Alice Clark (1 August 1874 – 11 May 1934) was a British
feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
and historian.
Life
Clark was a daughter of William Stephens Clark (1839-1925) and
Helen Priestman Bright
Helen Bright Clark (1840–1927) was a British women's rights activist and suffragist. The daughter of a radical Member of Parliament, Clark was a prominent speaker for women's voting rights and at times a political realist who served as a main ...
(1840–1927). The Clark family were
Quakers
Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...
, of shoe-making fame -
C. and J. Clark Ltd. Manufacturer of boots, shoes & sheepskin rugs. One of Alice's sisters,
Dr Hilda Clark
Hilda Clark (12 January 1881 – 24 February 1955) was a British physician and humanitarian aid worker.
Early life
Clark was born 12 January 1881 at Green Bank, Street, Somerset, Street, Somerset and was the youngest child of the Quaker C. & J. ...
, was an influential physician and specialist in the treatment of
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
.
Clark studied at the
London School Economics (LSE) under the supervision of
Lilian Knowles
Lilian Charlotte Anne Knowles (née Tomn; 9 October 1870 – 25 April 1926) was a British historian and Professor of Economic History at the London School of Economics (LSE). She was the first female Dean of the Economic History Faculty in th ...
.
Alice Clark argued that in 16th century England, women were engaged in many aspects of industry and agriculture. The home was a central unit of production and women played a central role in running farms, and some trades and landed estates. Their useful economic roles gave them a sort of equality with their husbands. Clark argued, however, that as
capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...
expanded in the 17th century, there was increasingly more division of labour with the husband taking paid labour jobs outside the home, leaving the wife reduced to unpaid household work. Middle-class women were confined to an idle domestic existence, supervising servants; lower-class women were forced to take poorly paid jobs. Clark therefore contended that capitalism had a negative effect on powerful women.
[Alice Clark, ''Working life of women in the seventeenth century'' (1919).]
Suffragist activities
The Clark family were involved in suffrage campaigning. Early in 1913, Alice Clark served on the executive committee of the
National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS). They ran a six-week-long suffrage pilgrimage, ending in a large rally in Hyde Park. Alice carried a Street Women’s Suffrage banner made by her sister Esther.
Selected works
* ''Working life of women in the seventeenth century'', 1916
References
Further reading
* Berg, Maxine. "The first women economic historians." ''Economic History Review'' 45.2 (1992): 308–329
in JSTOR*
External links
Alice Clark, working women’s historian.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Alice
1874 births
1934 deaths
British historians
British Quakers
British women historians
Feminist historians
Quaker feminists