The Lilith Blog

August 30, 2020 by Joan Roth

#Monumental Women: The First Statue of Real Women in Central Park

The Women’s Rights Pioneer Monument in Central Park’s Literary Walk, honoring Sojourner Truth, Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony was unveiled on Wednesday, August 26, 2020, at 7:45 AM.

“A few good women stepped forward to create history in the form of a powerful sculpture to affirm the leading role of women in our history, and its historical importance for New York City, and for the character of our nation,” said Manhattan Borough President, Gail Brewer. “When the struggle for this courageous sculpture began, the City of New York had only five specific sculptures on the subject of real women: Joan of Arc, Eleanor Roosevelt, Gertrude Stein, Harriet Tubman, and Golda Meir. None were in Central Park. Monumental Women banned together and set out to break the bronze ceiling, by honoring the three most important women who risked their lives for suffrage. The answer NO came in many forms: The Park is closed to new statues. Women do not want a statue they want a garden. If we say yes to this statue, we will have to say yes to any statue. You have to prove that each of these women had actually set foot into Central Park. Well, it took 70 years to get the vote and only 7 years to get a statue.”

Close up view of the statue  100^th anniversary of women getting the right to vote through the passage of the 19^th Amendment.

When Congress passed the 14th and 15th amendments, giving voting rights to African American men, Anthony and Stanton were angry and in turn, opposed the legislation because it did not include the right to vote for women. Their belief led them to split from other suffragists. They thought the amendments should also have given women the right to vote. They formed the National Woman Suffrage Association, to push for a constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote.

In 1872, Anthony was arrested for voting. She was tried and fined $100 for her crime. This made many people angry and brought national attention to the suffrage movement. In 1876, she led a protest at the 1876 Centennial of the nation’s independence. She gave a speech—“Declaration of Rights”—written by Stanton and another suffragist, Matilda Joslyn Gage. 

“Men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less.”

Anthony died in 1906, 14 years before women were given the right to vote with the passage of the 19thAmendment in 1920.

Sojourner Truth was born into slavery on November 26, 1797, in Dutch-speaking Ulster County, New York, as “Belle” Baumfree. Bought and sold five times, she would become one of America’s leading abolitionist and women’s rights activist. Truth escaped to freedom in 1826. “After I left the house of bondage, I gave myself a new name, Sojourner Truth.  When I left the house of bondage I left everything behind. I wasn’t going to keep nothing of Egypt on me, an’ so I went to the Lord an’ asked him to give me a new name. And he gave me Sojourner because I was to travel up and down the land showing the people their sins and bein’ a sign unto them. I told the Lord I wanted two names ’cause everybody else had two, and the Lord gave me Truth because I was to declare the truth to the people.”

>Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born on November 12, 1815, in Johnstown, New York. Daniel Cady, Stanton’s father, was a prominent Federalist attorney who served one term in the United States Congress (1814–1817) and then became both a circuit court judge and, in 1847, a New York Supreme Court justice. Judge Cady introduced his daughter to the law and, together with her brother-in-law, Edward Bayard, planted the early seeds that grew into her legal and social activism. Even as a young girl, she enjoyed reading her father’s law books and debating legal issues with his law clerks. It was this early exposure to law that, in part, caused Stanton to realize how disproportionately the law favored men over women, particularly married women. Her realization that married women had virtually no property, income, employment, or even custody rights over their own children, helped set her course toward changing these inequities.

As a young woman, Elizabeth Cady met and married Henry Brewster Stanton, with Elizabeth Cady requesting of the minister that the phrase “promise to obey” be removed from the wedding vows. She later wrote, “I obstinately refused to obey one with whom I supposed I was entering into an equal relation.” The couple had seven children. The couple first moved to Boston, Massachusetts, then to Seneca Falls New York. 

Each of the women are holding something or carrying something. Each are equipped with an object that identifies them as a traditional statue. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a writer and philosopher, has books by the foremothers of the women’s rights movement under her chair. Susan B, Anthony has her traveling bag, full of documents that she would bring to Stanton’s house to work on speeches with Stanton. In this case, they were fliers from lectures by Sojourner Truth, as well as from women’s conventions and conferences. Sojourner Truth has her characteristic shawl, and her cap, and carries her knitting, which she used as her own self-imaging and messaging. The women corresponded, met at women’s rights conferences, and shared the same stages.

