Meet Vida Goldstein, the Fab Femme collection and a new beaded bead

I have been working on The Fab Femme collection: designs to enchant, stories to enliven for some time now and looking forward to sharing them over the coming weeks. I have just listed a beaded bead in the collection - the Vida bead. (Link here for the pattern)

The fabulous women (Fab Femmes) of the Suffragette movement (1890s – 1910s) who have changed our lives inspired the Fab Femme collection. Each design in the collection honours a specific suffragette. Many of the suffragettes wore jewellery as a mark of feminine solidarity as they fought for women’s rights, especially their right to vote. This was so widely known and recognised that the UK London-based royal jewellers Mappin & Webb, issued a catalogue of Suffragette Jewellery for Christmas 1908.

The Vida beaded bead honours Australian suffragette Vida Goldstein (1869 – 1949). She was a tireless campaigner for women’s right to vote and for a wide range of progressive social welfare reforms. She gained an international reputation for this work. Here are some snippets from an online biography of her.

In 1890 Vida helped her mother collect signatures for the Woman Suffrage Petition and she was involved in the National Anti-Sweating League (a labour rights organisation), the Criminology Society and various other social welfare campaigns. In 1902 spoke at the International Woman Suffrage Conference in the USA, was elected secretary, gave pro woman’s suffrage evidence to USA Congress committee participated in the International Council of Women Conference. Australian women were granted the Federal vote in 1902 and in that year she became the first woman in the British Empire to be nominated and to stand for election to a national parliament. Whilst she lost this election it did not deter her and she actively campaigned to educate women on their parliamentary rights.

Source:
http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A090042b.htm