Alice Clark (1 August 1874 – 11 May 1934) was a British feminist and historian.
Life
Alice 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 mains ...
(1840–1927). The Clark family were
Quakers
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...
, 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 infrastructure creator worker. In August 1914, she was the instigator of what became a Quaker relief infrastructure across Europe and through Russia, the F ...
, was an influential physician and specialist in the treatment of tuberculosis.
Alice Clark studied at the
London School Economics (LSE) under the supervision of
Lilian Knowles
Lilian Charlotte Anne Knowles (née Tomn; 1870–1926) was a British historian and Professor of Economic History at the London School of Economics (LSE) in the 1920s. She was the first female Dean of the Economic History Faculty in the University ...
.
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. However, Clark argues, as capitalism expanded in the 17th century, there was more and more division of labour with the husband taking paid labour jobs outside the home, and 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. Capitalism, therefore, 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 women historians
Feminist historians
British Quakers
Quaker feminists