City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and the New-York Historical Society’s Center for Women’s History announced Women’s Voices: Shaping the City, a new display in City Hall created to honor a diverse and iconic selection of women whose contributions to New York City history deserve public recognition. The special installation reflects the New York City Council and Speaker Johnson’s commitment to addressing the vast gender disparity in public artwork and monuments around the City. Portraits of eight female figures will be displayed in City Hall along with biographical information and inspirational quotes that help define their legacies. Women’s Voices: Shaping the City will be unveiled at City Hall on Friday, March 1, 2019, at the start of Women’s History Month in conjunction with the Council’s month-long Herstory celebration.
“As New Yorkers realize that we as a City have utterly failed to adequately recognize the contributions of women and try to fix it, this City Council is proud to lead the way in creating public monuments to our City’s monumental women,” said Speaker Corey Johnson.
“Most New Yorkers agree that the future is female, but the past was female too, and the entire City needs to do a better job of celebrating that fact and telling stories that have gone untold for far too long. I am proud beyond words that Shirley Chisholm, Frances Perkins, and Antonia Pantoja will now grace the same City Hall walls as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. The men we have memorialized in this building have gone without strong female representation alongside them for far too long.”
“The New-York Historical Society is thrilled to partner with the City Council and heartened by Speaker Johnson’s support of our Center for Women’s History,” said Valerie Paley, senior vice president, chief historian, and director of the Center for Women’s History. “By showcasing our important work on the walls of City Hall, the City Council reminds all New Yorkers of the vital contributions of women to the city’s story. The timing of the launch, during Women’s History Month, couldn’t be more appropriate.”
The New Yorkers featured in Women’s Voices: Shaping the City are:
Alice Austen, an LGBTQ “amateur” photographer whose work is a window into her New York City experience;
Antonia Pantoja, Puerto Rican educator and community activist;
Beverly Sills, Brooklyn-bred opera soprano;
Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement and newspaper;
Frances Perkins, the first ever female United States cabinet member;
Dorothy Lee, a Chinese-American “Rosie the Riveter” at the Brooklyn Navy Yard;
Shirley Chisholm, the country’s first African-American Congresswoman who represented Brooklyn’s Twelfth District for seven terms and ran a groundbreaking presidential campaign in 1972;
Zora Neale Hurston, famed writer, anthropologist, and fixture of the Harlem Renaissance.
I am delighted and deeply moved that the City Council and New-York Historical Society have joined forces to honor some of the women who have made a lasting impact on our city. This special installation is a wonderful start to our celebration of Women’s History Month, and begins to address the pervasive absence of women from what is considered “official” history. Beginning in March, visitors to City Hall will finally be able to learn about some of the women who changed New York, and the world, for the better,” said Council Member Helen Rosenthal, Chair of the Committee on Women.
The New-York Historical Society, one of America’s preeminent cultural institutions, is dedicated to fostering research and presenting history and art exhibitions and public programs that reveal the dynamism of history and its influence on the world of today. Founded in 1804, New-York Historical has a mission to explore the richly layered history of New York City and State and the country, and to serve as a national forum for the discussion of issues surrounding the making and meaning of history.
New-York Historical’s Center for Women’s History is the first of its kind in the nation within the walls of a major museum. Its work explores the lives and legacies of women who have shaped and continue to shape the American experience. As a hub for scholarship and education, the Center demonstrates how women across the spectrum of race, class, and sexuality exercised power and effected change. Guided by a committee of distinguished historians and informed by the latest research, the Center features permanent installations, temporary exhibitions, and a vibrant array of talks and programs, enriching the cultural landscape of New York City and creating new opportunities for historical discovery. To learn more, visit nyhistory.org.
