Diane Atkinson Explained

Diane Atkinson is a British historian and writer about women in history including the suffragettes, most recently for the centenary of women getting the vote in the United Kingdom, covering the detailed experiences of campaigning women in Rise Up, Women! The Remarkable Lives of the Suffragettes.^[1]

Education and personal life

Atkinson is a graduate of the University of East Anglia. She married the artist Patrick Hughes in 1986.^[2]

Career

Atkinson was a curator at the Museum of London and prepared their Suffragette exhibition in 1992.^{[3] [4]}

Atkinson's book Love and Dirt about the marriage of Arthur Munby and Hannah Cullwick received reviews^{[5] [6]} and Atkinson contributed to Upstairs Downstairs Love, a Channel Four drama documentary based upon it that was screened on 16 June 2008.^[7]

She narrated the stage presentation Elsie and Mairi Go To War at the 2010 Edinburgh Festival.^[8]

Atkinson also wrote about The Criminal Conversation of Mrs Norton, for Random House (2012). The legal case that George Norton brought against his free-thinking wife Caroline Sheridan for criminal conversation – adultery, that is – in 1836 was a scandal of the Georgian era, that drew in Lord Melbourne and other leading figures.

Publications

• The Purple, White and Green: Suffragettes in London (Museum of London, 1992)
• The Suffragettes in Pictures (1996)
• Funny Girls: Cartooning for Equality, (Penguin, 1997) a book of cartoons about the Suffragette movement
• Votes for Women (1998).
• Love and Dirt (2004)
• Elsie and Mairi go to War (2009)
• The Criminal Conversation of Mrs Norton (Random House, 2012)
• Rise up, women! : the remarkable lives of the suffragettes (Bloomsbury, 2018)

Notes and References

1. Book: Atkinson, Diane . Rise Up, Women! The Remarkable Lives of the Suffragettes . Bloomsbury . 2018 . 978-1408844045 . London . 1016848621.
2. News: Andrew . Barrow . Patrick Hughes: Double trouble . The Independent . 1 January 2006.
3. Book: Atkinson, Diane . The Purple, White and Green: Suffragettes in London . Museum of London . catalogue . 1992.
4. Maroulla . Joannou . To defend the oppressed . Gender and History . 10 . 2 . August 1998 . 312–315 . 10.1111/1468-0424.00104 . 143918493 . review of The Suffragettes in Pictures.
5. News: Kathryn . Hughes . Book of the Week: A good roll in the muck . The Guardian . 18 January 2003 . review of Love and Dirt.
6. News: Victoria . Lane . A Dust Wench . The Telegraph . 25 January 2003 . review of Love and Dirt.
7. http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/V/victorian-passions/arthur-munby/index.html Upstairs Downstairs Love
8. Web site: Elsie and Mairi Go To War – Press Release.