Hilda Mary Dallas (1878–1958) was a British artist and a suffragette who designed suffrage posters and cards and took a leadership role for the
Women's Social and Political Union
The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was a women-only political movement and leading militant organisation campaigning for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom from 1903 to 1918. Known from 1906 as the suffragettes, its membership and ...
(WSPU).
A pacifist, she raised funds from a cross-section of society, produced and designed set & costumes for the 1929
Court Theatre production of the
anti-war
An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to pa ...
satirical play ‘''The Rumour’''.
Early life and education
Hilda Mary Dallas was born in Japan on 6 February 1878, as her father Charles Dallas was teaching English there.
She had a sister
Irene
Irene is a name derived from εἰρήνη (eirēnē), the Greek for "peace".
Irene, and related names, may refer to:
* Irene (given name)
Places
* Irene, Gauteng, South Africa
* Irene, South Dakota, United States
* Irene, Texas, United Stat ...
born in 1883, and either Hilda or the family returned to Britain before 1901/2, when Hilda Dallas became a student at the
Slade School of Fine Art
The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...
, London. Her works were exhibited with the
Allied Artists Association
The Allied Artists Association (AAA) was an art exhibiting society based in London in the early 20th century.
History
The Allied Artists Association was founded by Frank Rutter, art critic of ''The Sunday Times'' newspaper, in 1908.
Its purpos ...
and the
Society of Women Artists
The Society of Women Artists (SWA) is a British art body dedicated to celebrating and promoting fine art created by women. It was founded as the Society of Female Artists (SFA) in about 1855, offering women artists the opportunity to exhibit and ...
.
Dallas joined the
Suffrage Atelier
Suffrage Atelier was an artists' collective campaigning for women's suffrage in England. It was founded in February 1909 by Laurence Housman, Clemence Housman and Alfred Pearse. Clemence was a writer, illustrator, and wood engraver, and her br ...
, a group of artists using visual art for supporting the women's suffrage movement.
Suffragette activism
Her sister
Irene Dallas
Irene Margaret Dallas (1883–1971) was a suffragette activist, speaker and organiser who held leadership roles in the WSPU; she was arrested and imprisoned with a group who tried to gain access to 10 Downing Street.
Life and activism
Irene ...
was arrested with a WPSU protest group approaching the
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
to ask for action on votes for women.
Hilda Dallas was then seen encouraging others to join another Women's Social and Political Union protest on 30 June 1908, in a poster parade outside the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
, with
Dorothy Radcliffe,
Charlotte Marsh
Charlotte Augusta Leopoldine Marsh (3 March 1887 – 21 April 1961), known as Charlie Marsh, was a militant British suffragette.
She was a paid organiser of the Women's Social and Political Union and is one of the first women to be force fed ...
and
Dora Spong and selling the W.S.P.U. newspaper ''
Votes for Women
A vote is a formal method of choosing in an election.
Vote(s) or The Vote may also refer to:
Music
*''V.O.T.E.'', an album by Chris Stamey and Yo La Tengo, 2004
*"Vote", a song by the Submarines from ''Declare a New State!'', 2006
Television
* " ...
.''
She financially supported the work of W.S.P.U. fundraising in 1908/9. Dallas became the organiser for WSPU South
St. Pancras branch, London.
Dallas was seen with a megaphone and suffragettes Mrs May,
Maud Joachim
Maud Joachim (1869 – 1947) was born in 1869 and was educated at Girton College., she was one of the groups of suffragettes that fought to grant women the right to vote in the U.K., she was jailed several times for her protests.
Activism
She ...
, Miss Harriett Ker disrupting the
Oxford Cambridge Boat Race
The Boat Race is an annual set of rowing races between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club, traditionally rowed between open-weight eights on the River Thames in London, England. There are separate men's ...
.
In 1909, she designed a new publicity poster of a woman holding high the WSPU newspaper, ‘''Votes for Women,’'' with the price (one pence 1d) and the words ''Wanted Everywhere.''
This had been commissioned after her previous poster (from 1903) with the words Read Our Paper''
', was used for launching street selling of the paper, and was described in it as a 'charming advertisement’; and credited with increasing the sales in
Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
. At the height of the campaign, 40,000 copies were selling (weekly) across the country.
A century after (some) women were enfranchised, the 1903 image was used on the cover of a book by Elizabeth Crawford (2018) on ''Art and Suffrage: A Biographical Dictionary of Suffrage Artists.'' The 1908 design was described in 2018 as 'an optimistic vision of equality' in the last century of graphic design by women.
