Breaking the Bronze Ceiling

Breaking the Bronze Ceiling uncovers a glaring omission in our global memorial landscape—the conspicuous absence of women. Exploring this neglected narrative, the book emerges as the foremost guide to women's memorialization across diverse cultures and ages. As global memorials come under intense examination, with metropolises vying for a more inclusive recognition of female contributions, this book stands at the forefront of contemporary discussion.

The book’s thought-provoking essays artfully traverse the complex terrains of gender portrayal, urban tales, ancestral practices, and grassroots activism—all anchored in the bedrock of cultural remembrance. Rich in the range of cases discussed, the book sifts through multifaceted representations of women, from Marians to Liberties, to handmaidens, to particular historical women.

Breaking the Bronze Ceiling offers a panoramic view of worldwide memorials, critically analyzing grandiose tributes while also honoring subtle gestures—be it evocative plaques, inspiring namesakes, or dynamic demonstrations. The book will be of interest to historians of art and architecture, as well as to activists, governmental bodies, urban planners, and NGOs committed to regional history and memory.

More than a mere compilation, Breaking the Bronze Ceiling epitomizes a movement. The book comprehensively assesses the portrayal of women in public art and offers a fervent plea to address the severe underrepresentation of women in memorials.

Contributors: Carolina Aguilera, Manuela Badilla, Daniel E. Coslett, Erika Doss, Tania Gutiérrez-Monroy, Daniel Herwitz, Katherine Hite, Lauren Kroiz, Ana María León, Fernando Luis Martínez Nespral, Pía Montealegre, Sierra Rooney, Daniela Sandler, Kirk Savage, Susan Slyomovics, Marita Sturken, Amanda Su, Dell Upton, Nathaniel Robert Walker, and Mechtild Widrich

List of Figures | ix

Introduction
Valentina Rozas-Krause and Andrew M. Shanken | 1

Part I: Patronized Women

1. Innocence and Guilt: Memorializing a Gender Tragedy in Nineteenth-Century Santiago de Chile
Pía Montealegre | 19

2. George Eliot at Nuneaton and Trans Monumentality
Amanda Su | 41

Toppling Pocahontas
Kirk Savage | 69

Monument to the Chilean Women Victims of Political Repression
Carolina Aguilera and Manuela Badilla Rajevic | 73

Part II: Public Women

3. White Marble and White Women: Adelaide Johnson’s Portrait Monument
Lauren Kroiz | 79

4. “We Shall Beg No More”: Helen Keller, Politics, and Commemorations in the National Statuary Hall
Sierra Rooney | 101

Monument to Sojourner Truth
Katherine Hite | 118

Fearless Girl, New York City
Marita Sturken | 122

Monument to the Empress Maria-Theresia, Vienna, Austria
Mechtild Widrich | 126

Part III: Women Warriors

5. The Myth of the Passive Woman in Confederate Monuments
Nathaniel Robert Walker | 133

6. Firearms, Flowers, and Barricades: Women’s Reinscriptions in the Mexican Landscape of Monuments
Tania Gutiérrez-Monroy | 158

Memorial to the South Carolina Women of the Confederacy
(Frederick Wellington Ruckstuhl, 1909–1912), Columbia, South Carolina
Dell Upton | 180

Memorial to the Black Mothers of the Periphery Fighting against State Terrorism, Rio de Janeiro
Daniela Sandler | 189

Mujeres Creando, Plaza Chola Globalizada, La Paz, Bolivia
Ana María León | 193

Part IV: Allegorical Women

7. The Colonial Marianne: Representing Liberté and France in Occupied North Africa
Daniel E. Coslett | 201

8. Female Winged Victory Statues in French Algeria
Susan Slyomovics | 230

The Argentine Marianne
Fernando Luis Martínez Nespral | 253

I Am Queen Mary, Copenhagen
Erika Doss | 257

Patience on a Monument: A History Painting
Daniel Herwitz | 261

List of Contributors | 265

Index | 271