Sybil Morrison
Encyclopedia
Sybil Morrison was a British pacifist and a suffragist
as well as being active with several other radical causes.
As a young and enthusiastic suffragist, Morrison was persuaded by Emmeline Pankhurst
that she was too young to go to prison. She became a pacifist in 1917 and during World War I she drove ambulances in London. She attributed her decision to become a pacifist to the sight of a Zeppelin
being shot down over London. In the streets of London, ordinary, decent people were clapping and cheering and dancing as though at a play or a circus……..I suddenly saw that war made yet another impact on human beings; it deprived them of their humanity. I became a pacifist then and nothing has happened since to alter my conviction that war is a crime against God and humanity.
Morrison was one of the first women members of the Peace Pledge Union
(PPU), a British Pacifist organisation that was the UK arm of War Resisters International (WRI). She served as a Campaign Organiser and Chair and wrote the first history of the PPU. In 1940 she spent six months in Holloway Prison, having spoken against the war at London’s Speakers' Corner
. Morrison was an active member of Women's International League for Peace & Freedom (WILPF), being at one stage the Chair of its British branch.
Sybil Morrison was secretary of the short-lived Women’s Peace Campaign, set up by the PPU at the end of 1939. It had been hoped to obtain the signatures of one million women against the Second World War but as Morrison admitted: The invasion of Scandinavia has, of course, made it much more difficult now to approach people about signing an appeal for negotiations because opinion is hardening against the pacifist. The Campaign was doomed after the surrender of the French in June, 1940 but the collapse may also have had something to do with the opposition of John Middleton Murry
, editor of Peace News
. Murry was described as having a “frightful” attitude towards women and was not at all supportive of the campaign.
Morrison was the Organising Secretary and Chair of the Six Point Group
(c.1948-1950). The Group campaigned for legislation on assault against children, on support for widows, on legislation in support of unmarried mothers, and on issues of equal rights and equal pay. Another member of the Group was Dora Russell
, second wife of Bertrand Russell
. Morrison was also active with the Howard League for Penal Reform
and the National Peace Council
. She was a vice-president of the Fellowship Party
, a small British political party that attracted many peace activists.
She was a close friend of leading peace activists Donald Soper
and Fenner Brockway. She was a lesbian who was once described as the most famous dyke in London. For the last few years of her life she shared a house with Myrtle Solomon
, who was the general secretary of the Peace Pledge Union and later the chair of WRI. In the 1930s she had a relationship with another suffragist, Dorothy Evans, which was considered shocking at the time.
Other people with whom Sybil worked included Vera Brittain
, Alex Comfort
, Laurence Housman
, Hugh Brock
, and Kathleen Lonsdale
and many other leading individuals in radical politics during much of the 20th century. Even towards the end of her life she took an active interest in politics, turning up at the beginning of an anti Falklands War
march.
Suffragette
"Suffragette" is a term coined by the Daily Mail newspaper as a derogatory label for members of the late 19th and early 20th century movement for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, in particular members of the Women's Social and Political Union...
as well as being active with several other radical causes.
As a young and enthusiastic suffragist, Morrison was persuaded by Emmeline Pankhurst
Emmeline Pankhurst
Emmeline Pankhurst was a British political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement which helped women win the right to vote...
that she was too young to go to prison. She became a pacifist in 1917 and during World War I she drove ambulances in London. She attributed her decision to become a pacifist to the sight of a Zeppelin
Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...
being shot down over London. In the streets of London, ordinary, decent people were clapping and cheering and dancing as though at a play or a circus……..I suddenly saw that war made yet another impact on human beings; it deprived them of their humanity. I became a pacifist then and nothing has happened since to alter my conviction that war is a crime against God and humanity.
Morrison was one of the first women members of the Peace Pledge Union
Peace Pledge Union
The Peace Pledge Union is a British pacifist non-governmental organization. It is open to everyone who can sign the PPU pledge: "I renounce war, and am therefore determined not to support any kind of war...
(PPU), a British Pacifist organisation that was the UK arm of War Resisters International (WRI). She served as a Campaign Organiser and Chair and wrote the first history of the PPU. In 1940 she spent six months in Holloway Prison, having spoken against the war at London’s Speakers' Corner
Speakers' Corner
A Speakers' Corner is an area where open-air public speaking, debate and discussion are allowed. The original and most noted is in the north-east corner of Hyde Park in London, United Kingdom. Speakers there may speak on any subject, as long as the police consider their speeches lawful, although...
. Morrison was an active member of Women's International League for Peace & Freedom (WILPF), being at one stage the Chair of its British branch.
