The Woman Suffrage Statue

Relegated to the Crypt of the Capitol building for 76 years, the Portrait Monument has stood in the Rotunda since 1997. Often referred to as the Suffrage Statue, it memorializes pioneering feminists Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony and is the sole sculptural representation of women in the Rotunda. From its conception by sculptor Adelaide Johnson as three separate busts to its laborious execution and celebrated placement in the Rotunda, the seven-ton sculpture has provoked frustration, jubilation and hullabaloo. Drawing on diaries, letters, newspapers and historic photographs, this first-ever history of the monument explores the controversy, myths and artistry behind this neoclassical yet unconventional work of art.

Sandra Weber is an author, independent scholar, lecturer, and storyteller who enjoys exploring and writing regional history and women’s history. She lives in Elizabethtown, New York.

Sandra Weber
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 240
Bibliographic Info: 70 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2016
pISBN: 978-1-4766-6346-3
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2422-8
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii
Terminology viii
Preface 1
Introduction 3
PART ONE—Adelaide Johnson and the Great Three 7
1. A Sculptress 7
2. Making the Great Three 13
3. The Woman Movement 20
4. 1893 World Fair 29
5. Of Eminent Women and Bridesmaids 38
6. Bust Fund Conflict 43
PART TWO—A Monument to Woman 51
7. New Face of Suffrage 51
8. Of Carrara Marble and Hard Luck 66
9. With Ratification Goes the Rotunda 79
10. Up the Steps of the Capitol 86
11. The Supreme, the Wonderful Day 95
12. Down in the Crypt 102
PART THREE—An Entity to Be Reckoned 111
13. Golden Words 111
14. A Work of Art 119
15. Resurrecting Equal Rights 129
16. Forward into Light 137
17. Import of the Woman Movement 142
18. Glory of Washington 152
PART FOUR—Take Up the Song 161
19. Semantics 161
20. In the Halls of the Capitol 167
21. Raise the Statue 174
22. Adding Truth 185
23. Unfinished Work 192
Conclusion 199
Timeline 201
Brief Biographies 203
Chapter Notes 207
Bibliography 223
Index 227