Katie Edith Gliddon facts for kids
Katie Edith Gliddon (born May 6, 1883 – died September 1, 1967) was a British artist. She was known for her beautiful watercolour paintings. Katie was also a brave suffragette. Suffragettes were women who fought for the right to vote.
She was a member of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). This group worked hard to get women the right to vote. Because of her activism, she was sent to Holloway Prison in 1912. Later in her life, Katie became a teacher of painting and drawing. She was especially good at painting flowers.
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Early Life and Art Studies
Katie Gliddon was born in Twickenham, Middlesex, in 1883. Her mother was Margaret Martha Gliddon and her father was Aurelius James Louis Gliddon. Her father was a minister and also worked as a homeopathist.
In 1911, official records showed her father as a merchant. Katie Edith was listed as an artist. She studied art at the famous Slade School of Fine Art from 1900 to 1904. Her teachers included Frederick Brown and Henry Tonks. Her younger sister, Gladys Evelyn Gliddon, was also an artist. Katie's younger brother, Maurice Gliddon, sadly died in World War I.
Fighting for Women's Voting Rights
Around 1910, Katie joined the Croydon branch of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). At the same time, her brother Cuthbert Paul Gliddon also supported women's voting rights. He worked with the Men's Political Union for Women's Enfranchisement.
To avoid embarrassing their parents, Katie and her brother used different names. Katie Edith used the name 'Catherine Susan Gray'. By 1911, she had written articles about women's right to vote for several newspapers. She knew the artist Walter Sickert, and he likely painted a portrait of her around 1912.
Protest and Imprisonment
In March 1912, Katie took part in a protest. She broke a window at a Post Office on Wimpole Street. She was arrested for this act of protest. The court sentenced her to two months in Holloway Prison. She had to do hard labour during her time there.
Katie expected to be arrested. So, she cleverly sewed pencils into the collar of her coat. While in prison, she used these pencils to write and draw in the margins of her copy of The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley. Her hard labour involved sewing. In her secret prison diary, she wrote that she purposely sewed badly.
A Successful Artist and Teacher
After World War I, Katie Gliddon became a very successful watercolour artist. She loved painting flowers. Her artwork was shown in many important galleries. These included the Royal Academy of Arts and the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours.
In 1927, she illustrated a book called French Poetry for Children. By 1939, she was living in Woking, Surrey. There, she worked as a drawing teacher.
Katie retired after a long career teaching art. She moved to Worthing, West Sussex, and passed away there in 1967 at the age of 84. She was friends with and related to another suffragette, Helen Margaret Spanton. Katie never married. Her personal papers, drawings, and her original prison diary are now kept at the Women's Library. Her nephews kindly donated them.
In 2019, the Museum of Croydon held a special exhibition. It celebrated Katie Gliddon's life and her connection to the town.
See also
In Spanish: Katie Edith Gliddon para niños
