On November 5th, 2022, Abigail Adams finally got her rightful place in Quincy. In a special ceremony, her statue was dedicated in the Hancock Adams Common, where the sculptures of her husband, the 2nd US President John Adams, and her son, the 6th US President John Quincy Adams, stand. Even the sun came out for the celebrations; Quincy’s mayor, Thomas Koch, and the city’s female elected officials unveiled the statue together.
The sculptor Sergey Eylanbekov, who sculptured the statue of John Adams and John Hancock in the Common, also created her statue depicting her holding a quill pen in one hand and a letter in the other. She stands next to a table with an inkwell. Her gaze is toward the statue of her husband and the direction of their Peacefield home on Adams Street.
It is the third statue of Abigail in Massachusetts. The first was erected in 1997; it was a statue of her with her son, John Quincy Adams, as he was a kid; Since 2018, it has been in storage. Her second statue has been standing since 2003 in Boston, part of the Boston Women’s Memorial, alongside Lucy Stone, the founder of the Woman’s Journal, and Phillis Wheatley, the enslaved poet.
Abigail Adams (1744-1818) was a Massachusetts native and lived there most of her life. As a child, she was homeschooled and enriched her knowledge in the family’s library. At almost 20, she married a country lawyer John Adams, and they had six children. She became his close advisor, supported him as he expanded his law practice, joined his diplomatic missions in Europe, and was his right hand as he became a founding father of the United States and the 2nd US president. She was a politically active first lady, sometimes referred to as “Mrs. President.” Upon losing the re-election, they returned to Peacefield, their home in Quincy.
During their marriage, John frequently traveled before and during the presidency, and they corresponded with more than 1,100 letters; these letters demonstrated her talent for writing, opinionated spirit, intellectual advice, and the significant role she had as a founding mother of the United States.
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