![Votes for Women poster, ca](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Votes_for_Women_poster%2C_ca._1903-1926._%2817311553535%29.jpg)
The wording Wanted Everywhere''
' poster was used for the self-acclaimed ‘greatest political weekly of the moment’ for the WSPU summer holiday initiative of 1912. The slogan can mean the newspaper is 'wanted' or that women’s right to vote is desired (or desirable) in ‘every corner of the British Isles’. The new design was expected by the campaign organisers to be welcomed by holiday cottage tenants or newsagents to show support for the cause and put on display. Bulk discount was offered. One activist,
Miss Harman
Miss (pronounced ) is an English language honorific typically used for a girl, for an unmarried woman (when not using another title such as "Doctor" or "Dame"), or for a married woman retaining her maiden name. Originating in the 17th century, it ...
reported it was already on display at
Woodbridge Woodbridge may refer to:
Places
Australia
*Woodbridge, Western Australia formerly called ''West Midland''
*Woodbridge, Tasmania
Canada
*Woodbridge, Ontario
England
*Woodbridge, Suffolk, the location of
** Woodbridge (UK Parliament constituency ...
railway station shop when she went to distribute the papers.
Like the posters, Dallas’s 1909
Christmas card
A Christmas card is a greeting card sent as part of the traditional celebration of Christmas in order to convey between people a range of sentiments related to Christmastide and the holiday season. Christmas cards are usually exchanged during t ...
graphic designs were in the WSPU colours (green, white and purple), and (with two other cards) were expected to raise £100 at the WPSU shops that Christmas (priced at 3d; this would require sales of 8000 cards). The shops had seasonal window displays of WSPU gifts, cards and literature. The
Kilburn High Road shop had a doll dressed as per Hilda Dallas’s poster, carrying a copy of the poster on its shoulders. It attracted in a young girl, offering up 2 pence to see the ‘suffragettes’, to be told that looking is 'free of charge'.
By January 1910, Dallas was again taking up a more direct role in the suffrage campaign, organising the
General Election
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
W.S.P.U. offices in
Newman Street
Newman Street is a street in the City of Westminster. It runs from the junction of Mortimer Street, Cleveland Street, and Goodge Street in the north to Oxford Street
Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West E ...
, Westminster, from where ‘hit squads’ of suffragettes were posted to different constituencies, and asked to hire premises and to co-ordinate the local ‘''Keep the
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
Out’'' campaign, a position taken by WSPU as the Liberal government had failed to enfranchise women.
In the
1911 Census, neither Hilda Dallas nor her sister Irene, were recorded at their home in 35 St. George's Mansions,
Red Lion Square
Red Lion Square is a small square in Holborn, London. The square was laid out in 1684 by Nicholas Barbon, taking its name from the Red Lion Inn. According to some sources, the bodies of three regicides—Oliver Cromwell, John Bradshaw and He ...
nor at any other address,
so were amongst the census resisters (who argued that if women were not considered as 'citizens' to vote, they should not be counted in the population census). For Christmas 1911, a design by Dallas for a WSPU Christmas card has a purple Father Christmas holding a ''Votes for Women'' postcard.
In 1912, after a split in the WSPU's leadership, ''The Suffragette'' became their weekly publication, and a poster image was designed by Dallas including a
Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronati ...
like figure with the word 'Justice' on her tabard, wearing armour and holding a sword and a WSPU pennant. The saint was used as an iconic image in the women’s suffrage campaigns - a 'militant woman's ideal'. The design was also made into a silver enamel brooch. This poster is on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
On Christmas Day 1913, Hilda Dallas went with her sister Irene, and eleven other suffrage activist as guests to Paris to dine with
Christabel Pankhurst
Dame Christabel Harriette Pankhurst, (; 22 September 1880 – 13 February 1958) was a British suffragette born in Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bord ...
, in the fashionable ''Restaurant Mollard,'' designed by
Édouard Niermans, and they ended by singing ''
The March of the Women
"The March of the Women" is a song composed by Ethel Smyth in 1910, to words by Cicely Hamilton. It became the official anthem of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) and more widely the anthem of the women's suffrage movement throughou ...
''.
Dallas's drawing ‘''To Buckingham Palace’'' in WSPU colours (on sale by antique book dealer) was a drawing of the deputation of suffragettes to
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...
on 21 May 1914. The image was used on a flyer to attract support ‘to demand votes for women, to protest against torture, to claim equal treatment for militant
Ulster men and militant suffragists.‘ WPSU was asking attendees to ensure there was no police violence against the women demanding access to the Palace (despite the formal denial of an audience with
King George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.
Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...
). The aim was to ensure enough attendance to prevent a repeat of
Black Friday when WSPU leader
Mrs Pankhurst was manhandled, and many women injured. Despite this appeal, the protest also had Mrs Pankhurst being physically carried from the scene by police. Mrs Pankhurst called off WSPU militancy in support of the war effort and for an amnesty of prisoners.
During
World War One
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
Dallas became a pacifist.
Dallas and her sister Irene, joined the
Christian Scientists
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
, and were registered as such at 77 Edith Road,
Barons Court
Barons Court is a London Underground station in West Kensington in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, Greater London. This station serves the District line and the Piccadilly line. Barons Court is between West Kensington and Hamme ...
