Suffrage statue

What it is

This is a marble sculpture created and unveiled in 1921 in the United States. Its maker is not named in the available records. A black-and-white photograph shows three carved human heads rising from a rough-cut block, with one smooth, finely carved face on the right, set on a dark square base.

Why it matters

A monument unveiled in 1921 came just after the United States gave women the right to vote, and it was made to honor the women who had fought for that right. The records say it may commemorate the suffrage leaders, but they give little detail about Elizabeth Cady Stanton in particular. Because it is a later monument rather than a record made in her lifetime, it shows how her movement was remembered after her death, not how she worked day to day.

Look closer

• Why might a sculptor carve several heads from one block of stone, and what might that say about a group of leaders?
• Which face is finished and smooth, and why might one face be treated differently from the others?
• Who paid for and chose this memorial, and whose names or faces might it have left out?