This series of blog posts highlights some of the fascinating stories of some of the incredible women who have shaped the history of Manchester Museum, our collections and the University of Manchester. Today, Naomi from the Visitor Team takes a look at the woman behind a name that so many students from the University of Manchester will already be familiar with…

Ellen Cicely Wilkinson, 1891-1947

If you’ve ever walked around the University of Manchester campus you might have noticed the ‘Ellen Wilkinson’ building or the plaque pictured below, but who exactly was Ellen Wilkinson and why is she commemorated by the university?

The Ellen Wilkinson building (Image from: University of Manchester) and blue plaque commemorating Ellen Wilkinson plaque (photo from: manchesterhistory.net).

Ellen was a Labour politician, born on the 8th October 1891 into a working-class family in Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester. In 1910, she won a scholarship to study history at the…