, London on 29 September 1939 at the start of
World War Two. The sisters lived together until Hilda Dallas's death in 1958.
Sponsor of anti-war drama production
Dallas became the prime mover in raising funds of £5,000 for a production of C.K.Munro's anti-war play ‘''The Rumour’'' to be performed in 1929 at the
Court Theatre.
Production, design and costumes were by Dallas and the reviewers told of her drive and commitment, and the strength of the pacifist message through Munro's satirical drama:
Reviews
* ''The Woman's Leader'' called it ‘A Peace Play’ that was ‘extremely clever and interesting’.
*A reviewer in ''The Woman Teacher'' recommended the play to all who seek ‘world peace’ and called it ‘thrilling and absorbing from beginning to end.’
*
''The'' ''Sketch'' described Dallas as having the ‘spirit of a crusader’ working ‘devotedly and unselfishly’ to put the play on, and called it ‘one of the most powerful anti-war agents that has ever been created’ and ‘that it should be played to all of the world to imbue the masses with the awful truth that wars are rooted in financial interests, distortion and…..waving of flags’.
* The story of Dallas's involvement made a front page column of the London ''
Daily Herald'' on 1 March 1929 in an article titled ‘''Romance of Peace Play’;'' on a day when the news lead was headed ''‘Startling New “War Plan” Disclosure’.''
**The report said she had set up a production company to bring ‘''The Rumour’'' to the London stage, after a social meeting with a colonel from the
Great War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
who predicted another major conflict 'in about 10 year’s time... with all our young men... as.. ‘cannon fodder' unless something was done to educate the public - and he had asked her directly ‘''What are you women going to do about it?''’
**Dallas was said to have reckoned this play would have an impact, as she had seen it when her cousin,
Allan Wade
Allan Wade (17 May 1881 – 12 July 1955) was a British actor, theatre director and writer.
Early life
Allan Wade was the son of the Rev Stephen Wade of Boscastle in Cornwall and was educated at Blundell's School in Tiverton, Devon, Tiverton. In ...
had produced it for ''
Stage Society'' in 1922 and he had agreed to help. The article told of her fundraising from small donations of
half-a-crown (one eighth of a £), to working women giving her a week’s wages (£3), and other people donating up to £350, to reach the needed £4,500 (later £5,000). Dallas was also said to have invited all the
Members of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
to see the play.
**The ''Daily Herald'' reviewer had called it ''‘The Play That All Should See’ - ‘A Satire on Big Money’s Ways of Starting Wars’'' and praised the production and design.
* ''The Sunday Despatch'' told of how due to financial issues, the run was threatened to end, but was extended due to Dallas obtaining private donations (totalling £400) from three women who had lost sons in the Great War, and from a colonel wounded at Flanders; Dallas was quoted as saying that these donors had thought that this play ‘teaches a lesson of national importance’.
* This production and Dallas's fundraising had made news in New Zealand.
* ''The Vote'' reported ‘unanimous’ critical acclaim, and noted that Dallas's set designs were ‘warmly praised for their simplicity and brilliant effect’.
* ''The Woman Teacher'' called the design ‘beautiful’ and well arranged for ‘numerous short scenes follow swiftly’.
* ''
'The Rumour was still considered a pertinent anti-war piece by a World War One drama blog reviewer in 2016.
An image of part of Dallas's set design
and costumes are in the
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
See also
*
Irene and Hilda Dallas
*
Suffrage Atelier
Suffrage Atelier was an artists' collective campaigning for women's suffrage in England. It was founded in February 1909 by Laurence Housman, Clemence Housman and Alfred Pearse. Clemence was a writer, illustrator, and wood engraver, and her br ...
*
Women's Social and Political Union
The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was a women-only political movement and leading militant organisation campaigning for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom from 1903 to 1918. Known from 1906 as the suffragettes, its membership and ...
*
Anti-war plays
An anti-war play is a play that is perceived as having an anti-war theme.
Some plays that are thought of as anti-war plays are:
*''Peace'' (421 BCE) - by Aristophanes
*''The Trojan Women'' (415 BCE) - Euripides
*''Lysistrata'' (411 BCE) - Aristoph ...
External images
* ''Votes for Women Read Our Paper'' 1903 Schlesinger Librar
poster*''Votes for Women Wanted Everywhere'' 1909 Museum of Londo
poster*''A Merry Christmas, 1911'' Museum of Londo
*''The Suffragette'' 1912 Victoria and Albert Museu
poster and brooch
*''To Buckingham Palace'' 1914 in Pickering and Chatto sale
catalogue (item 69)
*''C.K.Munro 'The Rumour' The Royal Court Theatre'' 1929 image of programm
(private collection)and Victoria and Albert Museu
set designan
costume
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dallas, Hilda
1878 births
1958 deaths
20th-century British women artists
Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art
British artist groups and collectives
British pacifists
Political artists
Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom
Women's Social and Political Union
Anti-war plays
Japanese emigrants to the United Kingdom