Sybil Ludington's Statue

What it is

This photograph shows a bronze statue of a rearing horse with a rider in colonial dress raising a stick overhead. It is a reduced cast of a larger statue by sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington, located outside a public library in Danbury, Connecticut.

Why it matters

The statue honors Sybil Ludington, remembered for a legendary overnight ride warning militia of a British raid in 1777. That this cast stands in Connecticut, across the state line from New York where the ride supposedly happened, shows how the legend spread and was claimed by communities beyond its original setting.

• What does the pose of the horse and rider suggest about how Ludington is being remembered?
• Why might a statue be duplicated and placed in another state?
• What can a monument tell us, and what can it not tell us, about a historical event?