#GAReads | The US has fewer than 400 statues of women — but that's changing
photo credit: Epicgenius [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons (cropped)
“The US has fewer than 400 statues of women — but that's changing”:
In Manhattan’s iconic Central Park, visitors walking along the winding green paths encounter a Polish king, a Venezuelan military leader, or some eagles with their prey. Romantics sigh in front of fictional Romeo and Juliet; kids take pictures with a sled dog called Balto, or with Mother Goose.
And although there are 23 statues of historical figures in the park, not one of them is a real woman.
Monumental Women is changing that. On Monday, a commission of the New York City council approved the plans to erect a bronze statue of New Yorkers Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Sojourner Truth in August 2020. On the centennial anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, the non-profit organization The Statue Fund, which organized the campaign, will unveil the first statue of real women in Central Park.