A large proportion of The Women's Library Photograph Collection is comprised of portraits of famous women and significant individuals in women's campaigning. There is also a range of photographs of the birthplaces, burial places and funerals of prominent women.

The main strength of the collection is in the group of photographs that represent suffrage campaigning. The images represent a wide range of activities such as suffrage arrests, elections, petitions, demonstrations, processions and exhibitions.

The work undertaken by women on the Home and Western fronts is recorded in a number of photographs taken during the First and Second World Wars.

There is a limited, but growing, range of photographs that document post-suffrage women's campaigning such as feminist work during the 1970s and 1980s, in the form of arrests and demonstrations. There are images relating to a few of the many 20th century women's organisations and their activities, such as conferences and debates.

A small number of photographs grouped by subject illustrate women's everyday experiences in areas such as sport and education.

Although focussing on the United Kingdom, the international nature of campaigning means that a number of international women or places are represented in this collection.

As at Jan 2009, The Women's Library held approximately 1,144 postcards in the Museum Collection, with 211 postcards identified in the archives.

The earliest postcards held result from suffrage campaigning and include: documentary photographs of suffrage activities and events, and portraits of activists produced by the Women's Social and Political Union, the Women's Freedom League, and illustrated propaganda cards produced by the Artists' Suffrage League and the Suffrage Atelier. The collection also includes a significant number of anti-suffrage comic cards produced by commercial printers. There is a range of cards illustrating the campaigns for women's enfranchisement in Holland, Sweden, France and USA amongst other countries. Women's contribution to the First World War is documented in a number of postcards that represent the Scottish Women's Hospitals and other hospitals.

In addition, the collection contains contemporary postcards dating from the late 1970s to the present day. It includes a selection of satirical cartoons concerned with female characteristics and roles, a range of cards produced by women's organisations and campaign groups, particularly peace groups, cards representing campaigning on issues internationally.

Most postcards in the collection are blank on the reverse side. There are a number, such as those sent by women on the suffrage caravan tours and during the First World War, which were sent and the text may be useful for research.

As at Jan 2009, The Women's Library held approximately 1050 posters in the Museum Collection, with c 100 posters identified in the archives.

The earliest posters held result from suffrage activities and can be divided into three main groups; advertisements for meetings and events, illustrated propaganda posters arguing why women should get the vote, and thirdly newspaper bills bearing suffrage related headlines, used to promote paper sales.

All other posters are arranged by subject and date from the 1970s to the present day. The collection represents a mixture of women's campaigning, campaigning by organisations to promote gender equality, and posters produced to advertise women-focused events and publications. There are a small number of posters that portray women's issues and campaign work internationally. The work of The Equal Opportunities Commission in England and Ireland is particularly well represented as a result of a large donation of their obsolete posters during the 1990s. Also well represented with almost 80 posters is the work of See Red Women's Workshop, a women's liberation screen-printing collective (1974-1984).

Scrapbook of press cuttings and printed ephemera on a range of subjects, 1910, including the suffrage campaigns, the General Election and the death and funeral of King Edward VII. Includes commemorative postcards of the latter.

This scrapbook consists of press cuttings from the national and regional press relating to the suffrage campaigns, 1908-1909.

Scrapbook of press cuttings on a wide range of topics, including divorce law reform, imprisonment for debt, the suffrage campaigns, home work and the sweated trades, 'the white slave traffic', and any others.

This scrapbook consists of press cuttings, the provenance is unknown. The volume contains the bookplate of Lucy Adela Jenner and it is possible that this is an indication of the provenance of the suffrage cuttings. The suffrage press-cuttings, including from the local press in London and Hampshire are about the suffrage campaigns, 1908-1909.

Additional press-cuttings from a press agency from 1918-1919 and those relating to domestic service, appear to have been added at a later date [possibly from the same added by the Library source as those in 10/06].

Scrapbook of press cuttings related to the Women's Suffrage Bill, 1897.

This scrapbook consists of press cuttings concerning tax resistance, the Women's Tax Resistance League and general issues concerning women and tax, 1910-1912.

