Alice Hawkins - Leicester Suffragette

Suffragettes seemed exclusive to London, until Leicester boot and shoe worker Alice Hawkins (www.alicesuffra...) became involved. Arrested in 1907 on a Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) demonstration, she returned to Leicester to set up a local WSPU branch. She campaigned tirelessly for women's rights and votes through the first part of the 20th century. The Leicester Evening Mail reported Alice's death prominently on its front page on 12 March 1946, the headline reading, "City Suffragette dead: Jailed five times in fight for women's vote". A working class hero, this presentation by her great grandson Peter Barratt, brings her story as a Suffragette to life. Barratt gave the presentation at the Secular Hall in Leicester as part of Everybody's Reading 2012 ( / 219448068080875 .