Wake Up Women: Women, Activism, and Engagement at Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation

Description

This event available either at the venue or you can watch online via a webcast.

Shortly before Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953, Margaret Thatcher wrote an opinion piece in which she predicted that Elizabeth’s crowning would ‘remove the last shreds of prejudice against women aspiring to the highest places’.

Thatcher was not alone in equating the new queen’s reign with fresh opportunities for women. For Thatcher, as for many other women across the English-speaking world, the coronation of Queen Elizabeth was serious business.

This talk will look beyond the alleged ‘queen craziness’ of Elizabeth’s female supporters and consider some of the personal, ethical, and political calculations that drove women to actively engage in her coronation, and to support the mid-century monarchy more generally.

As I will show, the coronation festivities were entertaining, yes, but they also afforded women a range of public and professional opportunities, and permitted them a rare moment to flaunt their talents, celebrate their contributions, air their grievances, articulate their goals, establish international networks, and imagine alternative futures for themselves. I will illustrate these dynamics through the case study of Geneva Valentine, a Black real estate agent from Washington, DC, who attended the coronation in order to advance her civil rights agenda. Through her coronation journey, they gain a sense of how royalism could form an important cover – and vehicle – for postwar activism.

Arianne Chernock is a Professor of History and Associate Dean of the Faculty for the Social Sciences at Boston University. She is currently writing a book about gender and politics at Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation.

Date

Location

This event is available in person and online via webcast.

The Institute of Historical Research (IHR)
Senate House
Malet Street
London
WC1E 7HU

Prices

Contact and Booking Details

More information at this website.

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Disclaimer

The information and prices in this listing are presumed to be correct at the time of publishing, but please always check with the venue before making a special trip.

All images are supplied by the exhibition organiser.