Sybil Morrison was secretary of the short-lived Women’s Peace Campaign, set up by the PPU at the end of 1939. It had been hoped to obtain the signatures of one million women against the Second World War but as Morrison admitted: The invasion of Scandinavia has, of course, made it much more difficult now to approach people about signing an appeal for negotiations because opinion is hardening against the pacifist. The Campaign was doomed after the surrender of the French in June, 1940 but the collapse may also have had something to do with the opposition of John Middleton Murry
John Middleton Murry
John Middleton Murry was an English writer. He was prolific, producing more than 60 books and thousands of essays and reviews on literature, social issues, politics, and religion during his lifetime...
, editor of Peace News
Peace News
Peace News is a pacifist magazine first published on 6 June 1936 to serve the peace movement in the United Kingdom. From later in 1936 to April 1961 it was the official paper of the Peace Pledge Union , and from 1990 to 2004 was co-published with War Resisters' International.-History:Peace News was...
. Murry was described as having a “frightful” attitude towards women and was not at all supportive of the campaign.
Morrison was the Organising Secretary and Chair of the Six Point Group
Six Point Group
The Six Point Group was a British feminist campaign group founded by Lady Rhondda in 1921 to press for changes in the law of the United Kingdom in six areas.-Aims:The six original specific aims were:# Satisfactory legislation on child assault;...
(c.1948-1950). The Group campaigned for legislation on assault against children, on support for widows, on legislation in support of unmarried mothers, and on issues of equal rights and equal pay. Another member of the Group was Dora Russell
Dora Russell
Dora Black, Lady Russell was a British author, a feminist and socialist campaigner, and the second wife of the eminent philosopher Bertrand Russell....
, second wife of Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, and social critic. At various points in his life he considered himself a liberal, a socialist, and a pacifist, but he also admitted that he had never been any of these things...
. Morrison was also active with the Howard League for Penal Reform
Howard League for Penal Reform
The Howard League for Penal Reform is a London-based registered charity in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest penal reform organisation in the world, named after John Howard. Founded in 1866 as the Howard Association, a merger with the Penal Reform League in 1921 created the Howard League for...
and the National Peace Council
National Peace Council
The National Peace Council, founded in 1908, and disbanded in 2000, acted as the co-ordinating body for almost 200 groups across Britain, with a membership ranging from small village peace groups to national trade unions and local authorities...
. She was a vice-president of the Fellowship Party
Fellowship Party
The Fellowship Party was the oldest environmentalist political party in England. It opposed nuclear power and all weapons. Its national petition against nuclear weapons tests led to the forming of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament....
, a small British political party that attracted many peace activists.
She was a close friend of leading peace activists Donald Soper
Donald Soper
Donald Oliver Soper, Baron Soper was a prominent Methodist minister, socialist and pacifist.Soper was born at 36 Knoll Road, Wandsworth, London, the first son and first child of the three children of Ernest Frankham Soper , an average adjuster in marine insurance, the son of a tailor, and his...
and Fenner Brockway. She was a lesbian who was once described as the most famous dyke in London. For the last few years of her life she shared a house with Myrtle Solomon
Myrtle Solomon
Myrtle Solomon was an active pacifist. She was general secretary of the Peace Pledge Union , a British pacifist organisation, between 1965 and 1972, and Chair of the War Resisters International between 1975 and 1986....
, who was the general secretary of the Peace Pledge Union and later the chair of WRI. In the 1930s she had a relationship with another suffragist, Dorothy Evans, which was considered shocking at the time.
Other people with whom Sybil worked included Vera Brittain
Vera Brittain
Vera Mary Brittain was a British writer, feminist and pacifist, best remembered as the author of the best-selling 1933 memoir Testament of Youth, recounting her experiences during World War I and the beginning of her journey towards pacifism.-Life:Born in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Brittain was the...
, Alex Comfort
Alex Comfort
Alexander Comfort, MB BChir, PhD, DSc was a medical professional, gerontologist, anarchist, pacifist, conscientious objector and writer, best known for The Joy of Sex, which played a part in what is often called the sexual revolution...
, Laurence Housman
Laurence Housman
Laurence Housman was an English playwright, writer and illustrator.-Early life:Laurence Housman was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, one of seven children who included the poet A. E. Housman and writer Clemence Housman. In 1871 his mother died, and his father remarried, to a cousin...
, Hugh Brock
Hugh Brock
Hugh Brock was a lifelong British pacifist, editor of Peace News between 1955 and 1964, a promoter of non-violent direct action and a founder of the Direct Action Committee, a forerunner of the Committee of 100....
, and Kathleen Lonsdale
Kathleen Lonsdale
Dame Kathleen Lonsdale, DBE FRS was a crystallographer, who established the structure of benzene by X-ray diffraction methods in 1929, and hexachlorobenzene by Fourier spectral methods in 1931...
and many other leading individuals in radical politics during much of the 20th century. Even towards the end of her life she took an active interest in politics, turning up at the beginning of an anti Falklands War
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
march.