New York City’s Central Park is slated to get its first statues honoring women, after city officials officially dedicated the future site of the “Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony Woman Suffrage Movement Monument.”
Currently, there are 22 statues of historical figures in the park, none of which are women. According to the Smithsonian American Art Museum, women make up only eight percent of public statues of individuals nationwide.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul have also announced that statues of suffragists Sojourner Truth and Rosalie Gardiner Jones will be erected in state parks. Of 25 commemorative statues on New York state property, only two statues currently depict women. The statue of Truth will reportedly be built on the Empire State Trail in Ulster County, where the famous abolitionist and suffragist was born into slavery. Jones, who led the National American Woman Suffrage Association march from New York to Washington, D.C. in 1913, will have a statue built in her honor near her home in Long Island’s Cold Spring Harbor State Park.
“We are proud to celebrate the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in our state and the bravery and perseverance of the women who paved the way,” said Cuomo in a press release. “As we recognize this important milestone in our history and reflect on how much progress has been made over the last century, we know we cannot rest as we continue to fight for true equality.”
