Join us for a talk and reception with Helen Kay and Rose Pipes on their book about the life and work of Chrystal MacMillan. This is the first biography of one of Scotland’s most prominent campaigners for women’s equality, justice and peace in the early twentieth century.

Book description

This book tells the story of the life and work of Chrystal Macmillan 1872-1937– suffragist, barrister, campaigner for peace and human rights. 

• First biography of Chrystal Macmillan, a leading figure in the women’s movement of the early twentieth century
• Chrystal Macmillan’s role and rise to fame in the Scottish Women Graduates’ Case
• Chrystal Macmillan’s role in the women’s peace movement during the First World War
• Women’s role in the early days of the League of Nations
• Campaign for the admission of women to the legal profession
• Chrystal Macmillan’s work as a barrister in London
• Personalised history of the central issues in the women’s movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century: women’s suffrage, women’s right to equality in workplace, the status and nationality of married women, civil rights of prostitutes, protection of children in court, and guardianship of children.

Speaker and chair bios

Speaker: Helen Kay, independent researcher, has a special interest in the woman suffrage movement in Scotland and the early history of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) from 1915 to 1924. As a member of the Women’s History Network, Helen has promoted interest in the work of Chrystal Macmillan, working with Edinburgh University on exhibitions and giving presentations on various aspects of Chrystal Macmillan’s work to academic and community groups.

Speaker: Rose Pipes is a former commissioning editor for an Edinburgh-based educational publisher, a long-term member of Women’s History Scotland, and now an independent researcher and writer. She is a co-editor of The New Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women (EUP, 2018) and was a participant in the Legal Landmarks project. She has written an article on Chrystal Macmillan’s legal career for the Middle Templar, and is a co-author with Helen Kay of Chrystal Macmillan 1972-1937: Campaigner for Equality, Justice and Peace (EUP, 2024).

LSE chair: Aiko Holvikivi is Assistant Professor of Gender, Peace and Security at the Department of Gender Studies and an Associate Academic at the Centre for Women, Peace and Security, LSE.

The British Library of Political and Economic Science (@LSELibrary) was founded in 1896, a year after the London School of Economics and Political Science. It has been based in the Lionel Robbins Building since 1978 and houses many world class collections, including the Women's Library and Hall-Carpenter Archives.