An equestrian statue of the French heroine and saint Joan De Arc is located in the beautiful Meridian Hill Park in the Adams Morgan neighborhood, overlooking the entire city. It is the only equestrian statue of a woman out of more than 30 equestrian statues in Washington, DC.
The statue is a replica of the statue of Paul Dubois, who cast 3 pieces located in Reims (1890), Paris (1895), and Strasbourg (1897).
In 1916, to express the friendship between the women of France and the Women of the United States, Madam Polifème, the president of French feminist organization Le Lyceum Société des Femmes de France, proposed the Commission of Fine Arts to give the statue to Washington, DC as a friendship gift.
On January 6th, 1923, on the 510th anniversary of Joan of Arc’s birth, the statue was unveiled in a special ceremony attended by President Harding, the French Ambassador Jusserand, and their wives. Madam Polifème gave the speech presentation, and then Mrs. Harding and Madam Jusserand unveiled the statue.
In September 2016, the sword was stolen, and a new one was installed in March 2018 as part of the Women’s History Month celebration.
The bronze statue is 10-foot-long, 9-foot-high, standing on a stone pedestal. The inscription in the front reads –
“Jeanne D’arc
Libératrice
1412-1431
Auc Femmes D’amérique
Les Femmes De France”
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