Carved into history: women are often overlooked when monuments are made

In a long and tortured history of the American statue, not a single statue of a woman has ever been felled in outrage or protest. While precious few statues of women exist in this country, they nevertheless stand to represent those who have fought for the rights of others. Not one, not a single one of them, has ever been torn down in controversy. 

Of the roughly 5,193 public statues depicting historic figures on display on street corners and parks throughout the United States, only 394 of these monuments are of women. “Currently, few of the statues that do show women on city streets around the country are modeled on historic figures,” Kriston Capps writes for CityLab. “Instead, women often appear as archetypes, symbols of abstract concepts, or as nameless figures in a memorial.”

Perhaps even more shocking is that of the 44 memorials maintained by the National Parks Service, like the Lincoln Memorial or the Jefferson Memorial, only three (less than 2%) are dedicated to historic female figures: Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historic Park in Maryland, the Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument in the District of Columbia, and the Rose Atoll in the US territory of American Samoa — named for a female explorer. 

All three have been established in the past decade. 

In New York’s Central Park, the first statue in this park honoring women will be erected this year. It pays tribute to the work of Susan B Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Sojourner Truth. To remember these women and many more, I’d like to highlight a few you might like to know more about. 

Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt has always been a personal hero. I first really learned of her from a silly line in a silly movie. Surely you’ve seen The Way We Were? When Streisand so proudly defends a gaggle of friends mocking Mrs. Roosevelt’s looks after she visited the coal mines, she scolds back, “Her husband is dead. Dead! Yes, Mrs. Roosevelt went down into the mines, and when they asked her why, she said, 'I am my husband's legs.” I must have only been 10 or so, but at that moment I thought, now that’s a lady I’d like to know more about.

The Little Rock Nine

A monument stands to remember the brave young girls and boys — just children — who started the long and painful journey to end public school segregation in this country. Some of our Gentle Readers might remember this passage of history unfolding. I can’t help but wonder if we understand just how courageous an act it was at the time, or if only history has illuminated how fraught it was.

Nellie Bly

To know me is to know my longstanding appreciation of Nellie Bly, the journalist who famously got herself committed to an asylum on Blackwell's Island revealing the horrors she encountered there. Having attended college in a town first made famous for its asylum and later more famous for its abandoned asylum, I have a growing and mournful fascination with how the world abysmally cares for people with mental illness. Bly’s journalistic efforts pioneered a new path and forever changed the way we treat the mentally ill.  Her monument is in progress on New York’s Roosevelt Island.

Phillis Wheatley

Have you read this remarkable artist’s work? Writing both poetry and prose, she was the first published African-American author, and she established herself as one of the most powerful voices of the Revolutionary War.

Find her.

Read her.

She will not disappoint. 

Rosalynn Carter

Former first lady, mental health advocate, staunch advocate for improving the lives of people around the globe with the Carter Foundation, Rosalynn is often overlooked in the annals of great women in America. But you may now know she’s also the daughter of a Southern working mother and had to pitch in to help the family when she was 13. When her husband became a political leader in the 1960s in Georgia, Rosalynn became an important part of his team and later, attended presidential cabinet meetings and was named the honorary chairperson of the President's Commission on Mental Health. She also just celebrated her 93rd birthday and 74th wedding anniversary — now that’s longevity. 

Queen Liliuokalani 

She is the last (and, I would argue, the most interesting) ruler of Hawaii, the first female sovereign of the Islands, and a total badass. Ascending the throne after the death of her young brother, she fought against a ruling class that had zero faith in her abilities — to the tune of her entire Ministry Cabinet resigning. She sought to unify the nations of Hawaii under a new constitution but was sadly overthrown by a bunch of businessmen and sugar farmers. Two years later, Hawaii became the 50th state. 

And lastly, Lucille Ball

Perhaps she isn’t a war hero or the face of a movement, but in a way, she helped unite us through laughter. I can’t help but think she grounded us as we were splitting the atom, racing to Space, and recovering from a war. All we had to do was tune into CBS at 9pm to watch I Love Lucy, and for half an hour, America was at peace. The statue of her is somewhat horrifying and in no way depicts her outrageous beauty, but it’s the thought that counts.

There are so many incredible women who have gone silently into the shadows of history. In my world, we would have statues to praise women on every block.

Who would you endow? Tell us who deserves their place in bronze?