Glasgow Women's Housing Association
Glasgow Women's Housing Association (GWHA) was established in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, in 1914 by the Independent Labour Party Housing Committee and the Women's Labour League in reaction to the increasing rent prices and overcrowding exacerbated by the advent of the First World War. They campaigned for subsidised housing and criticised profiteering by landlords and the lack of municipal housing provision due to speculative urban development.[1] The GWHA were instrumental in the organisation of the Glasgow Rent Strike of 1915. Mary B. Laird chaired the first meeting in February 1915[2] and other key figures included Mary Barbour, Agnes Dollan, Helen Crawfurd, and Jessie Ferguson.
The GWHA were actively involved in protests during the Red Clydeside and thus contributed to the passing of the Housing and Town Planning Act of 1919 which mandated local governments to build housing for citizens and allocated the funds to do so. The GWHA had 3,000 members by the end of 1915. The members used banners during their protests, an example of which read:
Our Husbands Sons and Brothers are Fighting the Prussians of Germany.
We are fighting the Prussians of Partick.
Only Alternative: Muncipal Housing.
Banner at the Great March in St. Enoch's Square, Glasgow 7th Oct, 1915.[1]
References
- 1 2 Castells, Manuel (1983). The City and the Grassroots: A Cross-Cultural Theory of Urban Social Movements. Berkley & Los Angeles, California: University of California Press. p. 32. ISBN 0-520-04756-7.
- ↑ Melling, Joseph (1983). Rent Strikes: People’s Struggle For Housing in West Scotland 1890-1916. Edinburgh: Polygon Books. p. 62. ISBN 0-904919-72-2.