Women's Rights Pioneers Monument

Women's Rights Pioneers Monument
Map
Subject
LocationNew York City, New York, U.S.
Coordinates40°46′14″N 73°58′21″W / 40.7705°N 73.9725°W / 40.7705; -73.9725

The Women's Rights Pioneers Monument is a sculpture by Meredith Bergmann. It was installed in Central Park, Manhattan, New York City, on August 26 (Women's Equality Day), 2020.[1][2] The sculpture is located at the northwest corner of Literary Walk along The Mall, the widest pedestrian path in Central Park.[3][4] The sculpture commemorates and depicts Sojourner Truth (c. 1797–1883), Susan B. Anthony (1820–1906), and Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815–1902), pioneers in the suffrage movement who advocated women's right to vote and who were pioneers of the larger movement for women's rights.[5][6]

It is the first sculpture in Central Park to depict historical women and was created to "break the bronze ceiling"[7] as, previously, the only other female figures depicted in the park was Alice from Alice in Wonderland and Juliet from Romeo and Juliet.[1][8] Original plans for the memorial included only Stanton and Anthony, but after critics raised objections to the lack of inclusion of women of color, Truth was added to the design.[9][10][11]

  1. ^ a b Levenson, Eric; Sambou, Tawanda Scott; Brunswick, Deborah (August 26, 2020). "Central Park is unveiling a statue of women's rights pioneers. It's the park's first statue of real women". CNN. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
  2. ^ Lewis, Sophie (August 26, 2020). "Central Park unveils statue of women's rights pioneers — its first statue of real-life women". CBS News. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  3. ^ "First Ever Central Park Statue To Honor Women". CBS New York. July 20, 2018. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  4. ^ "The Statue Fund Announces The Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony Woman Suffrage Movement Monument Design Competition Winner". Business Wire. July 19, 2018. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  5. ^ Moore, Chadwick (July 12, 2015). "Fighting to Bring Women in History to Central Park". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  6. ^ Hines, Morgan (August 26, 2020). "'We have broken the bronze ceiling': First monument to real women unveiled in NYC's Central Park". USA Today. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  7. ^ "Women's Rights Pioneers: A New Addition to Central Park's Landscape". Central Park Conservancy. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
  8. ^ Enoch, Jessica (March 15, 2023). "Suffrage Statuary and Commemorative Accountability: An Intersectional Analysis of the 2020 Women's Rights Pioneers Monument in Central Park, New York". Rhetoric Society Quarterly. 53 (2): 104–120. doi:10.1080/02773945.2022.2095420. ISSN 0277-3945.
  9. ^ Haigh, Susan; Frederick, Joseph (November 21, 2019). "Sculptor crafting first women's statue for Central Park". AP NEWS. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
  10. ^ Thompson, Erin (August 25, 2020). "The Problem With NYC's New Women's Rights Monument". The Nation. ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
  11. ^ Jones, Martha S. (March 22, 2019). "Perspective | How New York's new monument whitewashes the women's rights movement". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved August 28, 2020.