We Have Lots to Celebrate With You... and Because of You!
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Dear Friends,
This Holiday Season, Monumental Women has lots to celebrate and we want to extend our warmest wishes and sincerest gratitude to all of our supporters. After over six years of effort and two years after the New York City Parks Department approved our statue site on the Mall in Central Park, we finally received approval from the City's Public Design Commission and Landmarks Preservation Commission for our Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument!
The Monument of woman suffrage leaders Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton will be unveiled on August 26, 2020. We hope you will join us for the celebration, because we couldn’t have done it without you. We have already started planning the unveiling ceremony and look forward to seeing you there.
Below is a summary of what we’ve accomplished in 2019 as well as the process of creating the Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument. Learn about what we’re planning in 2020 and beyond to continue pushing for equal rights, equal representation of women in our public spaces and for a better recognition of the contributions women have made to our world.
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What We’ve Accomplished in 2019
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Photo Credit: AP Photo/Joseph Frederick
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After extensive research into the lives and work of Truth, Anthony, and Stanton, sculptor Meredith Bergmann created a beautiful statue model that captures their spirits and convictions. We announced the new design and shared it with the City in August. The new design received unanimous approval from every Community Board surrounding Central Park and support from people all across New York City.
On October 21st, after numerous hearings, the City's Public Design Commission finally approved the Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument design, giving Monumental Women the green light to move forward. On December 3rd, we also received unanimous approval from the City's Landmarks Preservation Commission.
As we all know, creating a 14-foot tall bronze statue is a major undertaking. Meredith Bergmann has recently finished sculpting the full-size clay model that is used to make molds, which will, in turn, be used to create the final statue at the foundry.
To get a behind the scenes look at the process of creating the statue, and learn why it is particularly important at this moment in history, watch our recent coverage on CBS:
We will also be working on the development of "Talking Statues" content so visitors to the Women's Rights Pioneers Monument will learn more through apps on their phones and pads about the history of these women and the suffrage movement.
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Photo Credit: AP Photo/Joseph Frederick
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2020: The Monumental Year Ahead For Monumental Women
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Truth, Anthony and Stanton represent only the start of our 2020 Women's History Education Campaign, as we seek to honor all the diverse women who worked tirelessly for women’s rights. In 2020, our Education Campaign will bring information on the valiant women who have come before us to communities throughout New York City:
- Our Put Her on a Pedestal workshops invite young people to reimagine their parks and public spaces to include statues of women who have inspired them. Our educators share information with participants about many women of courage and accomplishment and then everyone participates in a fun hands-on arts activity to create a statue. If you’re interested in bringing Put Her on a Pedestal to your neighborhood, please email us at info@monumentalwomen.org
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- Our Speakers Bureau, made up of historians and activists, will offer talks on women’s rights and history in New York and across the nation. If you’re interested in hosting a program or event, please email us at info@monumentalwomen.org
We’ll also begin the process of creating a Women’s Rights History Trail to go throughout all five boroughs. It will cover the key people and moments in the fight for the full equality of women in New York City and beyond. Stay tuned for more details. In addition, we hope to be in contact with all the school and public libraries in the City to make sure that resources and books on Women's History are readily available.
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Learn About the Women Who Won the Vote
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Monumental Women’s #100YearsWomenVote campaign on Instagram celebrates the hundredth anniversary of women winning the right to vote by recognizing the people who made it happen. We invite you to follow Monumental Women on Instagram @monumentalwomennyc, join the campaign, and tag us in your posts about your own favorite women’s rights leaders.
Please also follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well as visit our website www.monumentalwomen.org
Monumental Women will be presenting a number of events throughout 2020 including programs focusing on the Woman Suffrage Movement. Look for announcements on all our social media pages.
2020 will be an exciting year as we celebrate the unveiling of our Women's Rights Pioneers Monument, the Centennial Anniversary of the Ratification of the 19th "Votes For Women" amendment to the Constitution and the 200th Anniversary of the birth of Susan B. Anthony. Please join us.
In the meantime, have a wonderful Holiday Season and a very Happy New Year!
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