This lecture explores memorials by or for queer women who campaigned for suffrage in Scotland. Through reading lesbian suffragist grave markers as vehicles of posthumous agency, we can glean evidence of queerness haunting the process of self-memorialisation. Suffrage campaigners were skilled public historians. Through reading their grave markers as evidence of their visual literacy, we can see how queer suffragists harnessed the power of memorials as sites cementing historical narratives.

Dr Keava McMillan is a cultural historian specialising in modern queer art and histories. She is a Lecturer in Gender History at the University of Glasgow and works at Lavender Menace, a queer community archive in Edinburgh. She has a PhD in Visual Culture from the University of Aberdeen and has worked in heritage interpretation and engagement with places like the V&A Dundee, Historic Environment Scotland, and Rozelle House.