Collections

The Women’s Library, London holds archives that document women’s lives from the 19th century to the present day. Here the researcher will find campaigning material relating to Second Wave Feminism.  With a little delving, it is a rich source of information on lesbian lives.

It has many first-hand accounts of female relationships in the 19th and 20th centuries, including personal correspondence and diaries.

Holdings include the archive of Vera Holme, whose diaries, photographs and papers tell the story of her bohemian life - as a cross-dressing actress, suffragette chauffeur to the Pankhursts and servicewoman overseas during the First World War – and her romantic relationships with women.

Louisa Garrett Anderson was a physician and suffragette who established a military hospital in London – her papers are also held at The Women’s Library. Although not clearly identified as a lesbian, Anderson shared her life with fellow doctor Flora Murray: their tombstone bears the words ‘We have been gloriously happy’.