It took 167 years to read the bronze ceiling, in order to make the Real Women Statue happen in Central Park. 

Kathy Hochul, the Lieutenant Governor of the State of New York, said, “The journey for women’s rights does not end here in the park – it continues into the future. today is a historic day for women, who have not been properly represented in our nations and in our state’s history. Today all that changes.”

A descendant of Elizabeth Cady Stanton (wearing the hat) with Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (the leader in Congress to pass the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the Constitution)

The Sculpture from Afar

What does this monument mean to me? — It means hope. As a seventh-generation granddaughter of Sojourner Truth, this monument isn’t just here to remind us of our past. It’s not just here to remind us of the works that these three amazing women accomplished. It’s here to remind us of our future, to continue to stand up for what’s right, continue to stand up for what you believe in, continue to stand up for equality, for equal justice — to continue to stand up for what you know is true, what you know is good and what you know is right. It’s here to remind us to continue to stand, as the statue stands, so shall we! – Feminist Plumber, Judaline Cassidy

A wonderful outfit worn at the unveiling.

Sculptor Meredith Bergman points out some of the details we will see on the statue. “The first things people will notice,” she says, “is the intensity of the women talking, discussing. Passersby’s will try to figure out what they might be saying. Instead of wondering what they are saying, we hope viewers will be inspired to go read history to learn more.

Left to right – Gale Brewer, Manhattan Borough President, girl scouts, Pam Elam, president of Monumental women, girl scouts, Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul

Hillary Clinton and the sculptor Meredith Bergman.

Left to right – Regina Wilson, Brenda Bergman (first female firefighter), Gale Brewer, and Manhattan Borough President, Heather Nestle

A descendant of Elizabeth Cady Stanton with the girl scouts. Each girl scout has a poster of the new stamp.

Pictured in the video presented at the unveiling is a descendant of Susan B. Anthony, who says, this statue represents generations of women who have fought for equal rights and are still fighting today. Most importantly we hope that younger women carry on our mission. Thank you so much for making this such a special day/Remember get out there and vote, as a human right.

Pictured in the video presented at the unveiling is a descendant of Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Pictured left to right: Great great-granddaughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Coline Jenkins, Manhattan Borough President, Gale Brewer, former secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Monumental Board President, Pam Elam.

Regina Wilson, FDNY Firefighter, singing “America the Beautiful.”

In the summer of 2016, Heather was on maternity leave when she read about the Central Park effort and vowed to be part of it. As president of New York Life Foundation, her company, agreed to support the project with a $500,000 challenge grant, to make the statue a reality. “This generous contribution was in no small part, due to the company’s relationship with Susan B. Anthony.” Nesle explains, “Anthony was one of our first female policy owners. Her father and brother-in-law were agents of the company, and she used the cash value of her policy to actually get the first women admitted to the University of Rochester.” A few months after she joined Monumental Women, Nettle would cast her vote for the first female candidate to run for president Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The Lilith Blog

May 21, 2020 by Joan Roth

Original Pictures from the Real Events of “Mrs. America.”

Imagine America today, if only one women’s movement had arisen, instead of two…What the full power of womanhood might have wrought. 

 In July 1977, Harriet Lyons, then-editor at Ms. Magazine, and I attended the New York State women’s meeting in Albany, New York, in order to cast our vote for delegates to the first ever National Women’s Convention, funded by the federal government, that was to be held the following November at the University of Houston, in Texas.  It was during this awesome moment that Bella was having one of her major fits, another friend recalls. Something triggered it–perhaps the selection of delegates. 

The Lilith Blog

September 27, 2019 by Joan Roth

Striking for the Climate: A Photo Essay

On Friday, September 20, 2019, 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, sparked historic protests. Revolutionary students- school kids- walked out of their classrooms to raise awareness about the environmental hazards  (emits carbon dioxide) and health risks (pollutants) associated with burning fossil fuels, as well as, most importantly, its irreversible consequences of global warming. In over 150 countries, millions of global citizens marched in solidarity behind the moral clarity of its youth, demanding world leaders transition to renewable energy, 

In New York City alone, tens of thousands of students, teachers and parents joined the People’s Climate Movement on this hot September day in lower Manhattan, down Broadway, from Foley Square by the courthouses, to Battery Park at the southern tip of the Island. They faced New York’s harbor with handmade signs,  advocating for global action/legislation to stop global warming and prevent climate change. 

