{"id":1680,"date":"2015-06-13T15:46:31","date_gmt":"2015-06-13T14:46:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/engagement-and-impact\/?p=1680"},"modified":"2025-02-21T15:27:18","modified_gmt":"2025-02-21T15:27:18","slug":"astor-100","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/engagement-and-impact\/astor-100\/","title":{"rendered":"Astor 100"},"content":{"rendered":"

Celebrating 100 years of women in parliament<\/h2>\n

Dr Jacqui Turner\u2019s pioneering Astor100 Centenary Project provides a focus for Nancy Astor\u2019s achievements as the first female MP to take her seat in UK Parliament and more broadly, a platform for putting early female MPs on the national stage and securing their place in history.<\/p>\n

Astor 100<\/h3>\n

From archive to House of Commons<\/h4>\n

Astor100 is a celebration of the life and legacy of Nancy Astor, the first woman to take her seat in the British Parliament. American-born Nancy Astor (1879\u20131964), n\u00e9e Langhorne, succeeded her second husband Waldorf Astor as Conservative MP for Plymouth Sutton in 1919, becoming the first woman to sit in the House of Commons. She continued to represent the Plymouth Sutton constituency until her retirement in 1945.<\/p>\n

The research project started with the papers of Nancy Astor, held at the University, but has developed to include strategic collaborations with a range of organisations: Parliament; the National Trust; the City of Plymouth and has facilitated a burgeoning interest in Astor\u2019s home country. These collaborations have involved MPs, community groups, women\u2019s networks, artistic practitioners and the Astor family across the country and together will extend our understanding of culture and society.<\/p>\n

Rewriting the traditional narrative<\/h4>\n

Marginalised groups, including women, are routinely written out of history; their achievements are excluded from the national \u2018great narrative\u2019. This project is playing a key role in giving Astor\u2019s own contribution, and those of all early female MPs, a permanent, visible presence in this narrative. The project encourages both policymakers and educationalists to think more broadly about recognising, celebrating and communicating the achievements of women.<\/p>\n

Project partners at locations where Astor lived and worked have proactively collaborated with expanding and sharing this historical record. Current female MPs, have shared their knowledge and experiences, demonstrating their commitment to giving appropriate recognition to the women who played a vital role in our political history.<\/p>\n

Archival documents and personal interviews with Astor\u2019s living relatives are being used by the National Trust in Astor\u2019s country home, Cliveden, to inform and enhance the experience of visitors. A crowd-funding campaign has made it possible to commission a statue of Nancy Astor to be unveiled in Plymouth in November 2019, which will be, incredibly, the first open air, public statue of a female MP in this country.<\/p>\n

“Nancy Astor\u2019s voice was loud and unafraid \u2013 we remember her because hers was the first female voice to echo around the chamber of the House of Commons. We hope that her statue, another first and fittingly for the first to a woman MP, will again be a loudspeaker, this time for young women and girls, encouraging them to engage and be heard.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Professor Jacqui Turner<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Fast Facts<\/h3>\n