Interesting item on women's hour today about a woman who I'd never heard of called Mary Lily Walker.
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0214318.
It is often remarked that history is written by men and so the great women of the past are sometimes forgotten. A group of volunteers in Dundee thinks that one such forgotten woman is Mary Lily Walker, the social reformer who brought about massive change to the lives of women and children in industrial Dundee at the turn of the twentieth century. Although she died suddenly, just five days before reaching her 50th birthday, Mary's ideas about maternity leave, childcare, tackling poverty, and preventing child mortality lived on long after her death and had an influence on the creation of the National Health Service. Jenni is joined by Dr Suzanne Zeedyk, a Developmental Psychologist from Dundee, who has been campaigning for greater recognition of Mary and her work,100 years on from her death in 1913.
There is a blog about her
marylilywalker.blogspot.co.uk and a whole year of events.
I love learning about the impact women have had on society in the past.