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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 April 2017
Many feminists have not known what to do with Christabel Pankhurst's religious turn. The result has been a tendency simply to ignore it. This trend began as soon as she was dead, if not even before, as can be seen in an article ‘In Memoriam’ written by ‘Mrs Kent Allen’ that was printed in the Los Angeles Timesjust two weeks after Pankhurst's death. It is worth including the whole article in order to gain the full effect:
Feb. 13 Dame Christabel Pankhurst, crusader in the suffragette cause, passed from our midst.
This noble lady, who fought so valiantly for women's right to vote, always admonished us to use our votes for the betterment of humanity. We who knew her feel her going is a great loss to the world as well as to her personal friends.
Dame Christabel was a great humanitarian. Among her many kind deeds, there is one outstanding in my memory: when she nursed a blind woman night and day for months with dedicated devotion until Dame Christabel herself became ill from exhaustion but would not leave the blind woman until someone capable could take over.
Dame Christabel's interest in good statesmanship never ceased. She also devoted time in her later years to the study of drawing, painting and music.
A noble crusader has gone home. Sweet be her well-earned rest and blessed be her memory in the pages of history as well as in the hearts of us whose privilege it was to know her and love her.
This is a tribute that not only completely ignores a spectacular career in active Christian ministry and the writing of a handful of popular Christian books – replacing them with a vision of a gentlewoman dabbling in the arts – but also one that so totally censors any mention of religion that one does not even have sufficient information to discover whether or not Pankhurst was an atheist.
Joyce Marlow has recently observed that Sylvia Pankhurst is ‘the most popular Pankhurst for latterday feminists (Christabel's and Emmeline's wartime jingoism and postwar activities are difficult subjects)’. Likewise, Martin Pugh has noted, ‘Surprisingly, there is still no good, scholarly biography of either Emmeline or Christabel Pankhurst.’
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