WALD, Lillian D.

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The House on Henry Street. First edition, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "Sylvia Pankhurst, a courageous comrade, Sincerely yours, Lillian D. Wald, New York, December 25 / 15". Pankhurst took inspiration for her suffrage work from Wald's Henry Street Settlement; Wald's book discusses the history of the institution and its aims.Wald was a pioneering nurse and suffragist who founded the Henry Street Settlement, a women-led social service agency in New York, which became an international hub for campaigners for social and political reform. Pankhurst visited the Settlement, and wrote in the guest book, "I believe that to make and to do beautiful things will bring us the greatest joy that we can win. Let us strive to give all that opportunity" (Connelly, pp. 271-2).Pankhurst founded the East London Federation of Suffragettes, which became a rival to the Women's Social and Political Union, and "informed at least one visitor that the ELFS was specifically influenced by Henry Street Settlement... it was Henry Street's resonance with Pankhurst's pre-existing political (and artistic) sympathies that allowed it to function as a model for her efforts to reshape the suffragette movement. Henry Street... provided Pankhurst with longstanding inspirational and material support that helped ensure the existence of the ELFS and shaped its distinctive character" (Connelly, pp. 280-2).

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