Vote100 Takes Over BBC Radio Lincolnshire for Centenary Celebrations

Friday 14^th December marks the centenary of the 1918 General Election.

Throughout the day, BBC Radio Lincolnshire will be featuring BGU staff, recent students and our Vote100 project partners.

Listen out for us at:

9.00-1.00 When a recording will be aired with Sian Hope-Johnson on Jessie Boucherette

2.10 When Phoebe Wall-Palmer of Lincoln Performing Arts Centre will talk about centenary events over the weekend.

3.20 When staff will be talking about BGU’s two ‘Vote100’ and ‘History of Women’s Football’ exhibitions

Following its appearance in the Stonebow on election centenary eve, courtesy of City of Lincoln Council, the ‘Vote100’ exhibition returns to Lincoln Central Library on Friday 14 December where, alongside another BGU exhibition ‘Celebrating Women’s Football: Past and Present’, it will form part of the celebration of the centenary of the 1918 General Election, when many women were able to exercise the vote for the first time.

The exhibition, ‘Vote100: A Lincolnshire View of Women’s Suffrage’, charts the story of the campaign for the vote, locally and nationally. The content also includes some new material on the strengthening of the role of women in local politics in Lincoln.

The exhibition was first developed in partnership with Lincoln Central Library, and has since been on tour in locations in the city and in North Kesteven. The content has been designed by staff and recent students of BGU, together with the input of Lincoln Central Library staff and other partners and contributors.

Dr Andrew Jackson, Historian and Head of Research at BGU, emphasised the significance of the exhibition:

“It is a privilege and a symbolic opportunity to have placed our Vote100 exhibition in the historic centre of city politics on the eve of the centenary. The campaign for the vote for women was a very long and hard fought one, demanding great commitment and remarkable personal sacrifice. The story, which includes the role of women of the county, is a very inspiring one for present times”

Sian Hope Johnson MA, recent BGU English Literature student, who has also been involved in the exhibition’s curation added:

“This year’s celebrations of the centenary of Women’s suffrage have been immense. To be able to add Lincolnshire’s women into the narrative has been an honour. The exhibition tells the story of the fight for Women’s suffrage in Lincolnshire, but, for me, it tells of the struggle, determination and perseverance of women county wide. I am proud, more than ever, to be a Lincolnshire Woman”

The Research Team at BGU are dedicated to preserving and championing the history of Lincolnshire and its residents. You can keep up to date with all their activities via our website or, if you would like to get involved yourself, you can contact our Enquiries Team to find out how to start your new adventure.