History Prof's New Book Spotlights Forgotten Heroine
When Eglantyne Jebb started Save the Children, the world's first international child-welfare agency in 1919, she inspired a generation of women to use their skills and minds to make a difference as volunteers.
Three years later, Jebb drafted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, a series of children's rights proclamations that eventually evolved into the famous United Nations Rights of the Child that were adopted in 1959.
Yet history has largely overlooked this important historical figure — until now. University of Guelph history professor Linda Mahood has just published a first academic book about the social activist’s life and legacy, Feminism and Voluntary Action: Eglantyne Jebb and Save the Children, 1876-1928.
The book’s publication coincides with the 90th anniversary of Save the Children in the United Kingdom...
... Mahood was drawn to researching and writing about Jebb because of an earlier academic interest in child-welfare issues of the 19th and 20th centuries. Over the years, the project ballooned into a history of women’s volunteerism and activism.
“It occurred to me that Jebb’s life story shows the role that volunteering still plays in women’s lives and how it really paves the way for other forms of social activism. Her life became my lens through which to view the way women worldwide tried to rebuild society after the devastation of the first world war and subsequent wars and natural disasters.”
Many doors were closed to women of Jebb’s generation, but charities often provided them with outlets, Mahood said. “For some, it was a social activity, for some it was a thankless chore; but for others, it was a way to break out of oppressive domestic roles, to use their education and talents to rebuild society in the name of the child.”
Read entire article at University of Guelph
Three years later, Jebb drafted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, a series of children's rights proclamations that eventually evolved into the famous United Nations Rights of the Child that were adopted in 1959.
Yet history has largely overlooked this important historical figure — until now. University of Guelph history professor Linda Mahood has just published a first academic book about the social activist’s life and legacy, Feminism and Voluntary Action: Eglantyne Jebb and Save the Children, 1876-1928.
The book’s publication coincides with the 90th anniversary of Save the Children in the United Kingdom...
... Mahood was drawn to researching and writing about Jebb because of an earlier academic interest in child-welfare issues of the 19th and 20th centuries. Over the years, the project ballooned into a history of women’s volunteerism and activism.
“It occurred to me that Jebb’s life story shows the role that volunteering still plays in women’s lives and how it really paves the way for other forms of social activism. Her life became my lens through which to view the way women worldwide tried to rebuild society after the devastation of the first world war and subsequent wars and natural disasters.”
Many doors were closed to women of Jebb’s generation, but charities often provided them with outlets, Mahood said. “For some, it was a social activity, for some it was a thankless chore; but for others, it was a way to break out of oppressive domestic roles, to use their education and talents to rebuild society in the name of the child.”