Centenary Year 2018
Unveiling of Alice's statue
Statue
February 6th 2018 was the centenary of many (not all) women gaining the right to vote. With this, extensive celebrations were planned throughout the UK to commemorate this important milestone in gaining equality for women. The unveiling of the statue of Alice in the Leicester marketplace on February 4th 2018 has been credited with opening nationally the year of celebration and commemoration to those valiant women.
The initial idea to have a statue of Alice in the very spot where the local suffragettes held their public meetings was born in 2012 and due to the generosity of a local businessman who owns the very building where Alice once worked ( Equity Shoes) and the great support of the Leicester City Council, the concept idea came to fruition in centenary week with the unveiling watched by a cheering audience of over 2000.
Designed by sculptor Sean Hedges – Quinn, the statue captures the dynamic pose that Alice would have taken when addressing the crowds of men (often hostile) and women on a Sunday morning.
Exhibition at Parliament
Early in 2017 the family collection of suffrage memorabilia that once belonged to Alice was privately viewed by staff at Parliament and key items were selected to be included in a major exhibition planned for centenary year ‘Voice and Vote: Women’s Place in Parliament’. Opening in June 2018 in Westminster Hall the Alice Hawkins display was credited as being one of the star items in the exhibition and viewed over a three-month period by in excess of 100, 000 visitors. A proud day for her descendants.
Fact : Alice was first arrested campaigning for votes for women immediately outside Westminster Hall, Parliament on February 13th 1907. One hundred and eleven years later she was commemorated by the nation just a few yards inside the building in the ‘Voice and Vote’ exhibition.
Alice at Voice and Vote
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Alice Hawkins Family
Statue of Alice in Leicester