Abstract

The Women's Social and Political Union (W.S.P.U.) wove around itself a series of legends contributing to a mythology, which continues to be repeated as suffragette history. This article examines this mythology's centrepiece, the legend of ‘Black Friday’, the allegation that suffragettes were brutally attacked by the police during demonstrations between 18 and 23 November 1910. It challenges the accepted story by rigorous use of archive sources – principally contemporary newspapers and National Archives files – and offers conclusions which should lead to a searching reassessment of W.S.P.U. tactics and methods.