Papers of the De Morgan family, [1756-1928], comprising material relating to the suffragette movement, such as photographs, newpapers, press cuttings and pamphlets; correspondence of Augustus de Morgan, with correspondents including Sir Frederick Richard Pollock, Sir George Biddle Airy, Sir John William Lubbock, John Wrottesley (2nd Baron Wrottesley), John Radford Young, Sir John Frederick William Herschel, John Finlaison, and General Sir John Briggs; correspondence of William Frend de Morgan, mainly with members of his family and Sir Edward Coley Burne Jones; material relating to the de Morgan and Frend families, notably family photographs, drawings, letters, legal documents and memorabilia; letters from Sophia and Mollie de Morgan to Joan Antrobus; manuscript and typescript copies of stories and essays by William and Mary de Morgan; papers relating to Sophia de Morgan's Memoir of her husband Augustus, including letters, reviews and working notes; bundle of letters containing correspondence concerning a petition to the women of America from the women of England about the abolition of slavery; printed material, mainly works by Augustus de Morgan; letters to Francis Baily, [1820-1940]; letters from Thomas Henderson to Thomas Galloway, 1834-1842; 5 watercolours of Scotland by Frances Shakerley, [1920-1930].

Papers of and relating to the Horsley family, comprising papers of Sir Victor Horsley; papers of Eldred, Lady Horsley; papers of Siward Horsley and of Oswald Horsley; papers of Pamela, Lady Robinson, including items relating to the Babies Club in Chelsea; papers of Stephen Paget, author of Victor Horsley's biography; photographs and postcards. Victor Horsley's papers include large sections on his medical career, his service in the army during the Great War, and his political and social interests, including his involvement in the temperance movement and the Medical Defence Union, support for the suffragettes and for Home Rule for Ireland, and his role in the reform of the bodies representing the medical profession: the General Medical Council, the British Medical Association, and the Royal College of Surgeons. His personal papers reflect his interest in archaeology and genealogy.

The collection mainly relates to Stopes' work on Shakespeare, though there is a little general correspondence, and some notes on women's suffrage and other women's questions.

The collection contains family diaries and appointment books of Thomas Humphry Ward and Mary Augusta Ward, 1871-1926; personal diaries of Dorothy Ward, 1889-1955; family letters of Arnold Ward, 1890-1915; newspaper cuttings, 1891-1920.

The collection comprises correspondence and papers and covers Robertson's entire academic career. By far the largest part is the correspondence with Alexander Bain on the editing of Grote's Aristotle and on plans for Mind. There is also a group of letters from John Stuart Mill, mostly relating to the National Society for Women's Suffrage.

Bound volumes of the Bedford College Magazine, 1886-1921; copies of the Magazine of Bedford Knowledge, 1896; copies of The Owlet, 1906; copies of The Balance, magazine of the Society for the Study of Womens' Franchise, 1913; copies of Minerva Smiles, 1918; copies of the Bedford College Union Magazine, 1921-1941; 'Bedford writings', compiled from literary pieces from the Bedford College Union Magazine, 1943 and 1945; copies of The Unicorn, 1946-1965, the Bedford News, 1946-1961, the Inner Circular, 1962-1982, and The Absorber, 1981-1985; brochures and programmes for College events, 1903-1985.

Papers of Joanna Elizabeth Kelley, 1842-1980, mainly relating to the UK prison service, including historical notes, 1921-1980, on subjects relating to prison buildings, prisoners, legal aid, mental illness, prison security and young offenders; general historical notes and documents, 1842-1980, on Holloway Prison, health and hygiene, suffragettes, and women offenders, notably the manuscript diary of the suffragette Annie Cobden-Sanderson written during her imprisonment in 1906, and papers relating to the Duchess of Bedford's Enquiry into Holloway Prison in 1919 ; bibliographies relating to aspects of the prison service, 1970-1980; card indexes for notes on prison organisation and regulations, [1970-1980]; photograph albums, 1970-1971, containing photographs taken by Robert Donat of HM Prison Holloway, including architectural views, interior and exterior, and staff and prisoners; material relating to the penal system in Australia, 1966-1970, notably surveys of prison populations and developments in the treatment of female prisoners.

Margaret MacDonald's correspondence, papers and lectures, on subjects including factory and shop legislation, the employment of women, housing, the Licensing Bills of 1901-1902, Sunday School teaching, vagrant children, women's organizations and women's suffrage, and the Franco-British Exhibition at Hammersmith in 1908. James Ramsay MacDonald's papers, correspondence and press cuttings on subjects including the financing and aftermath of World War I, Labour Party policy and his leadership of the party, working conditions, and women's education.

Correspondence of John Stuart Mill; correspondence of Helen Taylor concerning the publication and translation of John Stuart Mill's works and correspondence, the Moral Reform Union, women's suffrage, the social position and education of women, the London School Board and education, literary work, the land question, political questions, Irish affairs, miscellaneous public interests, and private correspondence; letters of appreciation and criticism of John Stuart Mill's work and character, and of sympathy on his death; other miscellaneous letters concerning John Stuart Mill; additional correspondence of John Stuart Mill; correspondence of Harriet Taylor and other members of the Taylor family; material relating to honorary degrees, society memberships, etc. conferred on John Stuart Mill; note books, etc. of John Stuart Mill, including botanical notebooks; writings by Helen Taylor, including "Limits of Local Government", "Municipal Vote etc", and her diaries; letters, speeches and articles by and concerning John Stuart Mill, extracted from newspapers and periodicals; miscellaneous papers of John Stuart Mill, Helen Taylor, Harriet Taylor, and others; and photographs and press cuttings.

