The Woman’s Suffrage Statue Rededication Pin

On a beautiful crisp 1992 fall day, five women sat contemplating a seemingly overwhelming task.  They had just committed themselves to moving a marble statue that weighed seven tons from the lower level of the U.S. Capitol to the Rotunda, as part of their celebration for the 75^th anniversary of Woman Suffrage 1995 celebration.  The statue, labeled the Portrait Monument by Congress, was commissioned in 1920 to honor the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, granting women the right to vote.

In 1921, the statue was reluctantly accepted by an all male Congress as a gift from the National Woman’s Party (NWP) on behalf of American women and in honor of the 72 year battle for voting rights.  An unveiling ceremony with state representation from every state of theUnionwas held on February 10, 1921. A short time thereafter, Congress moved the statue to a broom closet in the capitol crypt.  Alice Paul, suffragist leader and NWP founder, and colleagues visited the statue, cleaned it, and held rallies on each Woman’s Equality Day. The statue was later moved out of the closet and into the Crypt, without identification.

Sculpted by Adelaide Johnson and commissioned by the National Woman’s Party, the monument depicts the three suffrage movement founders, Lucretia Mott, a Quaker minister, abolitionist, and peace advocate, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, architect and author of the suffrage movement’s most important strategies and documents, and Susan B. Anthony, abolitionist, temperance advocate, and spokesperson.   

An unfinished portion behind these visionaries represents all women supporting suffrage and equality for women.  The founders are rising out of a large marble structure which exemplifies rights not enjoyed by women, which included legal ownership of property, guardianship rights of their children, and voting rights. 

The Rededication of the Suffrage Statue on June 26, 1997 was the result of  a bold, and unrelenting effort led by those women who had made the commitment to ensure that the 72-year campaign to win the right to vote would be recognized.  The opposition was powerful politician who didn’t think moving the Statue was necessary or appropriate. The group of women mobilized thousands of people – young and old, female and male, for this completely non-partisan  cause.  And, they won. d they won.

On  June 26, 1997 in our nation’s Rotunda  to a capacity crowd including distinguished members from U.S. Senate and House, the Statue was re-dedicated. 

 This Woman Suffrage Statue Rededication pin (2.5 inches in diameter) is a memento from that amazing historic event.