Slum travelers : ladies and London poverty, 1860-1920 / edited with introductions by Ellen Ross.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Ross, Ellen.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women social reformers--England--London--History.

Women social reformers.

Women social reformers--England--London--Biography.

Women in charitable work--England--London--History.

Women in charitable work.

Poor--Services for--England--London--History.

Poor.

Social problems--England--London--History.

Social problems.

History.

Poor--Services for.

London (England)--Social conditions--19th century.

London (England).

London (England)--Social conditions--20th century.

England--London.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xxi, 319 pages : illustrations, map ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, [2007]

Summary:

Late-nineteenth-century Britain saw the privileged classes forsake society balls and gatherings to turn their considerable resources to investigating and relieving poverty. By the 1890s at least half a million women were involved in philanthropy, particularly in London. "Slum Travelers, "edited, annotated, and with a superb introduction by Ellen Ross, collects a fascinating array of the writings of these "lady explorers," who were active in the east, south, and central London slums from around 1870 until the end of World War I. Contributors range from the well known, including Annie Besant, Sylvia Pankhurst, and Beatrice Webb (then Potter), to the obscure. The collection reclaims an important group of writers whose representations of urban poverty have been eclipsed by better-known male authors such as Charles Dickens and Jack London.

Contents:

Map of London in 1888 xxiii

Introduction: Adventures among the Poor 1

1 "Sketch of Life in Buildings," 1889: "A Lady Resident" 40

2 "White Slavery in London," 1888 / Annie (Wood) Besant 45

3 From Makers of Our Clothes, 1909 / Clementina Black, Adele (Lady Carl) Meyer 52

4 "Marriage in East London," 1895 / Helen (Dendy) Bosanquet 64

5 From Munition Lasses, 1917 / Agnes Kate Foxwell 72

6 "A School Settlement," 1911 / Clara Ellen Grant 81

7 "Barmaids," 1889 / Margaret Harkness 89

8 "In a London Tramp Ward," 1906 / Mary (Kingsland) Higgs 97

9 "The Fur-Pullers of South London," 1897 / Edith (Mrs. F.G.) Hogg 104

10 From A London Plane-Tree, and Other Verse, 1889 / Amy Levy 117

11 "A Slum Mother" (1908) and "Guy and the Stars" (1919) / Margaret McMillan 124

12 "Gilding the Gutter," 1905 / Olive Christian Malvery 136

13 "The Irresponsibility of the Father," 1918 / Anna Martin 148

14 "Eating the Apple," 1899 / Honnor Morten 161

15 "The Evacuation of the Workhouse," 1918 / Margaret Wynne Nevinson 172

16 Selections from The Woman's Dreadnought, 1916-1917 / Sylvia Pankhurst 178

17 From The Pudding Lady, 1910 / Florence Petty 192

18 Selections from The Missing Link Magazine, 1878 / Ellen Henrietta Ranyard 198

19 Selections from Round about a Pound a Week, 1913 / Maud Pember Reeves 208

20 "Drunkenness," 1878 / Maude Alethea Stanley 226

21 From London Street Arabs, 1890 / Dorothy Tennant (Lady Stanley) 239

22 "Petticoat-Lane," 1895 / Ethel Brilliana (Mrs. Alec) Tweedie 249

23 "An Epiphany Pilgrimage," 1906 / Kate Warburton 256

24 "Pages from a Work-Girl's Diary," 1888 / Beatrice (Potter) Webb 262

Appendix 1 The Geography of London Wealth and Poverty 281

Appendix 2 The Texts Arranged Thematically 287.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780520249059

0520249054

9780520249066

0520249062

OCLC:

75087959