The Reconstructionists

January 20, 2013 2:00 PM

"The Reconstructionists, a collaboration between illustrator Lisa Congdon and writer Maria Popova, is a yearlong celebration of remarkable women — beloved artists, writers, and scientists, as well as notable unsung heroes — who have changed the way we define ourselves as a culture and live our lives as individuals of any gender. Every Monday in 2013, we'll be publishing an illustrated portrait of one such trailblazing woman, along with a hand-lettered quote that captures her spirit and a short micro-essay about her life and legacy."
posted by cheerwine (8 comments total)

Thank you. This is great.
posted by The Hamms Bear at 2:07 PM on January 20

How did I not know that about Hedy Lamarr?! How??!!

Thanks, cheerwine. Fantastic find.
posted by rtha at 2:13 PM on January 20

This quote from Anais Nin is absolute perfection: "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage".
posted by kate blank at 3:04 PM on January 20 [1 favorite]

Lisa Congdon has always been (and is now more) awesome.

Love this a lot!
posted by youandiandaflame at 3:23 PM on January 20

To have viewed just this short, sweet and powerful entry about Sister Rosetta Thorpe made my day. Concision and beauty are rare on the WWW.

Bookmarked: I think this may become one of the most powerful gems to be found on the Internet. Thanks, cheerwine and Metafilter.
posted by kozad at 3:59 PM on January 20

This is great, I look forward to following it. (The RSS feed is a little mangled, though.)
posted by desuetude at 7:08 PM on January 20

Nin and Stein are hardly unknown. I like the idea and the illustrations but they're not digging very deep.
posted by Ideefixe at 7:44 PM on January 20

> Nin and Stein are hardly unknown. I like the idea and the illustrations but they're not digging very deep.

They're not claiming to only feature unknowns. That's not the criteria.

> beloved artists, writers, and scientists, as well as notable unsung heroes — who have changed the way we define ourselves as a culture and live our lives as individuals of any gender.

(emphasis mine)
posted by desuetude at 9:01 PM on January 20