Anna Eavis, the curatorial director of English Heritage, said in a statement,"We are expecting our plaque to Diana, Princess of Wales to be very popular. She was an inspiration and cultural icon to many, raising awareness of issues including landmines and homelessness, and helping to destigmatize illnesses such as HIV, leprosy and depression. It seems fitting that we should erect a plaque commemorating her work and influence in what would have been her 60th year.
Diana, Craft, Muir, Norton, Normanton, and Lonsdale will be honored as part of English Heritage's"plaques for women" campaign, which aims to redress the dramatic gender imbalance in existing plaques. Over 900 plaques are in place around the U.K., but only 14 percent honor women. Ellen Craft and her husband, William Craft, were enslaved in Georgia before escaping first to Philadelphia in 1848, and then to the U.K. in 1850, lecturing widely against slavery. Their plaque will be placed at their Hammersmith, London house, theFellow honoree Jean Muir was known as"the British Chanel," while Caroline Norton campaigned against unfair divorce laws in the 19th century.