People in Yorkshire have been campaigning for peace and justice for a long time. The Peace Museum explores the events and history of people and organisations that have worked to promote peace, non-violence and conflict resolution.
Isabella Ford: The greatest woman in the peace history of Leeds
Brought up in a liberal Quaker family in Adel, near Leeds, Isabella Ford (1855-1924) was an early member of the left-wing Fabian Society and helped to form the Independent Labour Party in Leeds.
She also supported Leeds tailoring (sewing) women, helping to form a Machinists' Society, the Leeds Tailoresses' Union and the Leeds Women's Suffrage Society. She became famous across the country due to her work for the Labour Party and suffrage movement.
Isabella Ford, Anti-War Campaigner
Isabella Ford was passionately opposed to war.
As the First World War approached in 1914, she helped to run a London peace demonstration. Most suffrage campaigners backed the 1914-1918 war, but Isabella took a stand against it. She wanted women's groups to urge a cease-fire and a negotiated peace. On the world stage as well as a local campaigner, she was a delegate to the Women's International League Congress.