* Apologies for cross posting*
Members of the group may be interested in an event we are holding at the British Library on the 16th November: The Wootton Effect
Ann Oakley’s biography of Barbara Wootton celebrates a remarkable life. Wootton was involved in many of the 20th century’s major public and social policy reforms.
She led proposals for community service as an alternative to prison, chaired a commission on drugs policy which recommended changes to the law in 1968, led a campaign to persuade the Government of the time to implement the Beveridge report, was the first chair of the Countryside Commission, was a founder member of CND, wrote critically on traditional economic theory, was the first academic and policy analyst to argue that social policy should be based on evidence, and much, much more.
She was one of the first women to sit in the House of Lords, and became Deputy Speaker. Her private life was no less extraordinary. She studied Classics and Economics at Girton College Cambridge; her brother died in action in the first world war and her first marriage lasted less than six weeks, when her husband was killed at Passchendaele. Her second marriage was described as ‘…a union of theory and practice’ by students at the LSE and was by no means conventional. Among other things, her second husband’s occupation on the wedding certificate meant she was known as ‘The Baroness who married a taxi driver’ by the popular press.
Join Ann Oakley, Tessa Blackstone and Margaretta Jolly in conversation to hear more about the fascinating life of this unsung heroine of the 20th century.
Tickets can be booked by using the link: http://bit.ly/woottoneffect
With kind regards,
Robert
Robert Davies
Engagement Support Officer, Social Sciences The British Library
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