The 2018 lecture took place on Saturday 11 August at Wortley Hall, near Sheffield

Sheila Hanlon: Cycling to Suffrage

Here is a link to the really interesting blog by Sheila based on her presentation!

In this illustrated lecture, Dr Sheila Hanlon traced the history and politics of women’s cycling from Victorian times to today. The talk focussed on the integration of the bicycle into the Edwardian suffrage campaign as a form of transportation, protest and spectacle. Sylvia Pankhurst, an avid cyclist, was at the centre of the narrative from her early days learning to ride with the Clarion Cycling Club to the adaptation of the bicycle into the battle for the vote for women and beyond. We rode along with lady cyclists from the golden age of the tricycle to the everyday use of safety bicycles with a few surprises along the way.

Dr Sheila Hanlon is an historian specialising in the history of women’s cycling, particularly as it intersects gender politics from Victorian times to today. She completed her PhD at York University, Toronto and held a Vera Douie Research Fellowship at The Women’s Library. Her research has been featured on BBC radio and TV, and published in journals and magazines. Much of her work focuses on the importance of bicycles to the Edwardian suffrage campaign. She also brings history to modern cycling advocacy, working with a number of organisations such as CyclingUK.

Sponsored by the Sylvia Pankhurst Memorial Committee, the National Assembly of Women, and Wortley Hall. The lecture was be followed by light refreshments and further conversation