Eleanor's Legacy
The Immediate Aftermath
"Served her generation and fell on sleep"
Eleanor Rathbone died in January of 1946. This remarkable document shows Eleanor's selflessness, desire to do public good even after death, and her love and concern for those closest to her.
In addition to memorial services in both Liverpool and London, a wave of tributes from politicians and campaigners followed Eleanor’s death in January 1946.
The Eleanor Rathbone Memorial Lectures and the University of Liverpool
In 1948, the Eleanor Rathbone Memorial Trust was established, which - using funds subscribed by her friends and admirers - initiated the series of Memorial Lectures which continues to this day. The lecture series aims to sustain the memory of Eleanor Rathbone's life and achievements, whilst furthering any subjects she advocated for during her life - most notably those that champion and defend freedom and pursue the socioeconomic betterment of men and women of all nations.
However, in the immediate post-war period she slipped from public view, partly due to the abolishment of her University seat in Parliament, her Independent status, and the post-war prosperity which made family allowances seem less important.
In Liverpool, her legacy remained stronger, with the University endowing a new chair in Social Science in her honour in 1965. Eleanor had been one of the lecturers in the original School of Social Science before the First World War, and when the Department moved into a new building in 1973, this too was named after her (left). The Eleanor Rathbone Building currently houses the School of Psychology.
In addition to the Chair and building, her contributions to the University have also been recognised in the naming of the Eleanor Rathbone lecture theatre.
Eleanor Rathbone Remembered
In the 1970s, the economic downturn was partially responsible for Eleanor’s life and work becoming the focus of renewed attention more generally. The feminist arguments which took place at this time also led to a reappraisal of her remarkable life and work.
A principal example of this is this work (left) by Margaret Simey (1906-1994). Simey settled in Liverpool in the 1920s and became the first woman to achieve a degree in sociology. She became a well-known campaigner for social justice in Liverpool, serving as a City Councillor from 1963 and later as an outspoken chair of the Merseyside Police Committee during the Toxteth Riots of 1981. When considering Eleanor Rathbone's legacy, Simey paid tribute to "that synthesis of feeling, thought and action, that blend of social purpose with social practice, which proved so irresistible in the case of Eleanor Rathbone".
Eleanor Rathbone's legacy continues to inspire new generations of politicians, academics, activists, and members of the public, proving relevant again and again in modern-day sociopolitical debates.
For example, Susan Cohen's study of Eleanor Rathbone's commitment to the 'refugee question' (left) was the first to explain how the focus of her humanitarian activism shifted from championing the cause of those who were disadvantaged, impoverished, and underrepresented within British society, towards a more global theatre, a topic which is still hotly debated within global political theatres today.
Finally, this biography is the definitive source which provides a full overview of Eleanor's life and career.
