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, and 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 Gutierrez-Monroy, Daniel Herwitz, Katherine Hite, Lauren Kroiz, Ana Maria Leon, Fernando Luis Martinez Nespral, Pia Montealegre, Sierra Rooney, Daniela Sandler, Kirk Savage, Susan Slyomovics, Marita Sturken, Amanda Su, Dell Upton, Nathaniel Robert Walker, and Mechtild Widrich
Valentina Rozas-Krause (Edited By) Valentina Rozas-Krause is Assistant Professor in Design and Architecture at Universidad Adolfo Ibanez in Chile and Harvard University Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study Fellow (2023-24). She is the author of Ni Tan Elefante, Ni Tan Blanco (Ril, 2014) and the coedited volume Disputar la Ciudad (Bifurcaciones, 2018). These books join peer-reviewed articles in History & Memory, e-flux, Latin American Perspectives, Memory Studies, Anos 90, ARQ, Revista 180, Cuadernos de Antropologia Social, and Bifurcaciones alongside chapters in Golpes a la Memoria (Tege, 2019) and Neocolonialism and Built Heritage (Routledge, 2020). Andrew M. Shanken (Edited By) Andrew Shanken is Professor of Architectural History and the Director of American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of 194X: Architecture, Planning, and Consumer Culture on the American Homefront (University of Minnesota Press, 2009) and The Everyday Life of Memorials (Zone Books, 2022).
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 Pia 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 Gutierrez-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 Maria Leon 193 Part IV: Allegorical Women 7. The Colonial Marianne: Representing Liberte 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 Martinez 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
. . .[A] clear, significant contribution to the fields of gender studies, women's history, and ever expanding conversations on monuments, collective memory, and the built environment.-- "H-Net Reviews" Reassesses the role of women in public art, with a particular focus on the lack of female memorials around the world.-- "Publishers Weekly" This powerful book asks why women have been so underrepresented in public memorials and how distortion and debasement have played a part in how women have been remembered. Breaking the Bronze Ceiling makes a strong case for how cultural memory--and its mismanagement--have been controlling factors in the treatment of women in public art. The range of approaches makes the chapters lively and thought-provoking.---Susan G. Solomon
