Elizabeth Wolstenholme Elmy was described by Emmeline Pankhurst as the ‘brains behind the suffragette movement’, writes Susan Munro . Plus Sylvia Edwards on the new statue of Emmeline Pankhurst

I was on the Pankhurst March in Manchester on Friday and it was truly “joyous” (Letters, 17 December). I too was surprised there was no coverage in Saturday’s Guardian. You can redeem yourself, perhaps, by giving some column inches to another wonderful suffragist, Elizabeth Wolstenholme Elmy, a friend of the Pankhursts despite being an atheist and socialist, who is in danger of being lost to history. Elizabeth was described by Emmeline Pankhurst as the “brains behind the suffragette movement” and she spent over half a century in the women’s movement addressing some of the major social issues of her day, including girls’ education, women’s property rights and domestic violence, as well as playing a major part in the suffrage success in 1918, the year she died. Throughout her life she remained well-connected with most of the prominent social reformers of her time, but who has heard of her today?

As a committed pacifist she did not support the violent activities advocated by the Pankhursts and, consequently, her amazing contribution to the advancement of women’s causes has been overshadowed. She was thought important enough, however, to secure a place as one of the most influential suffragistson the plinth of the recently unveiled Millicent Fawcett statue in Parliament Square.

Elizabeth was a remarkable woman, and a group of women in Congleton (where she moved to set up a school for girls and where she lived for over half a century), have formed Elizabeth’s Group with a determination to see her written back into her rightful place in history. Our feminist history is rich and should be preserved, shared and celebrated and we look to the Guardian for support in our endeavours!

Susan Munro

Chair of Elizabeth’s Group, Congleton, Cheshire

• I find it deeply poignant that the new statue of Emmeline Pankhurst (The new Pankhurst statue makes me proud of the Manchester I grew up in, theguardian.com, 16 December) is situated near the tram stop in St Peter’s Square, just a few miles down the line from the Brooklands stop next to Sale cemetery where her beloved husband Richard lies buried.

Sylvia Edwards

Sale, Greater Manchester

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