Scarborough: Plaque marks suffrage movement in North Yorkshire

A plaque has been unveiled to commemorate one of the North Yorkshire branches of the women's suffrage movement on International Women's Day.

Crowds gathered on Friday outside the North Yorks Art School shop in St Nicholas Cliff, Scarborough, which was the home of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU).

An exhibition called The Suffragettes Were Here will also run at the shop.

Andrew Perkins, from the school, said he was "delighted" with the collection.

He said: "It's been a quick turnaround, but North Yorks Art School is delighted to present a collection of works that have been three weeks in the making."

The WSPU campaigned for women's suffrage and sold their merchandise from the premises of the shop from 1912 to 1914.

They also organised meetings and fundraised there too.

The decision to honour this historical site was initiated by Kirsty Ryder, who was then a PhD candidate researching the Materiality of the Women's Suffrage Movement at the University of York.

She proposed the funding for two plaques, one dedicated to the WSPU in Scarborough and another to Florence Balgarnie, a notable suffragist born in Scarborough in 1856.

It was also funded by the White Rose College of the Arts and Humanities.

This exhibition will be open on Fridays and Saturdays from 10:00 to 15:00 GMT until 6 April.

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