Glasgow Women's Housing Association

Glasgow Women's Housing Association (GWHA) was established in Glasgow, Scotland, in mid-1914 by the Independent Labour Party Housing Committee launched by Andrew McBride in 1913[1] and the Women's Labour League[2] in reaction to the increasing rent prices and overcrowding exacerbated by the advent of the First World War. The Women's Labour League which included Jessie Ferguson and Mrs Nixon among its members promoted the formation of housing associations in each ward of the city affiliated to the GWHA[3]. GWHA campaigned for subsidised housing and criticised profiteering by landlords and the lack of municipal housing provision due to speculative urban development.[4]. The GWHA were instrumental in the organisation of the Glasgow Rent Strike of 1915. Mary Burns Laird was its first President and chaired the first meeting on 16 February 1915[5] in Govan's Morris Hall. Other key figures in establishing GWHA include Mary Barbour, Agnes Dollan, Helen Crawfurd, and Jessie Ferguson.

The GWHA were actively involved in protests during the Red Clydeside and thus contributed to the passing of the Housing and Town Planning Act of 1919 which mandated local governments to build housing for citizens and allocated the funds to do so. The GWHA had 3,000 members by the end of 1915. The members used banners during their protests, an example of which read:

Our Husbands Sons and Brothers are Fighting the Prussians of Germany.

We are fighting the Prussians of Partick.

Only Alternative: Municipal Housing.

Banner at the Great March in St. Enoch's Square, Glasgow 7th Oct, 1915.[4]

References
  1. Melling, Joseph (1983). Rent Strikes: People's Struggle for Housing in West Scotland 1890 - 1916. Glasgow: Polygon Books, Edinburgh. p. 40. ISBN 0-904919-72-2.
  2. Smyth, James, J. (1980). Women in Struggle: A Study of the Political Activity of Working - Class Women in Glasgow during the First World War (M.A. Dissertation). Glasgow: University of Glasgow. p. 10.
  3. Joseph., Melling (1983). Rent strikes : peoples' struggle for housing in West Scotland, 1890-1916. Edinburgh: Polygon Books. p. 33. ISBN 0904919722. OCLC 12551455.
  4. Castells, Manuel (1983). The City and the Grassroots: A Cross-Cultural Theory of Urban Social Movements. Berkeley & Los Angeles, California: University of California Press. p. 32. ISBN 0-520-04756-7.
  5. Melling, Joseph (1983). Rent Strikes: People's Struggle For Housing in West Scotland 1890-1916. Edinburgh: Polygon Books. p. 62. ISBN 0-904919-72-2.
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