TheSuffragette Memorial is an outdoor sculpture commemorating those who fought forwomen's suffrage in the United Kingdom, located in the north-west corner of Christchurch Gardens,Victoria,London.[1][2] The sculptors wereLorne McKean andEdwin Russell and the project was devised and supervised by the architectPaul Paget.[3] The memorial was unveiled in 1970.[4] It takes the form of a scroll in the shape of the letter S, created infibreglass and finished incold-cast bronze, placed on a conical plinth.[4] The text of the scroll reads:[1][5]
This tribute is erected bythe Suffragette Fellowship to commemorate the courage and perseverance of all those men and women who in the long struggle for votes for women selflessly braved derision, opposition and ostracism, many enduring physical violence and suffering.
An additional inscription notes thatCaxton Hall, a nearby building on the corner ofCaxton Street andPalmer Street, "was historically associated with women's suffrage meetings and deputations to Parliament".[1] The badge of theWomen's Social and Political Union and theWomen's Freedom League, known as theHolloway brooch, appears on both sides of the scroll; at the back of the scroll this is accompanied by a representation of the entrance toHolloway Prison.[4]
The memorial was commissioned by the Suffragette Fellowship,[6] an organisation dedicated to commemorating the fight for women's suffrage whose membership was confined to livingsuffragettes or the families of suffragettes.[4] A number of surviving suffragettes attended the unveiling, including the Fellowship's presidentGrace Roe[7] andEdith Clayton Pepper,[8]Leonora Cohen andLilian Lenton.[5][7] At the unveiling theLabour politicianEdith Summerskill told the audience of the debt she felt towards the suffragettes, adding "I will not fail to try to make some contribution to the women's cause".[7] Also in attendance, the Labour politician andSpeaker of the House of CommonsHorace King said that he believed that there would "sooner or later" be a womanPrime Minister of the United Kingdom.[7]
Media related toSuffragette Memorial, London at Wikimedia Commons51°29′54″N0°08′05″W / 51.498244°N 0.134823°W /51.498244; -0.134823
