Name/TitleBadge: SCWG
About this objectLong-stemmed pin badge topped with an enamelled thistle and the initials S.C.W.G. (Scottish Co-operative Women's Guild).
MakerScottish Co-operative Women's Guild
Medium and MaterialsInorganic, metal
Subject and Association KeywordsWomen's Guild
Subject and Association KeywordsCo-operative movement
Subject and Association Keywordswomen's organisations
Subject and Association Descriptionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co-operative_Women's_Guild:
The Co-operative Women's Guild, founded in 1883, was an auxiliary organisation of the co-operative movement in the United Kingdom that promoted women in co-operative structures and provided social and other services to its members. It was known for the eugenics advocacy of its members. The guild was founded in 1883 by Alice Acland, who edited the "Women's Corner" of the Co-operative News, and Mary Lawrenson, a teacher who suggested the creation of an organization to promote instructional and recreational classes for mothers and girls. Acland began organizing a Women's League for the Spread of Co-operation, which held its first formal meeting of 50 women at the 1883 Co-operative Congress in Edinburgh and established local branches. It began as an organization dedicated to spreading the co-operative movement, but soon expanded beyond the retail-based focus of the movement to organizing political campaigns on women's issues including health and suffrage. Annie Williams, a suffragette organiser for the Women's Social and Political Union in Newcastle found in 1910 that "Co-operative women are very keen to know about 'Votes for Women'."
In 1884, the league changed its name to the Women's Co-operative Guild and later to the Co-operative Women's Guild. In 1899, Margaret Llewelyn Davies was elected general secretary of the Guild and was widely credited with greatly increasing the success of the Guild.[4] By 1910, it had 32,000 members. Maternity benefits were included in the National Insurance Act 1911 because of the guild's pressure. The guild became more politically active, and expanded its work beyond the British Isles; their objectives included the establishment of minimum wages and maternity benefits, and in April 1914 they were involved in an International Women's Congress at The Hague, which passed a resolution totally opposing war ... In July 1931 the Women's Co-operative Guild at their conference passed a resolution advocating compulsory sterilisation for the mentally or physically unfit. After World War I, the guild became more involved in peace activism, concentrating especially on the social and political conditions that encouraged or gave rise to war, as well as opposition to the arms trade. In 1933 they introduced the White Poppy as a pacifist alternative to the British Legion's annual red poppy appeal. At this time membership of the guild was at its peak, with 1,500 branches and 72,000 members. The guild continued with several local branches, although it did not have the visibility within the co-operative movement that it once did. It closed after 133 years on 25 June 2016.
https://sites.scran.ac.uk/shelf/learn/12.php:
The co-operative ventures began in Scotland during the first half of the 19th century. By 1900 co-operative societies were everywhere, from the largest cities to villages so small that they were barely mentioned on the map. They appealed to main the wives of working class men, encouraged by the financial benefits of the dividend and the idea that they were taking part in a social revolution. Despite their loyalty to the movement, however, these women had no say in how it was run. At that time working class women were, to a large extent, without a voice. They had no vote and outlets for their thoughts on matters regarding their social and financial well-being were very limited. The suffrage movement tended to be restricted to the middle classes. Friendly societies, libraries, improvement societies and Institutes provided a financial safety net and meeting place for the working man. A commentator, Evelyn Sharp, would later note that women "had no recognised rights of [their] own, no independence, and no cultural leisure."The first proposal to form a Women's Co-operative League was put forward in Edinburgh in 1883. Nine years later the first branch of the Scottish Co-operative Women's Guild opened. Within three years there were 14 branches with almost 1,500 members. Growth continued unabated around 1947, by which time there were 484 branches with over 43,000 members [continues].
Named CollectionGlasgow Women's Library
Object TypeBadge
Object numberGWL-2013-51-3
Copyright LicenceAll rights reserved