On August 8th, 2021, the Dutch Canadian Club Edmonton dedicated the statue of Anne Frank. It is a replica of the 1960 sculpture by Dutch sculptor Pieter d’Hont which was the first statue of Anne Frank ever created. The unveiling ceremony was attended by Dutch representatives, veterans, public officials, and Jewish community members. It was live-streamed to the Netherlands, where a bell tolled for 2 minutes at the same time as Edmonton. Tulips and other flowers from the Netherlands surround the sculpture, and next to it are two informative plaques. The statue pays tribute to the Holocaust victims and Canada’s role in liberating the Netherlands from Nazi tyranny in 1945. Edmonton’s Light Horse Park is named after the South Alberta Light Horse Regiment, which fought during World War I and II. The park went through a makeover in 2011, intending to create a place for those who have been affected by war or conflict. Anne Frank (1929-1945) was a teenage girl when her family went into hiding following the Nazis’ invasion of the Netherlands. During that time, she documented her life in a notebook she got on her 13th birthday. In August 1944, the German police discovered them, sending them all to Auschwitz. Anne and her sister Martha died in a concentration camp only a few weeks before the war ended. Her father, Otto, was the only family member to survive. After the war, he returned to Amsterdam and received many papers a friend was able to save for him. Among them was Anne’s diary. In 1947, The Diary of a Young Girl was published and became one of the most famous depositions of life under the Nazi regime. Click here to see all the statues of Anne Frank in the world. Read more...

Behind the Janskerkhof Bloemenmarkt flower market stands a bronze statue of Anne Frank, commemorating the Holocaust victims, the victims of discrimination and persecution in Utrecht, and more than 1,200 Jews from Utrecht who were murdered. On Liberation Day, May 5th, 1959, the year Anne would have celebrated her 30th birthday, the youth of Utrecht gave this statue to the city as an appreciation gift for the various youth associations the Utrecht has organized. They collected scrap iron and paper to finance it, and the Utrecht sculptor Pieter d’Hont created it, depicting Frank standing, looking forward, and strong. It is the first statue of Anne Frank in the world, unveiled in 1960. Traditionally, flowers are placed at the statue all year round, and every year, during the commemoration of the dead, there is a gathering next to it. Anne Frank (1929-1945) was a German-Jewish teenage girl when World War II embarked. When the Nazis invaded the Netherlands and enforced antisemitic rules that demonized, isolated, and threatened their lives, on July 6th, 1942, the family hid in a secret annex in her father’s office building in Amsterdam. During her time in hiding, Anne wrote in the diary she received for her 13th birthday, expressing her thoughts and feelings about the war and the day after. On August 4th, 1944, the secret German police discovered them, deporting all the annex residents to a concentration camp, where Anne, her sister, and her mother died. After the war ended, Anne’s father returned to Amsterdam, discovering he was the only survivor. He found Anne’s diary and published it, fulfilling Anne’s dream of becoming a writer and sharing her testimony about her childhood during World War II. Over the years, The Diary of Anne Frank was translated into more than 70 languages and sold over 30 million copies worldwide, making Anne one of, if not the most known, Holocaust victims. The Dutch Canadian Club Edmonton unveiled a copy of this statue in Edmonton, Canada, in August 2021. Click here to see more statues of Anne Frank around the world. Read more...

