catholic and experienced educational worker, spoke. A year later in 1989, with financial support from the Falkland Community Trust, the Women's Church Resource Group's centre was launched at 15d Hill Street, Glasgow. Co-ordinated by Mary Shanahan and supported by a group of about thirty women, including Pat MacEachan, Honor Hania, Betty Campbell, Kathie Walsh and Barnie Pugh, the WCRG's aim was to support and develop the understanding of the role of women in church and society through training, study, employment and support. On 16 May, 1996 the last steering group meeting was held and two years later the papers, books and resources of the group were donated to Glasgow Women's Library.