With an unusual sense of urgency, young performers, facing the crisis of their lifetime and politicians unwillingness to do anything about it, sang, danced and spoke out with gusto. At the close of the rally, Greta Thunberg, who at 15 took time off school to demonstrate outside the Swedish parliament in Fridays, appeared onstage bearing the now-iconic hand drawn sign calling for stronger climate action, the sign which galvanized a school climate strike movement under the name, Fridays for Future. 

“This could only be a fantasy,” she said, alluding to the fact, it was only one year ago that she began her simple school strike for climate change, wondering if it might catch on someday. “But,” she says, “I never believed it would happen so fast, in few months! We will not give up!”

Joan Roth

Joan Roth

Joan Roth 

Joan Roth

Joan Roth 

Joan Roth

The Lilith Blog

April 8, 2019 by Joan Roth

Israel’s Trailblazing Candidates Dima Taya and Michal Zernowitzki

Worlds apart, and running on the tickets of opposing parties, Dima Taya and Michal Zernowitski both plan to play a key role in bringing peace, seated at the same governmental table. In addition to running as the first Muslim women on the Likud party ticket, Dima Taya (Dima Sayyif Tayia Zidan) at 27, would also be the youngest Knesset member in Israel’s history. Another trailblazer, 37-year-old Michal Zernowitski, is the first ultra-Orthodox Haredi woman on the Labor party slate. And, while Taya is listed as number 62 on the Likud party ticket, Zernowitski  is positioned as number 21, which for a new candidate is very high.

The Lilith Blog

March 14, 2019 by Joan Roth

Women of the Wall Turns 30: Stunning Photos from the Scene

Last week, Women of the Wall celebrated its 30th anniversary of standing up in favor of egalitarian prayer at the Kotel, facing physical intimidation from ultra-religious protesters.

Lilith’s Joan Roth was on the scene, documenting vivid Torah readings, massive crowds, and even the paratroopers who helped capture the wall for Israel in 1967 who showed up to support the women.

The Lilith Blog

January 23, 2019 by Joan Roth

Stunning Photos of the Washington Women’s March #JWOCMarching Bloc

This year’s Women’s March was beset by months of controversy over anti-Semitism, alliances and dueling marches. In the end, in defiance of the infighting, a group of Jewish Women of Color led the Washington, D.C. march under the banner #JWOCMarching.

Lilith photographer Joan Roth was in the streets of DC, photographing the group and others at an early a.m. Shabbat service, followed by the march and rally. 

The Lilith Blog

November 8, 2018 by Joan Roth

When Election Night Isn’t A Victory

While women broke many a glass ceiling this week, not every story had a happy ending. We were on the scene with Florida candidate Lauren Baer who ran a tough race in Florida, as the disappointing results came in.

“My campaign started with a sense of duty to defend the rights of my very sick mother and with a dream that I could help create a better world for my very young daughter,” she said in her concession speech. “But from the very start this campaign was about more than my mother and my daughter. It’s been about a dream that we all share…that children can be born into this world safe and wanted, that they can learn in good public schools and play in clean water and live free from senseless gun violence… Although our campaign must end tonight, our movement to restore faith in democracy will live on ….”

The Lilith Blog

November 6, 2018 by Joan Roth

A Jeffersonville Rally with Congress Hopeful Liz Watson

At the Jeffersonville neighborhood rally, the atmosphere was infused with enthusiasm, not only for Liz Watson, Democratic candidate for Indiana congresswoman, but with candidates running for local and state offices. The rally was a home-grown Indiana Democratic event, hosted by the party for volunteers willing to take time out of their own schedules to hit door after door after door in North Jeffersonville.

A motivator, discussing the stakes in this election, quotes Martin Luther King: “An individual cannot start living until he/she rises above the narrow confines of individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”

The Lilith Blog

October 25, 2018 by Joan Roth

On the Road With Susan Wild in Pennsylvania

Lilith photographer Joan Roth and her granddaughter, Lilith writer Shira Gorelick, visited the congressional campaign of Susan Wild in Pennsylvania’s 7th district and documented what they found. Shira’s account is accompanied by Joan’s photos below.