Welcome to the Chronology of the WLM in Britain
1965-1979

The Chronology presented here is an updated and expanded version of our original paper-format compilation. Wherever possible, we have tried to link to additional materials available on the internet, as well as to digital copies of materials available in the archive itself. We also hold a collection of Oral History Interviews from women active in the WLM in Leeds and Bradford.

Navigating through the Chronology can easily be accomplished by using the dates at the top of the page. Alternately, there are ‘Previous’ and ‘Next’ options at the top of each page. Following these will take you page by page through the entire document.

A quick browse through the origin and the organisation of the chronology may also be helpful before you begin.

Something to share?

Feminist Archive North gratefully welcomes stories, photos and other memorabilia from the conferences and campaigns listed on these pages. We can help you digitalise materials for electronic donation — share your experience and keep your memorabilia too!

Key to symbols used:

	FAN has at least one issue of this journal/newsletter
	FAN has a complete run of this journal/ newsletter.
	FAN has a file containing information from this conference

Feminist Small Press Books and Pamphlets on the WLM in Britain:

~ Graham, et al. (2003) The Feminist Seventies York, UK: Raw Nerve Books

~ Fairbairns, Zoe (2003) Saying What We Want: Women’s Demands in the Feminist Seventies and Now,  York, UK: Raw Nerve Books

Additional external sites of interest:

~ Cliff, Tony (1984) Class Struggle and Women’s Liberation [particularly Chapter 11 – The WLM in Britain], from the Marxist Internet Archive

~ Documents from the Women’s Liberation Movement: An Online Archival Collection at Duke University (US)

~ Feminist Seventies Conference at the University of York, April 2002

~ Hanmer, Jalna – Making Connections: Researching Gendered Violence

~ German, Lindsey (2003) Women’s Liberation Today. International Socialism Journal 101 [online]

~ Lefties: Angry Wimmin, a BBC4 Documentary on Revolutionary Feminists in Leeds

~ Setch, Eve* (2002) The Face of Metropolitan Feminism: The London Women’s Liberation Workshop, 1969–79. Twentieth Century British History 13(2):171-190

~ The Women’s Library, Catalogue of Women’s Liberation Movement resources

~ Women in Politics*, Special Issue of Parliamentary Affairs, January 1996

~ Yorkshire Women of the Century

* Athens or similar subscription may be required to view content in peer-reviewed journals
Feminist Archive North accepts no responsibility for content on external sites

Introduction

~ The origin of the chronology

~ How to use the chronology

~ Key to symbols used

Chronology by Year

~ (Click on appropriate box at left)

Appendices

~ The Demands of the Women’s Liberation Movement

~ List of Abbreviations used

~ Listing of Women’s Liberation Groups, by Town

References

~ Notes on references

~ Published Works cited

~ WebCites

Credits

~ Advisory group and interviewees

The information presented in this chronology has been compiled from journals contemporary to this time period: Women’s Report, the newsletter of the Women’s Information Referral and Enquiry Service (WIRES), Leeds Bread and Roses, Shrew, Red Rag, Leeds Women’s Liberation Newsletter(s), Bradford Women’s Liberation Newsletter(s), Libertarian Women’s Network Newsheet / Newsletter, Women’s Voice, Women’s Struggle Notes, Scarlet Women, Socialist Woman, Revolutionary and Radical Feminist Newsletter (Rev/Rad), London Women’s Liberation Newsletter and Catcall.

Key to symbols used:

	FAN has at least one issue of this journal/newsletter
	FAN has a complete run of this journal/ newsletter.
	FAN has a file containing information from this conference

Feminist Small Press Books and Pamphlets on the WLM in Britain:We have also looked at and included information from various writings and research, including books, conference papers from local, regional and national conferences, interviews done for the Oral History Project (OHP) and a list of women’s liberation groups put together by the London Women’s Liberation Workshop for the 1973 National Women’s Liberation Conference in Bristol.
References are made in the text according to a standard Harvard format, with a complete list provided. Information from the journals listed above is not annotated, except when there is a direct quote from the text. Where we have quoted from an editorial or standard news column and the author(s) are not stated in the original, we have provided the title of the journal, issue and page number in the text for easy reference. These citations are not then duplicated in the list of references.Local newsletters are not listed with the exception of Leeds and Bradford newsletters – but it is likely that every town with a women’s liberation group also had a newsletter. Many Women’s Aid refuges and women’s centres also had a newsletter, as did most WLM organisations. Most larger towns/cities not only had at least one women’s liberation group but also a socialist feminist group, a women’s health group, a lesbian group, etc. Clearly it is impossible to list all of these groups here. However, we have attempted to give some indication of the number and variety of groups operating locally in this period by providing detailed listings of WLM groups and campaigns in the Leeds and Bradford area.All organisation and journal listings are under the first year in which we have found a reference to them. For campaigns and organisations with groups across the country (such as the Campaign for Legal and Financial Independence), only the town of the main office (where correspondence etc. was sent) and/or the first reference to the group is included. All abbreviated names are listed and explained in an appendix at the back. The appendix section also includes a listing of towns with women’s organisations in this time, and a listing of the seven demands from the National Women’s Liberation Movement Conferences (1970-1978).References to Oral History Project interviews in the text refer to the approved transcripts from the OHP, with the interviewee acknowledged and numbered chronologically. These transcripts are available for consultation in the Feminist Archive North.