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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O PQ R S T U V W XYZ

" to the old saying that man built the house but woman made of it a 'home' might be added the modern supplement that woman accepted cooking as a chore but man has made it a recreation "

Emily Post (1873-1960)

Her Name is Emily

* Emily Green Balch

born 1867 died 1961

..... one of the FIRST women graduates from Bryn Mawr, a college established in 1885 by Quakers to provide a liberal higher education for women. She spent several years in social work and in 1913 became Professor of Economics and Social Science at the women's college of Wellesley in Massachusetts. By this time she was already well-known as a pacifist leader and in 1918 was asked to resign from her post. She founded the Women's League for Peace and Freedom and devoted the next 25 years of her life in encouraging women of all nations to put pressure on their governments to seek peaceful solutions. In 1946 Emily shared the Nobel Peace Prize with John R Mott in recognition of her work for international understanding

* Emily Blackwell

born 1826 died 1910

..... FIRST woman doctor to engage extensively in major surgery. She was the younger sister and co-worker of Elizabeth Blackwell (see above) and finally graduated in 1854 after being allowed to study at Cleveland (Western Reserve). Initially she was rejected by ten medical schools because of her sex but was eventually allowed into Cleveland. During two years post-graduate work in Europe she obtained the testimony and respect of Sir James Simpson whilst acting as his assistant in practising obstetrics and the use of chloroform. In 1856 she returned to America from Europe and helped in the opening of the New York Infirmary a year later which she ran for 40 years. Besides treating many women patients she also trained many women medical students. She was Dean and Professor of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and under her administration the college gained in reputation

* Emily Sarah Davies

born 1830 died 1921

..... one of the organisers of the FIRST suffrage petition which was presented by John Stuart Mills in 1866. She founded the FIRST women's college in Britain to offer higher education at University level ( although not empowered to award degrees). The College for Women, Benslow House, Hitchin opened in October 1869 with five students under Mrs Manning although there were many against her. However she persisted believing that higher education for women was a more urgent priority than the vote and in 1872 her first students sat the Tripos examination and all passed. In 1873 the college was removed to Girton, near Cambridge and in 1887 a Girtonian came FIRST in the Classical Tripos. Although Cambridge refused women degrees until 1922 she managed to establish them firmly in the male preserve of the university and colleges in Oxford followed her lead.  In 1906 she led a deputation to Parliament demanding the vote

* Emily Wilding Davidson

..... died 8th June 1913 four days after flinging herself beneath the King's horse at Derby and so became the FIRST suffragette to die for the cause. It was the last in a series of acts which had led to her imprisonment and force-feeding on numerous occasions. She was buried on June 14th and thousands of suffragettes gathered to say a last, sad farewell. Ten bands played funeral music and a dozen clergy led the procession slowly from Victoria to King's Cross station. Aged 38 and an English graduate she was laid to rest in a family vault at Morpeth beneath a purple cross inscribed by her mother ' Welcome the Northumbrian hunger striker'

* Emily Duncan

..... on 26th May 1913 she was appointed the FIRST woman magistrate in the U.K

* Emily Edmonstone

..... 14-year old who was the instigator of the FIRST girls choir at Winchester Cathedral in 1996 after a two-year campaign for equal opportunities

* Emily Faithful

born 1835 died 1895

..... FIRST woman to join the Women's Trade Union League and FIRST secretary of the Society for Promoting the Employment of Women in 1859. After a good education she became interested in the lack of career openings for women and after hearing of the role of women in the 15th century printing industry she decided to set up her own firm in Edinburgh in 1857 employing women only. In 1859 she founded the Victoria Press in London and employed men to do the heavy work. This met with a lot of hostility with the print unions which said that it encouraged immorality. In 1862 she earned the title of Printer and Publisher in Ordinary to the Queen, moved to an office in Farringdon Street and then to Praed Street, Paddington, where she remained until 1881. She was also a writer and poet and was involved in some of the publications produced by her firm such as the feminist English Woman's Journal and the Victoria Magazine

* Emily Greenhalgh

..... FIRST application by a Salford City publican for a music licence was granted to her in 1949

* Emily Jones

..... FIRST woman school inspector appointed by the Board of Education in 1883

* Emily Jane Lloyd

..... FIRST woman member of the Institute of Chemistry in 1892

*  Emily Ferguson Murphy

born 14th March 1868 died October 17th 1933

..... Canadian lawyer, writer, women's rights campaigner and a member of the Famous Five she became the FIRST woman police magistrate in the British Empire in 1916 when the Women's Court was established in Edmonton, Canada. She campaigned against drunkenness and worked for the suffrage movement and for the establishment of a special court to hear women's evidence in difficult cases such as divorce or sexual assault. When she heard her first case and was about to pass sentence her authority was challenged by a defence lawyer who said "You are not even a person" since under a British Act of 1876 women were vulnerable to legal penalties but did not have legal rights or privileges. Her position was upheld by the Supreme Court of Alberta. She then campaigned for women to be admitted to the Senate and in 1929 a ruling was made that 'persons' covered both sexes and that women were eligible for seats

* Emily Jane Putnam

born 1865 died 1944

..... U.S writer and FIRST dean of Barnard College, New York

* Emily Ray

..... the FIRST female ride operator of her kind when she worked at Southport fairground in the 1940s

* Emily Roebling

..... FIRST woman to address the American Society of Civil Engineers

* Emily Howard Jennings Stowe

born 1st May 1831 died 30th April 1903

..... FIRST woman authorised to practice medicine in Canada, she attended the New York College of Medicine for Women and gained her M D in 1867. After a long fight she was admitted to the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Ontario in 1880. In 1893 she was the FIRST President of the Dominion Woman Suffrage Association

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