Lydia Becker

Susan Isabel Dacre 1844 - 1933

Summary

Three quarter, right side, portrait of a middle-aged woman, in black dress with white frilled collar and dark choker. Her dress is decorated with a corsage of red roses. She wears glasses and has her hair platted and secured at the back of her head. She is looking directly at the viewer. There is a neutral background. The sitter is Lydia Becker (1827-1890), a leading campaigner in the women's suffrage movement.

Display Label

Lydia Becker 1885-90 Susan Isabel Dacre 1844-1933 Oil on canvas Meg, Learning Manager: Lydia Becker was quite a pioneer of women’s rights, convening the first meeting of the Manchester Women’s Suffrage Committee in January 1867. Why do you think it is so important to teach about women like her on the school curriculum? Christine, Volunteer Guide: Current school history teaching would have us believe that feminism started and ended with Emmeline Pankhurst. The history taught in schools is written by men and features predominantly male achievers. Successful women have been written out. The few women mentioned are seen as anomalies leaving us a dearth of role models. Quite aside from that I love this painting because here is a woman in her middle years who is strong, intelligent but nevertheless feminine. Gift of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage. 1920.1