Central Park's first statues of real-life women will honor suffragettes

But the subjects chosen aren't without controversy

But the subjects chosen aren't without controversy

Central Park's first statues of real-life women will honor suffragettes

But the subjects chosen aren't without controversy

Central Park currently has 22 statues of historical figures, none of which are women. Sure, there's a statue of Mother Goose, and the famous Alice in Wonderland bronze, but no real-life women are commemorated within the park. But that's all about to change. In honor of the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment, which granted women the right to vote, a statue of two famous suffragettes, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, will be erected on the park's famed Literary Walk in 2020.According to a notice from the Parks Department, the statue will be called the "Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony Woman Suffrage Movement Monument," and "will honor the memory of the many others who worked tirelessly to advance women’s rights, including Sojourner Truth, Lucy Stone, Mary Church Terrell, Anna Howard Shaw and Ida B. Wells-Barnett."Members of the Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony Statue Fund have been advocating for the monument for years now. The choice of subjects isn't without controversy, though. On Twitter, many are debating whether Anthony and Stanton should be honored in this way, given their racial politics.“I will cut off this right arm of mine before I will ever work or demand the ballot for the Negro and not the woman," Anthony said at the Equal Rights Convention of 1866, responding to Frederick Douglass's claims that it was "vital" for black male suffrage, but women's suffrage was merely "desirable."Back in 2015, when the initial concept approval was given for the project, Fund co-president Myrian Miedzian and secretary and treasurer Gary Ferdman told Hyperallergic, "They were by far the most obvious and deserving choices.""Stanton and Anthony were the most effective and long-lasting leaders of the largest non-violent revolution in our nation’s history. They made enormous intellectual and organizational contributions to the struggle for a wide range of women’s rights. Their achievements should inspire generations of women to come and educate generations of men."

But that's all about to change.

In honor of the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment, which granted women the right to vote, a statue of two famous suffragettes, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, .

According to a , the statue will be called the "Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony Woman Suffrage Movement Monument," and "will honor the memory of the many others who worked tirelessly to advance women’s rights, including Sojourner Truth, Lucy Stone, Mary Church Terrell, Anna Howard Shaw and Ida B. Wells-Barnett."

Members of the have been advocating for the monument for years now.

Today, we’re dedicating the future Central Park site for the Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony Woman Suffrage Movement Monument.
— Central Park (@CentralParkNYC)

The choice of subjects isn't without controversy, though. On , many are debating whether Anthony and Stanton should be honored in this way, given their racial politics.

“I will cut off this right arm of mine before I will ever work or demand the ballot for the Negro and not the woman," Anthony said at the Equal Rights Convention of 1866, responding to Frederick Douglass's claims that it was "vital" for black male suffrage, but women's suffrage was merely "desirable."

Back in 2015, when the initial concept approval was given for the project, Fund co-president Myrian Miedzian and secretary and treasurer Gary Ferdman , "They were by far the most obvious and deserving choices."

"Stanton and Anthony were the most effective and long-lasting leaders of the largest non-violent revolution in our nation’s history. They made enormous intellectual and organizational contributions to the struggle for a wide range of women’s rights. Their achievements should inspire generations of women to come and educate generations of men."

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