article_snippet: Mavis Curtis' book, The WI: A Centenary History, has studied the suffragists who made The WI WI one of the most important movements for women in the 20th century.
article_snippet: She said She was surprised to discover the real political movement behind the organisation.
article_snippet: The first organisers were ex-suffragists who felt that now women had the vote, women needed an education to give women the confidence to make women mark on the world that was opening up to women.
article_snippet: I was surprised that a lot of the people who started the WI were suffragists. '
article_snippet: suffragists gave the WI a political twist, using a political twist to educate women in citizenship, give a lot of the people who started the WI were suffragists a new role in society, and that really grabbed me. '
article_snippet: Her book explores key figures in the movement, like Lady Denman, the WI's first formidable chairman and Her vice-chairman Grace Hadow, as well as pivotal changing points, like when the Welfare State was introduced. '