Papers of Jo Stanley

The archive consists of an autobiographical account of ‘Being a feminist in Liverpool: 1969-1971’; chapter entitled 'Accounting for our days’ on diary entries researched at The Fawcett Library featured in ‘What a Woman can do with a Camera’, eds Joan Solomon and Jo Spence; Women’s Oral History conference papers; Women’s Studies Network UK conference papers.

Jo Stanley was born in 1949 in Coniston, Lancashire and grew up in Crosby, a suburb of Liverpool. Jo was the eldest of three girls. Her father worked in insurance whilst her mother remained at home to look after the family. Between 1960-1965 Jo attended an all-girls secondary modern school, she was also a member of YCND in 1964. Between 1965-1968, when aged 16-18, Jo attended Southport Art School in Lancashire before going to the teacher training college in Saffron Walden, Essex, 1968-1969. Jo subsequently resigned from teacher training as it did not suit her. From 1969 Jo became more actively involved in the Women’s Liberation Movement (WLM) and attended meetings in both London and Liverpool. She wrote articles for underground magazines such as Frendz, Suck and IT. Between May and Sep 1970 Jo lived in Hamburg before moving back to Liverpool in Oct 1970. In 1971 Jo began working as a freelance journalist. She attended the second WLM conference held in Manchester and participated in one of the workshops, Women in Media. It was here that she heard one of the founders of Spare Rib selling the idea of the magazine to the group. Jo went on to write for the magazine for over a decade. Jo subsequently moved to Sussex and then back to London where she remained involved with feminism, although in varying degrees.

Original order was maintained.

This collection is available for research. Readers are advised to contact The Women's Library in advance of their first visit.

Donated in 1992 as an outright gift.

The Women's Library catalogue

The Women's Library also holds: the records of the Women's Research and Resources Centre (5WRR); records of the London Feminist History Group (5LFH); records of the Feminist & Women's Studies Association (5FWS). The Women's Library Printed Collections also holds a number of Women's Liberation periodicals and press cuttings.