Dear Friends,
In these difficult days we are looking, more than ever, for sources of hope and inspiration. If you live in New York City, you know that one amazing source of inspiration occurs at 7 p.m. every evening. That is when the sound of applause can be heard from rooftops, open windows, and street corners as New Yorkers give thanks to our pandemic heroes: the nurses, doctors, medical assistants and cleaners, first responders, grocery store clerks, plumbers, electricians, postal workers, transit workers, cooks, delivery personnel, and other designated "essential" workers, who, despite the danger to themselves, show up to work every day.
Among those heroes is our Board Member Judaline Cassidy, a plumber with Plumbers Local 371 Staten Island, who has been working long hours to make sure that public housing residents have the services they need during this crisis. All of these heroes face seemingly insurmountable obstacles, but with great courage they are able to help others and save lives. Actions matter. So do words. Even though "Thank You" doesn't seem enough, we offer it with monumental gratitude. Our hearts go out to everyone facing illness and loss. We send you love.
We all look forward to better times. At Monumental Women we also look forward to the unveiling of our Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument in Central Park on August 26. We are working every day to make that happen and we wanted to send you this update on our activities. Hopefully, August 26th will be a time we can join together in person to celebrate moving history forward. It should also be a day when we recommit ourselves to continuing the fight of the valiant women who came before us for justice and full equality. In the meantime, stay safe, stay home, and stay hopeful.
Love,
Pam
Pam Elam
President, Monumental Women
|
|
Work on Our Women's Rights Pioneers Monument Continues...Here's an Update:
|
|
The creation of the Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument continues! Sculptor Meredith Bergmann and the staff at the foundry worked to complete the monument casts until the stop work order for non-essential businesses was issued by Governor Andrew Cuomo. As of now that stop work order goes up to May 15th, so we are taking things day by day, step by step. When the foundry opens again, the bronze will be poured in multiple stages, after which Meredith will closely inspect each piece, sanding and smoothing where needed. Then, the different pieces will be welded together into its final form. The last step at the foundry will be the application of a patina to enhance the details and bring out the subtleties in the monument. Meanwhile, preparation of the Central Park statue site is ongoing, stone for the pedestal is being cut, and plans for the unveiling are taking shape.
You can see Meredith working on the casts at the foundry in our recent coverage on WABC TV.
You can also hear Meredith and Monumental Women President Pam Elam discuss the process of creating the WRPM on "Let's Talk History." Meredith talks about how a statue comes to life. Pam discusses the bureaucratic obstacles and governmental requirements for donating a work of art to the City of New York as well as the work needed to prepare the Central Park statue site.
Below you can see a photo of the February 28th visit to the Foundry by Monumental Women Board Members Pam Elam, Brenda Berkman, and Coline Jenkins (who took the photo) as well as sculptor Meredith Bergmann. Also in the photo are representatives of Beyer Blinder Belle (the firm acting as our Project Manager), the New York City Parks Department, and the Central Park Conservancy as well as staff from the Foundry.
|
|
Announcing New Online Version of Put Her on a Pedestal: Monumental Women's Art and History Workshop for Young People
|
|
As you know, 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution when women won the right to vote. As part of the Monumental Women mission to educate children and adults about the history of women’s rights and to encourage municipalities and states to honor more women and people of color in public spaces, we’re launching the Put Her on a Pedestal workshop in an online format. The project will give young people the opportunity to learn about the history of women’s suffrage and create artwork inspired by these women, from home.
In our workshop, participants will learn about the suffrage movement, the significance of 2020, and Monumental Women. They’ll be introduced to Sojourner Truth, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, as well as other inspiring women’s suffrage leaders in the video. Written materials include brief biographies of over 20 suffragists from across the nation of various backgrounds and viewpoints. But that's just the beginning, students can do their own research and find even more valiant women who fought for the vote. Participants then choose the woman who they think deserves a monument, and design their own using our downloadable template. We hope to have some of the designs on-display in Central Park at our Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument unveiling ceremony on August 26!
|
|
|
Also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for the latest announcements. Please share your "Monumental Woman" with us!
|
|
Monumental Women Presents Program at Ford Foundation to Discuss the History of Woman Suffrage
|
|
by Ellen Chesler
A capacity crowd of more than 150 people gathered at the Ford Foundation on February 27th (seems long ago in another pre-COVID-19 world, does it not?) to mark the publication of Suffrage: Women's Long Battle for the Vote by the distinguished UCLA historian, Ellen Dubois. The evening featured Dubois in conversation with Monumental Women Board Members Ellen Chesler and Namita Luthra.
The hour long panel engaged broadly with both the visionary ideals and practical political considerations of a 72 year struggle that engaged three generations of determined reformers -- from the path breaking women's rights convention at Seneca Falls, N.Y. in 1848, to the final ratification of the 19th amendment by the Tennessee legislature in 1920.
Dubois presented a rich understanding of the intersections of gender, race and class in this history, exploring why and how the deep bonds that had developed between advocates for slavery's abolition and women's equality came apart after the Civil War, when only black men were enfranchised, and the administration of voting rights was left to states and thus vulnerable to suppression by white supremacists in the South.
What if Congress, instead, had heeded the advice of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, (fully supported by Sojourner Truth) who called for universal suffrage as a basic condition of citizenship, with the federal government obligated to administer and protect it? Might modern American history have taken a different turn, and the rights of all citizens, not just women, been safer and more secure?
|
|
Special thanks to Monumental Women Board Members Ellen Chesler, Namita Luthra, Judaline Cassidy, and Ariel Deutsch for participating in the program.
|
|
|
Monumental Women President Pam Elam and Education Campaign Director Brenda Berkman speak about "The Power Of Women's History" at the March 1st Women's History Month Celebration sponsored by our great friend Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer.
|
|
|
Thanks go to Hunter Public Relations and the Jane Walker Campaign for including Monumental Women on 'Women's Empowerment Night" at the March 8th Brooklyn Nets game. Here's how MW appeared on the Jumbotron!
|
|
|
|
|
