August 26, 2020 – NYC Central Park
BY: Mike Leventhal Staff Reporter
Central Park’s first statue of real women, the Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument, honoring Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, will be unveiled on Central Park’s Literary Walk on August 26, 2020, the centennial anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, when women won the right to vote.
In Central Park’s 167 year history, there have been no statues depicting real women. Currently there are 23 statues of real men in Central Park; women are “represented” only through fictional characters like Alice in Wonderland, Mother Goose, and Juliet (with Romeo). The all-volunteer, nonprofit Monumental Women began working to address this inequality in 2014. Monumental Women raised $1.5 Million in private funding and advocated for the placement of the Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument in Central Park. Monumental Women commissioned nationally-recognized sculptor Meredith Bergmann to design the statue.
Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clointon spoke at the unveiling event along with Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney and the representatives from Monumental Women.