Elizabeth Blackwell is immortalized as a student in a statue on the Hobart Quadrangle, the center of Hobart and William Smith Colleges (successor of the Geneva Medical College) campus. Blackwell (1821-1910) was rejected from 16 medical schools due to her gender before getting accepted to Geneva Medical College in 1847. She graduated two years later, at the top of her class, and became the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States. Her achievement is considered one of the proudest moments in the history of Hobart and William Smith. Blackwell co-founded the New York Infirmary for Women and Children in 1957 and later the Woman’s Medical College in New York City. She lectured female audiences on sexual physiology, hygiene, and reproduction. Upon returning to England, she operated a private practice and helped found the London School of Medicine for Women in 1874. The seven-foot bronze, 800-pound sculpture, was dedicated on October 1st, 1994; it is the only figure sculpture on campus. Using three models, Blackwell’s photographs, diaries, biographical records, and ancient casting techniques, the college Professor of Art and Architecture A.E. Ted Aub sculpted it for three years, and Dexter Benedict cast it. Benedict also created the statues of Harriet Tubman and James Seward in Schenectady. On the granite base, an excerpt from a letter Blackwell wrote from Geneva in 1847 reads: “I cannot but congratulate myself on having found at last the right place for my beginning.” A plaque in front of the monument reads: “ELIZABETH BLACKWELL, M.D. / 1821-1910 / Admitted to the Medical School of Geneva (now Hobart) / College in 1847 and graduated, first in her class, two / years later, Elizabeth Blackwell became the first female/physician in the United States. Her life was devoted / to women’s and children’s health care, reproductive / education, and to open the medical profession to women”. The campus is a short drive from Seneca Falls, a small town known as the Birthplace of Women’s Rights Movement. It has lots of interesting places to visit. Click here for a full itinerary. Read more...

On July 24th, 1897, Amelia Earhart was born in the southwest bedroom of the house at 223 N. Terrace in Atchison, Kansas. When her grandfather purchased it in 1861, it was a one-room cabin; he added more rooms, transforming it into a three-floor home. Earhart lived in this house with her grandparents on and off until she was a teenager and considered Atchison her hometown. Her adventurous spirit led her to aviation, and she became one of the first female pilots in the US and one of the most courageous. She set many aviation records, including being the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She also promoted commercial air travel, wrote books about her adventures, advocated for equal rights for women, and was among the founders and the first elected president of the female pilots’ organization The Ninety-Nines. While trying to become the first woman to fly around the world, Earhart and her navigator disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean; they were last seen on July 2nd, 1937. After a massive and costly search, Earhart was declared dead on January 5th, 1939. The house was a private residence until 1984, when a local citizen, Dr. Eugene J. Bribach, contributed $100,000 to the Ninety-Nines to purchase the property. Since then, the Ninety-Nines converted the historic building into a museum celebrating Earhart’s life and achievements. The exhibits reveal more aspects of Earhart’s personality and accomplishments, including her love of photography, clothes designing, and writing, her roles in her family, friends, airline ownership, and more. A walk around the different rooms gives the visitors a glimpse of the past and life in Kansas at the beginning of the 20th century. Many places around Atchison bear the name of Earhart, and the town holds the annual Amelia Earhart Festival every July. In July 2022, Kansas dedicated Amelia Earhart’s statue to the National Statuary Hall Collection in the US Capitol. Read more...

Marcella Sembrich Opera Museum, also known as The Sembrich, is a music venue and museum that preserve the legacy and love of the music of the internationally renowned Polish opera singer Marcella Sembrich. Sembrich (1858-1935) was born in Poland and started her music career at a young age, playing the piano and violin in local events to support her family. Sembrich furthered her music education at the Lemberg Conservatory, studying piano and violin and developing her vocal capabilities. Then, deciding to focus on voice, she studied with the best teachers in Vienna and Milan. Sembrich made her opera debut at 19 in Athens, which led to a successful career that included performing on the biggest stages in Europe and the United States. She sang in English, Polish, German, French, and Italian, gave recitals, and taught vocal programs. In 1898, Sembrich performed at the Met Opera in New York City, stayed for 11 seasons, and spent most of her time in the US. The outbreak of World War I prevented her from spending the summer in the European Alps, so she set the Adirondack Mountains area in New York as her new summer destination. Sembrich stayed at Lake Placid during the summers of 1915-1921 and then at the home and teaching studio she built at Lake George. During these summers, her students joined her to study and rest. Shortly after she died, her house was opened in 1937 as a history museum (free admission), showcasing personal items, memorabilia, and mementos from her life. In addition to commemorating Sembrich, the building hosts music events and festivals, continuing to spread her love of music. Read more...

