February 15th – Anniversary of Suffragist Monument, depicting Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Lucretia Mott, sculpted by Adelaide Johnson, is dedicated at the U.S. Capitol

 

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This group portrait monument to the pioneers of the woman suffrage movement was sculpted by Adelaide Johnson (1859-1955) from an 8-ton block of marble in Carrara, Italy. Commissioned by Alva Vanderbilt Belmont, the monument features portrait busts of three leaders of the woman suffrage movement: Elizabeth Cady Stanton (left), Susan B. Anthony (rear, right), and Lucretia Coffin Mott (front).

After its original donation on February 15, 1921 the monument was exhibited in the Rotunda Hall of the Capitol for one day and then moved to the basement, where it languished for seventy-six years.

After raising the needed $75,000, the sculpture was again moved to the Capitol Rotunda in May of 1997, where it can be seen today. I had the privilege of visiting a few years ago, and it is a moving sight, to see those three stalwart pioneers rising from a block of creamy marble, finally taking their rightful place in that hall of heroes.

 

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