| Description | This section contains papers relating to the issuing of a statement instigated by the Women's International League calling for an end to the political 'deadlock' between India and Britain following the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. Elizabeth Taylor Cadbury was one of the seventy one women named as a signatory and supporter of the appeal which was sent to the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, the Secretary of State for India L. S. Amery and the national press.
In 1941 the Union of Democratic Control issued a statement describing the 'deadlock' between Britain and India which had been caused by 'Britain's action in declaring India to be at war with Germany in 1939' without consulting Indian leaders. The statement also refers to the imprisonment of Indian political figures from the country's Congress Party and controversy surrounding the self-government of India.
Elizabeth Taylor Cadbury's preservation of papers relating to this appeal reflect that she maintained an active interest in developments in India following her visit to the country for the World Congress of the International Council of Women in 1936. It is significant that many women who were involved in the same social and political networks as Taylor Cadbury in Birmingham and beyond also supported the statement, including Ethel M. Barrow, Edith M. H. Bigland and Edith Picton Turbervill.
This section contains a copy of the 'Indian Deadlock British Women's Appeal' statement, an extract from the Manchester Guardian and correspondence from prominent women involved in national political work including Agatha Harrison (1885-1954) and Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence (1867-1954). |