Papers of Beatrice and Sidney Webb, 1835-[1985], comprising the following: Diaries of Beatrice Webb, 1873-1943, including the original manuscript volumes and various typed transcripts, comprising a detailed account of her life and work, notably relating to the history of socialism in Great Britain. The volumes include entries concerning Charles Booth, the Fabian Society, the Labour Party, trade unionism, the suffrage movement, the LSE, local government, and communism, as well as descriptions of friends, colleagues and acquaintances. The diaries also include entries by Sidney Webb, mainly during their 'world tours' in 1898 and 1911 and a visit to the USSR in 1932. Correspondence, 1853-1947, including correspondence of the Potter family before Beatrice's marriage, 1862-1892, including letters of her parents, Richard and Lawrencina Potter, and her sisters, as well as correspondence between Beatrice and Herbert Spencer, Joseph Chamberlain, Charles and Mary Booth, Professor Alfred Marshall, and Auberon (Edward William Molyneux) Herbert; early correspondence of Sidney Webb, 1885-1892, notably with Graham Wallas and George Bernard Shaw; letters between Beatrice and Sidney Webb, 1890-1940, including material relating to their courtship, marriage, work and life together; general correspondence of the Webbs following their marriage, 1892-1947, with a wide range of correspondents including politicians, Fabians, historians, social scientists, and staff of the London School of Economics and Political Science; additional letters and photocopies of letters given to the Library after the deposit of the Passfield papers in 1949, 1888-1944, including correspondence with Edward Reynolds Pease, Charlotte Payne-Townshend (later Shaw), Professor William Alexander Robson, Mrs Lucia Turin, Herbert George Wells, Richard Burdon Haldane, Viscount Haldane, and Hubert Hall; later correspondence relating to the Webbs, [1970-1985], collated by Norman MacKenzie. Material concerning personal and private affairs, 1865-1948, including financial and legal papers of the Webbs and their families, 1873-1945, such as wills, probates, birth and marriage certificates and insurance policies; material relating to educational awards of Sidney and Beatrice, 1876-1945, as well as papers concerning his Barony; correspondence, legal and business papers concerning property, 1893-1948, including Passfield Corner; financial material, 1902-1947, notably banking correspondence and dividend vouchers; photographs, 1865-1947, mainly of the Potter family and Beatrice and Sidney Webb, and including several of George Bernard Shaw and his wife Charlotte. Material relating to political and public work, 1892-1948, including material relating to the London County Council, 1892-1907; papers concerning the Poor Law, 1909-1948, including the foundation of the National Committee for the Prevention of Destitution, and papers of the National Poor Law Reform Association; memoranda by Beatrice Webb on the administration of the Prince of Wales's Fund, 1914; documents from the International Socialist Congress of Vienna, 1914; material concerning Beatrice Webb's work on the Reconstruction Committee, 1917-1918, including letters from William Henry Beveridge, David Lloyd George and Christopher Addison, and committee papers; memoranda on war aims for the Inter-Allied Labour and Socialist Conference, 1918; political papers regarding Sidney Webb's candidature for the University of London in the general election of 1918, and his role as Labour MP for Seaham Harbour, 1920-1931; prospectus and notices of the Half-Circle Club, 1921; notes by Sidney Webb on the Labour Government of 1924; material concerning the living wage policy of the Independent Labour Party, 1926; political papers of Sidney Webb, 1929-1931, mainly concerning his role as Secretary of State for the Colonies in the Labour Government of 1929, and including a report on the legislative programme of the Parliamentary Labour Party, correspondence with Sir Edward William Macleay Grigg, Governor of Kenya, and notes on the political crises of 1931 and Webb's resignation; notes and drafts of an article by Beatrice Webb on the 1929 Labour Government, 1929-1931; memoranda by Beatrice Webb on Employment Insurance, 1931. Business papers concerning publications, 1890-1947, notably general correspondence between the Webbs and their actual and prospective publishers, 1890-1947; printed prospectuses, advertisements, book jackets, 1898-1941, for Industrial democracy, A constitution for the socialist commonwealth of Great Britain, The History of Trade Unionism, various volumes of English local government, The decay of capitalist civilisation, Methods of social study, and Soviet communism; manuscript notebooks, 1920-1947, mainly in Sidney Webb's hand, containing details of subscribers to English local government, and accounts connected with Webb publications. Printed, typescript and manuscript copies of lectures, interviews, speeches and talks by the Webbs, [1870]-1942, notably texts of lectures given