Caroline "Kitty" Kenney (1880 – 1952) was a sister of

Annie Kenney Ann "Annie" Kenney (13 September 1879 – 9 July 1953) was an English working-class suffragette and socialist feminist who became a leading figure in the Women's Social and Political Union. She co-founded its first branch in London with Minnie ...

, one of the most well-known British

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

s to go on

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...

,''The Militant Suffrage Movement : Citizenship and Resistance in Britain'', by Laura E. Nym Mayhall, Assistant Professor of History,

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...

for whom the Blathwayts planted commemorative trees in their Eagle House garden in Batheaston, Somerset. Another sister, Jessie, was abroad when her involvement in explosives was discovered by the authorities.

Biography

Caroline (Kitty) was the sixth child of 12 siblings, 11 of whom survived infancy, and one of the seven daughters of Horatio Nelson Kenney (1849–1912) and Anne Wood (1852–1905). Her sisters included Sarah (Nell), Ann (Annie), Jessica (Jessie), Alice and Jane (Jennie). Annie and Jessie took leading roles in 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 ...

. Kitty and Jennie had been trained by

Maria Montessori Maria Tecla Artemisia Montessori ( , ; August 31, 1870 – May 6, 1952) was an Italian physician and educator best known for the philosophy of education that bears her name, and her writing on scientific pedagogy. At an early age, Montessori e ...

. They were employed; they ran a recovery centre for suffragettes in

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

at a gothic pile known as Tower Cressy. The suffragettes needed to convalesce after they had been imprisoned and force-fed.

Suffragette's Rest

In August 1909 Kitty was first invited to Eagle House, home of the Blathwayts and also known as the Suffragette's Rest, to join her two sisters. During the summer of 1910, Kitty and her sister Jennie, who were both teachers, joined Annie at Eagle House to recuperate from illness. Both had surgery and further nursing care from the Blathwayts and remained at Batheaston for some months. Kitty Kenney had been given a

Hunger Strike Medal The Hunger Strike Medal was a silver medal awarded between August 1909 and 1914 to suffragette prisoners by the leadership of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). During their imprisonment, they went on hunger strike while serving th ...

'for Valour' by WSPU. Adela Pankhurst, Kitty and Annie Kenney 1910

America

In 1916 the

Lenox School The Birch Wathen Lenox School is a college preparatory K-12 school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. Birch Wathen Lenox comprises approximately 500 students from all around New York City. The Birch Wathen Lenox School is one ...

, a primary school to prepare girls to enter the

Finch School Finch College was an undergraduate women's college in Manhattan, New York City. The Finch School opened as a private secondary school for girls in 1900 and became a liberal arts college in 1952. It closed in 1976. Founding Finch was founded in 1 ...

, was founded in New York. The Lenox School employed Kitty and Jennie Kenney as joint heads until they retired in 1929. Kitty moved to Philadelphia and then finally to California. She died in 1952.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenney, Kitty 1880 births 1952 deaths Women's Social and Political Union Hunger Strike Medal recipients

Biography

Suffragette's Rest

America

See also

References