She marched from Cambridge to London to be at the side of Millicent Garrett Fawcett as they faced down Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George over Votes for Women in 1913. Nearly half a century later she took part in a local action protesting against the threat of nuclear war as the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics almost brought the world to an end over the stationing of weapons of mass destruction.
Cambridge celebrated awarding Clara Rackham a blue plaque in 2018. (See here). One of the earliest records we have of Clara’s political activities start way back in 1908 with a letter to the Cambridge Independent Press in response to a piece by Stanley Buckmaster KC MP (Liberal – Cambridge). The newspaper back then was edited by the former Mayor of Cambridge Alfred Tillyard. His wife Catherine Tillyard proving to be not just an excellent columnist with her weekly ‘Pertilote’ columns featuring women in action in the fields of local democracy and social reforms, but a godsend for us local historians too.
Half a century and many achievements later, Clara Rackham – who by then had joined the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, took to the streets for one of the last times to take part in a local march against the threat of military action against Cuba as the Cold War threatened to become very, very hot.
Above, from the Cambridgeshire Collection digitised by Mike Petty MBE.
The short article reads as follows:
“More than 200 people – including 87 years old Mrs Clara Rackham – joined the “No War Over Cuba” march round Cambridge on Saturday. The marchers, mostly students but including many older people and a man with a baby in a pram carried placards. They were led by Mr Robert Davies, the Prospective Labour Party Candidate, who later addressed the meeting on Christ’s Pieces. [Robert Davies OBE MP (Labour – Cambridge 1966-67) died an untimely death aged only 49].
“Football fans streaming into the Cambridge City football ground on Milton Road were handed leaflets concerning the Cuban crisis. Four undergraduates carrying placards with the words “Hands Off Cuba” printed on them, distributed the leaflets to the thousands of spectators streaming into the football ground.
“Over 30 members of the Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers meeting in Cambridge on Saturday to discus safety in the building industry, took the opportunity to express their views on the Cuban situation. In petitions addressed to Mr Gaitskell [Hugh Gaitskell MP, Labour Leader & Leader of the Opposition] and to the T.U.C. [Trades Union Congress] they expressed their concern at the actions of the United States government and called on the T.U.C. and Labour Party to oppose the moves being made by President Kennedy.
“Those signing included in their personal capacities Mr I Jordan, District Secretary, the members of the District Management Committee, shop stewards & branch officers, all of whom reside in the Cambs, Beds and Herts area.”
A couple of weeks earlier there was a much larger protest in Cambridge – one that involved the intervention of the University authorities…
Above – Cambridge Daily News Oct 1962, Cambs Collection via Mike Petty.
Note in the first photograph on the far left the students at Cambridge University are all wearing gowns. This was a requirement at the time – one which would not be removed until 1965. One of the reasons was that wearing a gown in town especially in the evening made them a target for local criminals.
The original plan by the protesters was to have their protest in Market Square – again this was during the days when there was no permanent market, so the square was relatively clear in the evenings give or take the cars using it as a car park. (!)
Local police and the university authorities banned the gathering in Market Square, so protesters made their way to Parker’s Piece. Afterwards several hundred protesters blocked roads and banged on passing buses before making their way to The Guildhall, before being moved on by police.
One suggestion from one speaker.
Labour’s Robert Davies also spoke at this gathering, which he described the the public’s response to the crisis locally as “Absolutely Spontaneous”.
Lost Cambridge 