by Sidney Webb at venues including the Working Men's College, the Argosy Society, the Sunday Lecture Society, the Fabian Society, the City of London College, and South Place Institute, 1883-1891, mainly relating to political economy and economic history; printed reports of interviews with Sidney and Beatrice Webb, and speeches and lectures by them, 1889-1942, on subjects including political economy, socialism, the London County Council, education, the USSR and trade unions; reprints and texts of lectures and talks by Beatrice Webb, 1906-1932, and Sidney Webb, 1900-1936, on the poor law, Herbert Spencer, social research, politics, and soviet communism; an album of press cuttings relating to Sidney Webb, 1887-1891. Articles, essays, published letters and reviews by the Webbs, 1877-1945, notably manuscript and typescript essays, 1877-1887, on marxism, economic theory, and social research; typescript copies of articles, 1912-1933, mainly relating to the Labour Party, politics and Soviet Russia; printed copies of articles by Beatrice and Sidney Webb, 1887-1942; published letters, 1897-1910, on trade unions, and destitution; notes and diary entries made by the Webbs during and after a visit to the Soviet Union, 1932; drafts and proofs of books by the Webbs, 1913-[1940]. Bibliographical material and research notes gathered by Beatrice and Sidney Webb during the production of some of their books, 1881-1948, including printed material, scrap books, biographical notes and index cards on subjects such as political economy, social conditions and local government in London, poor law, socialism, trade unionism, and the co-operative movement. Material relating to the Webbs' involvement with the Fabian Society, 1886-1947, including general material and lectures, 1888-1947; papers of the Fabian Research Department and the Labour Research Department, 1912-1929; papers of the New Fabian Research Bureau, 1936-1938; material regarding the Fabian Summer School, 1913-1926; papers concerning the Fabian Women's Group, 1914-1915; and material relating to the Fabian Colonial Bureau, 1946. Papers relating to the London School of Economics and Political Science, 1893-1924, comprising early material concerning the Hutchinson Bequest and Trust, 1893-1924, namely legal documents, correspondence and financial papers; correspondence, legal documents, accounts and maps regarding the foundation, early history and administration of LSE, 1895-1945, including letters from Sir William Henry Beveridge, Sir Alexander Carr-Saunders, William Albert Samuel Hewins and others; correspondence regarding library acquisitions, 1934-1935; material concerning LSE buildings, 1898-1903, including correspondence with architects and builders, accounts, maps and plans. Material concerning the New Statesman and the Statesman Publishing Company, 1912-1943, comprising papers relating to the foundation, financing and planned format of the journal, 1912-1913; correspondence with William Pember Reeves, Professor Charles Mostyn Lloyd, (Basil) Kingsley Martin, George Bernard Shaw, Edward Whitley and Ernest Darwin Simon, 1912-1943; financial material, 1913-1943, including banking correspondence, share statements, loan certificates, and circulation figures; material concerning the takeover of the Nation by the New Statesman, 1923; correspondence with Clifford Dyce Sharp relating to his resignation as Editor, 1924; transcripts of Beatrice Webb's diary relating to the journal, 1912-1928. Material published about Beatrice and Sidney Webb and the Potter family, 1869-1960, including press cuttings and short published reviews of published works by the Webbs, 1889-1960; photographs and notes relating to the Potter family, 1869-1947, including Richard Potter, Lady Kate Courtney, Sir Richard Durning Holt and Sir (Richard) Stafford Cripps. Papers of the Beatrice Webb relating to the government Reconstruction Committee, 1916-1918, mainly comprising memoranda, reports and letters concerning the work of the Machinery of Government Committee, with proposals concerning the reorganisation of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, the Board of Trade, the Department of Justice, the Board of Education, the Home Office and the civil service, as well as methods of controlling national expenditure; memoranda and reports of the Sub-Committee on Functions of Government Departments; and material created by the Control of Industry and Commerce Panel. Miscellaneous material, 1835-[1950], including items found loose in Beatrice Webb's diary, including the passport of Richard Potter, reports on trade unionism, conscientious objectors, wage regulation in World War One; a letter from Sir Oswald Ernald Mosely to Sidney Webb, enclosing a paper on unemployment and reconstruction, [1930]; cabinet papers on national expenditure and national insurance and pensions, [1930-1931]; material concerning agriculture in the Soviet Union; photographs, [1850]-1932, comprising a photograph album of Sidney Webb's parents, and pictures removed from Beatrice Webb's diary.