Alice Franklin
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Alice Caroline Franklin OBE |
|
|---|---|
| Born | 1 June 1885 Kensington, London |
| Died | 6 August 1964 (aged 79) London |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | Notting Hill and Ealing High School |
| Organization | Society for the Oversea Settlement of British Women Townswomen's Guild |
| Known for | Leading women's organisations |
| Parent(s) |
Arthur Ellis Franklin Caroline Jacob |
| Relatives |
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Alice Caroline Franklin OBE (1 June 1885 – 6 August 1964) was a British feminist, secretary of the Jewish League for Woman Suffrage and The Society for the Oversea Settlement of British Women, and a key figure in the founding of the Townswomen's Guild. Together with Gertrude Horton, she shaped the society from its suffragette roots into an organisation that was apolitical and inclusive, but also provided considerable space for feminist and lesbian women.
Alice Franklin was born to Arthur Ellis Franklin and Caroline Franklin (née Jacob), the second of six children. The Franklin family was a prominent member of the Anglo-Jewish "cousinhood", and the family was well-off and well-connected.
Alice was educated at Notting Hill and Ealing High School, a private girls' school, and upon leaving school joined her mother at the Care Committee (the social services wing of London County Council). Caroline Franklin was also a member of the Jewish League for Woman Suffrage, and Alice followed her mother here too: in the 1913 Suffrage Annual and Women's Who's Who, she is recorded as the group's secretary.
With the outbreak of the First World War, Alice joined the Ministry of Agriculture and became involved in the Women's Land Army – an organization of women who provided farm labour while men were at war. In 1916, Alice rose to the role of Head of Section.
When World War I ended, the challenges facing young women changed. Now instead of a labour shortage, there was a labour surplus, and the gender imbalance resulting from the deaths of young men during the war meant that many newly-unemployed women could not find husbands either. The Society for the Oversea Settlement of British Women (SOSBW) was set up in 1919 in the wake of World War I to solve the problem of these "surplus women", and Alice Franklin became the secretary of the society. Finding significant resistance to the idea from British colonies, Alice embarked on a speaking tour across Canada to promote the SOSBW to a public sceptical of immigration, and for her services was given an OBE in the 1931 Birthday Honours.
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