Central Park Women's Suffrage Monument by Sculptor Meredith Bergmann Unveiled

This monument by Meredith Bergmann honors Sojourner Truth (1797-1883), Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) and Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902), pioneering women who were among the many leaders and countless advocates and activists who were instrumental in the prolonged struggle for American women’s suffrage. The monument was unveiled on Central Park’s Literary Walk on August 26, the centennial of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Donated by Monumental Women. Visit the Women's Rights Pioneers Monument

Monumental Women celebrated the 100th anniversary of American women winning the right to vote on August 26, 1920, unveiling the Women's Rights Pioneers Monument in New York City’s Central Park on Women’s Equality Day.

The sculpture by prominent sculptor Meredith Bergmann is the very first statue in Central Park dedicated to real women, and it celebrates ratification of the 19th amendment to the US Constitution, giving women the right to vote.

After a period of intense controversy in creating the statue, women's rights activists Sojourner Truth, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony made their debut in solidarity on the global stage.

CBS Sunday Morning shares events attached to the unveiling, including an introduction to sculptor Meredith Bergman and more information about the statue.

Previously Aug. 17, 2019: Central Park Women's Suffrage Monument Redesigned to Include Sojourner Truth

For nearly a year, the proposed Central Park statue honoring women’s suffrage in America has been plagued in controversy. It’s difficult to believe that in 2019, planners of the monument could be so tone-deaf to the race-related arguments swirling around America’s women’s rights history.

The Women’s March 2017, organized by a group of women who refused to honor legendary women’s rights Hillary Clinton, after her defeat by Donald Trump, signaled a new day for setting the record straight — the truth and also new lies and distortions — about the history of American feminism.

The original design by sculptor Meredith Bergmann visually elevated two prominent white women — Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton — over a scrolling list of 22 other women, seven of them women of color.

A maquette of the proposed sculpture of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton with a list of other women who helped advance the cause.Credit...Glenn Castellano/New-York Historical Society

AOC disagrees with the complaint that Anthony and Stanton were metaphorically “standing’ on the other women.” But they certainly look like boss ladies at a time when younger people are rejecting hierarchy and white superiority, along with a nonexistent recognition of the contributions of people of color — and slaves specifically — in building America.

For context, there is NO statue of any nonfictional female of any skin color in Central Park and around New York, writes the New York Times. The park currently features no historical women but statues of fictional girls like Alice from Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and Juliet from William Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet.’

While a new visual of the proposed statue to be erected on Central Park’s Literary Walk by August 2020 is not available, it’s a miracle that the proposed design was aborted at all. Women including Gloria Steinem helped turn back the design against the nearly insurmountable rules and regulations that defined its artistic creation initially and the legitimate controversy that ensued.

“Our goal has always been to honor the diverse women in history who fought for equality and justice and who dedicated their lives to fight for Women’s Rights,” Pam Elam said in a statement. The president of the Monumental Women’s Statue Fund, the group financing the sculpture, added: “It is fitting that Anthony, Stanton, and Truth stand together in this statue as they often did in life.” via Hyperallergic.