Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Mary on the Houses of Parliament


This is a mock-up! Reality will be even better.
There is so much going on that I hardly know where to start. Mary Wollstonecraft will be beamed across the Thames onto the Houses of Parliament in the early dusk of November 16. The rumour that I quashed about the abseiling lesbians and the whisky chocolate cake is as nothing to the glorious truth: a giantic projection will wow the crowds from 4-6pm on Wednesday, and will pop up all over the media in the days to come. This is the kick-off to serious fundraising for the Mary on the Green campaign I wrote of last month.

Another piece of good news is that the NatWest CommunityForce scheme has, as a result of your support, awarded £6275 to the campaign to raise a memorial to Our Lady. That is a serious kick-start.

My address to the Fawcett Society last week went well, and next week will be adapted for the Newington Green Action Group's annual Friends Evening. All welcome! As indeed all are welcome to the Girlie Show, a Mary on the Green fundraiser to be held at Snooty Fox, a pub in Newington Green. Somehow I think the overlap between the two events will be ... choice. Possibly only me. That's OK.

If you recognise Mary Wollstonecraft's contribution to the life you lead now, I invite you to consider whether and how you might wish to get involved in the campaign to create a sculpture in her honour.  Remember, there is no substantial memorial to her, anywhere in the world.  (There is a lecture, a lecture hall, a hidden house, and several plaques, but nothing really big and tangible.) Your contributions would be valuable. If you can, please donate. Aside from money, there is much else to do: we need lots of people to spread the word, for example. (On Twitter, look out for and use the hashtag #marybigben.)  If you have other ideas of how you might help, please let me know, in the comments or by email.

Image from http://maryonthegreen.org/latestnews.html 

4 comments:

  1. That's wonderful, Roberta! I'm so glad the project got the NatWest funding B^)

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  2. Well done Madam! You do not look a day over thirty eight!

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  3. Hi Roberta,

    Thank you for your comment on Hits And Fits!

    I was excited to learn all about Mary this past month, and it's wonderful to see a blog like yours that is dedicated to keeping her legacy alive.

    - Ava

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  4. Thank you Vicki, Janet (haha), and especially our first-time visitor Hits & Fits. H&F is from LA, CA, I discover -- and I have also discovered that that city hosts a memorial of sorts to Mary. Another blog post, another time. If you want to learn more about Mary, browse around, and if you have any remaining questions, just ask!

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