This guide was written as part of a student placement from the UCL Archives and Records Management MA to catalogue the First of May Celebration Committee collection. You can find the catalogue record for that collection here.

At the turn of the 1920s, socialist groups, trade unions, and labour parties in London initially came together to organise a city-wide celebration of workers on the first of May. The First of May Celebration Committee was formed in 1922, following in the footsteps of strikers and rioters in the 1890s, and the International Socialist Congress in 1904, to campaign for an 8-hour working day.

"All Social Democratic Party organisations and trade unions of all countries to demonstrate energetically on the First of May for the legal establishment of the 8-hour day, for the class demands of the proletariat, and for universal peace." From the International Socialist Congress, Amsterdam, 1904

With the executive committees and key decision-making processes in place for the London-based groups, a new question had come to light by 1925. What was the most effective way to get more women involved in the First of May Celebration, and labour movements more generally? A “Women’s Section” was formed, separate from the other organising committees. This women-only group focused on appealing to other women to join the demonstrations, and was involved in a range of other associated activities.

“[We know] the necessity of ... women assisting in making the May Day Demonstration a success”, from the First of May Celebration Executive Committee Papers, FMCC/1

The Women’s Section was responsible for organising music and dancing in the run up to the First of May, as a fundraising activity, and at the demonstration itself, which took place on Clerkenwell Green. Borrowing from folkloric tradition, and the celebrations of May Day, the Women’s Section set up a Maypole for the event. They also designed and distributed banners. Additionally, the Women’s Section was responsible for gathering contributions for the Comrades of the unemployed, who were provided with food and drink from a stall at the celebration.

You can read more about women’s labour movements and history here https://www.marx-memorial-library.org.uk/special-collections-and-subject-guides/anti-sexism-and-womens-movement