52 WEEKS::Emmeline Pankhurst

I would rather be a rebel than a slave.

~ Emmeline Pankhurst

Emmeline Pankhurst founded the Women's Policital and Social Union when she was thirty-five years old.  Though any rebellion in history utilized similar tactics, particularly destruction of property during protests in order to force politicians to hear their argument, she was considered radical because she was a woman.  She encouraged women to join the war effort and to fill factory positions and, in turn, these contributions helped convince the British government to grant limited voting rights. Her parents were abolitionists and she encouraged her mother to bring her along to her first suffragette meeting when she was fourteen. Eventually she married a lawyer who supported the movement,and had four children, several whom went on to follow in her footsteps.  Unfortunately she didn't live to see equal voting rights for women.