Nellie McClung holds up a newspaper, gesturing to it with a closed fist, her stance wide. The headline: “Women are Persons.”
Around her are her colleagues: Emily Murphy, Irene Parlby, Louise McKinney and Henrietta Muir Edwards. The newspaper headline seems to have excited them as well. Everyone is gathered around, lifting their tea cups, gesturing.
Of course, they've been in the same positions for about 12 years now. The monument to the Famous Five on Parliament Hill looks over the Rideau Canal from its position near East Block. In the brilliant April sun, the bronze sculptures are almost shiny.
The statue of Nellie McClung is especially engaging. Her pose is triumphant, exclamatory. It is easy to imagine her bursting into the quiet tea suggested by some of the other statues.
Nellie McClung was born Nellie Letitia Mooney in 1873. As one of Canada's most famous feminists, she was a leader of the suffragist movement. As a result of her efforts, Canada granted women the vote, starting with Manitoba in 1916. In 1927, the newspapers announced that women were, indeed, persons.
McClung served in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1921 until 1926. She was the only woman on the Dominion War Council and the only female member of the delegation to the League of Nations in Geneva in 1938. She was also the first female member of the CBC’s board of governors, from 1936 until 1942.
McClung was a prolific writer of both fiction and non-fiction, and many of her works were bestsellers. She published frequently between 1908 and 1950, the year before her death.
McClung died in 1951.
Her statue gazes directly at Centre Block now, as though she's keeping an eye on things.