Alice Arnold (mayor)
{{Short description|English trade unionist and politician, first female mayor of Coventry}}
{{Other people|Alice Arnold|Alice Arnold (disambiguation){{!}}Alice Arnold}}
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Alice Arnold (19 January 1881 – 22 November 1955) was a socialist and trade unionist in Coventry. She was one of the first women on the city council, serving for 36 years, and became the first female mayor of the city in 1937.{{r|WP}}
Biography
Arnold was born on 19 January 1881 in the Coventry Workhouse to Caroline and Samuel Arnold. Her mother and three siblings had been admitted to the workhouse on 23 November 1880 and were discharged on 19 February 1882.{{cite thesis |last=Hunt |first=Cathy |title=Alice Arnold of Coventry: trade unionism and municipal politics 1919–1939 |access-date=March 8, 2025 |type=PhD |publisher=Coventry University |url=https://www.history.org.uk/publications/categories/303/module/8874/coventry-branch-pamphlets/12965/a-woman-of-the-people-alice-arnold-of-coventry-18 |year=2003}} Arnold was employed in cycle factories from the age of eleven. Her experiences made her want to improve life for people in her community, she became an organiser of the Worker's Union{{Cite news |last=Pearce |first=Vanessa |date=2021-07-17 |title=Coventry City of Culture: The women who helped shape a 'city of justice' |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-57555779 |access-date=2021-07-18 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}} and Secretary of the Coventry Social Democratic Federation (SDF) Women’s Circle.{{Cite web |last=Robson |first=Freya |title=Local Community and History Month 2024: Students’ local history stories. Alice Arnold. |url=https://www.history.org.uk/historian/module/8854/local-community-and-history-month-2024-students/12462/alice-arnold |access-date=2025-02-14 |website=Historical Association}}
In 1919 she was elected as an independent Labour councillor in Coventry. She campaigned for better living conditions for those living in the city. Alice was elected Mayor in 1937.{{Cite web |last=Bradley |first=Nicki |title=The history of civic life, Previous Mayors and Lord Mayors |url=https://www.coventry.gov.uk/lord-mayor/history-civic-life/3 |access-date=2025-02-14 |website=Coventry City Council |language=en}} At the mayoral ceremony, she assured men that women had no desire for sex antagonism but that they did feel that it was time for them to stand side by side with men in the work of the world.
Alice was popular with the electorate of the city.{{Cite journal |last=Hunt |first=Cathy |date=14 June 2007 |title=Everyone's Poor Relation: the poverty and isolation of a working-class woman local politician in interwar Britain |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/09612020601022311 |journal=Women's History Review |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=417–430|doi=10.1080/09612020601022311 |url-access=subscription }} In October 1938 she led a protest for 'peace and plenty.' The protest culminated in a delegation of over 100 people travelling on a specially chartered train to London and delivering a petition signed by 60,000 Coventry citizens (two-thirds of the city's electorate) to the Home Office. The aim of the petition was to promote peace and abolish poverty.
Legacy
In 2024, it was announced that a blue commemorative plaque will be installed at Arnold's former home 20 Short Street, Coventry, in 2025.{{Cite web |last=Patel |first=Priyanka |date=2024-12-04 |title=Heritage plaque unveiled for Coventry's first female mayor |url=https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/heritage-plaque-unveiled-coventrys-first-30510074 |access-date=2025-02-14 |website=Coventry Live |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Khan |first=Shehnaz |date=2024-12-04 |title=Blue plaque honours Coventry's first female mayor Alice Arnold |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y7j3nn1jno |access-date=2025-02-14 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}
References
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Category:Activists from Coventry
Category:Politicians from Coventry
Category:Trade unionists from Warwickshire
Category:Labour Party (UK) mayors
Category:20th-century British women politicians
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