Suffragette Evelyn Sharp

Photograph of Evelyn Sharp (1869-1955). Handwritten on the bottom right is 'Evelyn Sharp May 1909.'
Evelyn Sharp was a journalist and writer who joined the Kensington branch of the Women’s Social and Political Union in 1906. In 1909 the WSPU sent her to Denmark to speak about the militant suffragette movement, and this photograph must have been taken then. It was taken by Danish portrait photographer Julie Laurberg, a supporter of women's rights who employed mainly women in her photography firm.
Sharp became organiser for the Kensington (North) branch of the WSPU in 1910 and honorary secretary of the Kensington branch in 1911. In 1910 she published ‘Rebel Women’ about life as a suffragette. Sharp was imprisoned twice for her suffragette activities.
In 1912 the Pethick-Lawrences, editors of the WSPU weekly newspaper, were arrested, and Sharp took over as editor. In 1914 she founded the United Suffragists to continue the women’s suffrage campaign