New Monument To Women's Rights Pioneers Unveiled In Central Park

CENTRAL PARK, NY — Exactly 100 years after the 19th Amendment, which guaranteed women's suffrage, took effect across the United States, a new monument to women's rights pioneers was unveiled Wednesday morning in Central Park — the culmination of a yearslong campaign to bring a statue of real-life women to the park.

The 14-foot tall, bronze monument depicts advocates Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Until now, the only subjects featured in Central Park's dozens of statues had been men, or fictional female characters like Alice in Wonderland and the angel atop Bethesda Fountain.

After seven long years, finally unveiling these #MonumentalWomen. Happy Women’s Equality Day! pic.twitter.com/gSqy8m7q8i
— Gale A. Brewer (@galeabrewer) August 26, 2020

Aiming to change that, the nonprofit Monumental Women was founded in 2014, and began raising money with the goal of "breaking the bronze ceiling," according to the group's website.

Initial designs for the monument, revealed last year, provoked controversy for depicting only Anthony and Stanton, which critics said minimized contributions by Black suffragists. The sculptor, Meredith Bergmann, eventually revised the design last fall to include Truth, an abolitionist and women's rights advocate who was born into slavery in Upstate New York, the New York Times reported.

Wednesday's 7:45 a.m. ceremony — timed so it could air live on the Today show — included a speech by Hillary Clinton. Attendees included Manhattan Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney and Borough President Gale Brewer, who teamed up with City Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal to contribute $135,000 in funding to the campaign. Organizers also raised $1.5 million in private funding to pay for the statue.

The monument sits on the park's Literary Walk, home to a number of statues honoring writers like William Shakespeare and Sir Walter Scott. It shows Anthony standing, holding a pamphlet that reads "Votes for Women" and resting her hands on the shoulders of Stanton, who is holding a pen, and Truth, who appears to be speaking.

The city has an ongoing campaign, She Built NYC, to increase the number of statues honoring women throughout the five boroughs. Planned monuments include statues honoring Billie Holliday, former Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, and activists Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera.

In his daily news conference, Mayor Bill de Blasio took time to note that Wednesday marked exactly 100 years since the 19th Amendment took effect on Aug. 26, 1920.

"I want people to realize this struggle is very, very much in our recent past, and we need to keep learning the lessons and fight for truer equality in this city, in this country," he said.