Outside the Stout Meeting House in Earlham College campus lies the seated statue of Mary Dyer, a Quaker who fought for religious freedom and was hanged on Boson Commons in 1660 because of that. Mary Dyer insisted on practicing Quakerism in the days when the Massachusetts Colony had forbidden it. She was banished several times from the colony but stood by the right to religious freedom and returned. On the fourth time she returned, she was sentenced to death. Her death stopped the persecution of Quakers and influenced the legalization of religious freedom. In 1959, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts dedicated a statue of Dyer, created by the Quaker sculptress Sylvia Shaw Judson, outside the Massachusetts State House; several years later, Earlham College, a Quaker college, dedicated this statue, a replica of the Boston statue. Another copy of the sculpture stands in Philadelphia. Read more...

On March 6, 2023, Mexico made history as the first state in the Americas and maybe in the world, dedicating a commemorative walk in the most important avenue of the capital with 14 statues of notable women who shape the history of Mexico. The project’s purpose was to restore history, correct the lack of sculptures of historical women on the Paseo de la Reforma, the home to many statues of notable Mexican men, celebrate Mexican women’s heritage, and recognize their contributions to society. As part of the ongoing project, the first statues were dedicated in 2020, and the lasts were formally unveiled just before International Women’s Day in 2023 by Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, the first woman Head of Government, and Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller, the honorary president of the Advisory Council of the National Coordination of Historical and Cultural Memory of Mexico. Meet the heroines who are commemorated on the avenue: Agustina Ramírez Heredia (1813-1879) was a Mexican heroine who allowed 12 of her 13 children to fight and sacrifice their lives while protecting Mexico from French intervention. Anonymous Mexican Forjadoras de la República is a statue that commemorates the women who have preserved their languages and culture. Carmen Serdán Alatriste (1873-1948) was a Mexican revolutionary who co-founded the National Anti-Reelection Party and fought the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz. Dolores Jiménez y Muro (1850-1925) was a teacher, feminist, and social-political activist who promoted equality for women and indigenous people and was active during the Mexican Revolution, fighting alongside Emiliano Zapata. Elvia Carrilo Puerto (1878-1968), also known as “The Red Nun,” was a feminist and social activist who founded some of Mexico’s first feminist organizations. In 1923, she became the first woman state deputy. Hermila Galindo (1886-1954) was a writer and feminist who advocated for women’s suffrage, equal rights, and sex education in schools. Gertrudis Bocanegra (1765-1817) lost her husband and son in the Mexican War of Independence and became a soldier. She was captured, tortured, and executed for treason. Bocanegra is knonwn as “La Heroína de Pátzcuaro” (The Heroine of Pátzcuaro). Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez (1768-1829), alongside her husband Miguel Domínguez, Corregidor of Querétaro, had a significant role in the conspiracy plans for the Mexican War of Independence from Spain. Juana Belén Gutiérrez de Mendoza (1875-1942) was a social-political activist, feminist, advocate of Mexican women’s voting rights, journalist, and poet. Leona Vicario (1789-1842) was a journalist, intellectual, feminist, social activist, prominent contributor, and leader in the Mexican War of Independence. She is considered one of the founding mothers of Mexico. Margarita Maza (1826-1871) was the wife, advisor, and partner of President Benito Juárez and the first lady of Mexico from 1858 to 1864 and 1867 to 1871. Matilde Montoya (1859-1939) was the first Mexican female physician, earning her M.D. in 1887, and a champion for equal rights and opportunities for women. Sara Pérez Romero (1870-1952) became known as the First Lady of the Revolution for her work in the anti-reelection movement alongside Carmen Serdán Alatriste. She was the wife and political partner of the 37th President of Mexico, Francisco I. Madero. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648-1695) was a writer, philosopher, composer, poet, and Hieronymite nun. She wrote about love and feminism and gathered female leaders of colonial Spain in her salon. Her work contributed to early Spanish literature and the Spanish Golden Age. Read more...

On Virginia state capitol grounds stands the Virginia Civil Rights Memorial, honoring people from the civil rights movement in Virginia who led and participated in the protests for school desegregation in the state. The Virginia government initiated the project to erect the memorial in 2005. They chose Stanley Bleifeld’s design and held the official unveiling ceremony on July 21st, 2008. The monument consists of 18 bronze statues mounted on the four sides of a white granite wall. Leading the group is Barbara Rose Johns, portrayed as she was 16 years old when she organized and led the student strike for equal education opportunities at Robert Russa Moton High School in Farmville. After the protests, the students, with the NAACP’s legal support, filed the case Davis v. Prince Edward County, the only student-initiated case that eventually was consolidated into the Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision declaring that school segregation was unconstitutional. Also portrayed in the memorial are Spottswood Robinson, Oliver Hill, and Reverend L. Francis Griffin. The following quotes are inscribed on the granite wall: “It seemed like reaching for the moon.” Barbara Rose Johns and “The legal system can force open doors and sometimes even knock down walls, but it cannot build bridges. That job belongs to you and me.” Justice Thurgood Marshall. The nearby plaque describes the events. Also standing on Virginia state capitol grounds is the Virginia Women’s Monument celebrating the legacy of 12 Virginian women. Read more about it here. Read more...

For a few months, the Filipina Comfort Women memorial stood in Manila, commemorating the hundreds of comfort women from the Philippines who were forced into sexual slavery in Japanese military brothels before and during World War II. Comfort Women were hundreds of thousands of women from South-East-Asia who were abducted from their homes by the Imperial Japanese Army, raped, suffered from violence, and lived in inhuman conditions in brothels. In recent years, more and more memorials have been dedicated to commemorate them. The National Historical Commission of the Philippines led the installation and fundraising, choosing the artwork of Jonas Roces. The 2-meter bronze statue portrayed a grieving blindfolded woman wearing a traditional Maria Clara attire. The plaque on the front side of the pedestal read: “This monument is a memory of all the Filipino women who became victims of abuse during the Japanese occupation (1942–1945). It took them a long time before they testified and gave their statements regarding their experience.” The plaque on the back listed the donors and partners who contributed to the erection of the statue. On December 8th, 2017, the statue was dedicated, but after political pressure from the Japanese government, it was uninstalled on April 27th, 2018, against the wish of women’s groups. It was stored in the artist’s private studio and stolen a year later. Read more...

Bet was born into slavery on a farm in Claverack, New York. At 7, she was given as a wedding present to her master’s daughter, Hannah Ashley, and moved with them to Sheffield, Massachusetts. She was a courageous, bright, and illiterate woman who often got into conflicts with Hannah and, as a result, sometimes suffered harsh treatment. Ashley’s home was a gathering place for political discussions, especially during the ratification of the Massachusetts Constitution. Bet overheard part of it: “All men are born free and equal,” and decided to get the help of the abolitionist lawyer Theodore Sedgwick and sue for her freedom in court. She won her case Brom and Bett v. Ashley in August 1781 and became the first African-American woman to be set free under the Massachusetts state constitution. Her case laid the foundation for Massachusetts to abolish slavery in 1783. She changed her name to Elizabeth Freeman (aka MUMBET), worked as a domestic and governess at the Sedgwicks, and as a healer, midwife, and nurse in the community. After she retired in her 60s, she moved next to her daughter and grandchildren in her own house on Cherry Hill in Stockbridge. To commemorate the 241st Anniversary of Freeman’s historic court case, an 8-foot-tall statue was dedicated in her honor on August 21, 2022, on Sheffield Green, facing the historic Sedgwick House. The unveiling ceremony was part of a weekend of events that included the production of “Meet Elizabeth Freeman,” a play by Teresa Miller, and the Walk to Freedom, which is an annual tradition where participants walk the route Freeman walked from the Ashley House to the office of Theodore Sedgwick on the Sheffield Green to hire him as the lawyer to take her freedom case to court. Brian Hanlon created the statue. It is one of his 400 bronze sculptures. Among his sculptures that commemorate real women are: Fannie Lou Hamer, 2nd Lt Carol Ann Drazba statue, the 1999 Women’s World Cup Tribute at The Rose Bowl, the Dorothy Day statue, and Harriet Tubman Statue at the Equal Rights Heritage Center. Read more...