On the intersection of Broadway and West 46th Street stands one of the last landmarks of the historic Times Square, the I. Miller Building. From the 1920s to the 1970s, Israel Miller operated a shoe store, designing shoes for the greatest actresses of the time. His famous slogan hung outside “The Show Folks Shoe Shop—Dedicated to Beauty in Footwear.” In 1929, he decided to erect marble statues in the four niches on the building’s 2nd story and commissioned Alexander Stirling Calder for the work. The public chose an actress from the fields of drama, comedy, opera, and screen, and they are (from west to east): Ethel Barrymore as Ophelia in Hamlet; Marilyn Miller as Sunny in the 1925 hit musical of the same name; Mary Pickford as Little Lord Fauntleroy; and Rosa Ponselle, in her most famous role, as Norma in Bellini’s opera. These statues have been standing till these days after reconstructive surgery in 2012. They are among the several outdoor statues honoring real women in the heart of New York City. Ethel Barrymore (1879-1959) became known as “The First Lady of the American Theatre.” She was a stage, radio, and film actress for six decades. This statue depicts her in 1925 in the role of Ophelia in Hamlet she played on Broadway. A few blocks away, on 241 West 47th Street in the Theater District, stands the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, which has been operating as a Broadway theatre since 1928. Marilyn Miller (1898-1936) was a well-known Broadway musical star of the 1920s and early 1930s. She performed on stage since she was five and made her Broadway debut at sixteen. Her statue depicts her as Sunny, the circus queen from the 1925 musical Sunny. She passed away at the young age of 37 from complications following surgery. Mary Pickford (1892-1979) was a Canadian-American stage and screen actress, producer, and businesswoman who co-founded Pickford–Fairbanks Studios, United Artists, and was one of the 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In her statue, she is depicted in her role in the 1921 film Little Lord Fauntleroy. Rosa Ponselle (1897-1981) was considered one of the greatest sopranos of the 20th century. She was born to Italian immigrant parents in Connecticut and started singing from a young age in local venues. She made her Broadway debut at 18 and three years later at the Metropolitan Opera, where she continued singing till her unofficial retirement in 1937. Her statue portrays her as Norma, the role she performed at the Metropolitan Opera in 1927. Read more...

A temporary statue of the iconic New York photographer Diane Arbus stands at the Doris C. Freedman Plaza at the southeast entrance to Central Park, NYC. When the statue was unveiled, it increased the number of sculptures of real women in Central Park to two. The first one was Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument, unveiled on August 26th, 2020, depicting the women’s rights leaders Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Diane Arbus’s statue will be on view till August 14th, 2022. Diane Arbus (1923-1971) was born and raised in a wealthy Jewish family in New York City, NY. After getting married, she and her husband established a commercial photography business. After ten years, Arbus left the company wishing to develop her artistic expression via photography. She wandered the streets of the city, taking pictures of its people. Her wide range of photography subjects included strippers, carnival performers, nudists, people with dwarfism, children, mothers, couples, seniors, and middle-class families. Her work was original and helped normalize marginalized groups and establish photography as a form of art. She was 48 years old when she committed suicide. The British artist Gillian Wearing depicted Arbus in her natural position. She is holding her special camera, looking at her subject. It is an unusual sculpture in Central Park. It stands on the ground and not on a pedestal, and it honors a woman, while most of the statues in the park honor men. The modest but powerful sculpture captures the passersbys’ attention while entering the park, and they stop to interact and learn more about her. Among Wearing’s other works is a statue of the British suffragist Millicent Fawcett on Parliament Square in London. It is the first and only statue of a woman in the square. Read more...

In 1887, a 23 years old journalist from Pittsburgh, Nellie Bly, arrived in NYC, and no newspaper had hired her due to her gender. After four months, she took an undercover assignment for the New York World newspaper to investigate conditions at the Women’s Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell’s Island (now Roosevelt Island). She used her acting skills, pretending to suffer from amnesia. The doctors declared she was insane and sent her to the Asylum. She was there ten days, observing the harsh living conditions, speaking with fellow patients, and witnessing the abusive behavior of the staff. After ten days, the newspaper was able to release her, and she wrote a report and a book, Ten Days in a Mad-House, describing what she saw at the Asylum, giving these women voices. Her work led to several social reforms, changed the concept of investigative journalism, and positioned her as a leading journalist. The following year, she traveled around the world for 72 days writing articles and books about her experiences. She also wrote about women’s suffrage and reported from war zones during WW1. At 31, she married the head of the Iron Clad Manufacturing Co, who was 40 years older than her. After he died, she led the company and registered several patents while improving the products. She died of pneumonia in New York City on January 27th, 1922. Nellie Bly’s monument, The Girl Puzzle, is named after the title of the first article she wrote for the Pittsburgh Dispatch. This article was the first milestone in a lifelong journey of social journalism, activism work, and advocacy for women’s rights and equal opportunities. Her writings gave invisible women voices and faces and told the world their story. The monument stands on the north end of Roosevelt Island, right by the lighthouse. The talented artist, Amanda Matthews, created it, presenting Bly’s face on a large scale alongside four other women – a young girl, an African American woman, an Older Woman, and a Member of the LGBTQ and Asian American Woman. Next to the sculptures are braille plaques and audio descriptions. The statue was dedicated on December 10th, 2021, and it is the first statue of a woman on Roosevelt Island and the second created by a woman. Before this one, only the figure of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, as part of the FDR Hope Memorial, created by Meredith Bergmann, a famous sculptress who also created the Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument in Central Park and the Boston Women’s Memorial. Read more...

After waiting for two years for a statue of the LGBTQ rights icon and activist, Marsh P Johnson, a group of activists decided to take action. On the morning of August 24th, 2021, they placed Johnson’s statue at the center of Christopher Park, next to the Gay Liberation monument, across the street from the Stonewell Inn. Among this group of activists were Eli Erlick and Jesse Pallotta, the artist who created it. Thanks to them, the city of New York has its first statue of a transgender person, which is also one of the few in the world. Marsh P Johnson was born as a male named Malcolm Michaels Jr. and knew since a young age she was a woman. At 17, she took a bag of clothes and $15 and moved to NYC, where she felt she could be herself. At first, she lived on the street and had to work as a prostitute. Then she settled in Greenwich Village, became involved in the thriving gay scene, and performed as a drag queen. Johnson was involved in the Gay Liberation movement and took part in the “Stonewall Riots.” Some claim she even started it. She co-founded with Sylvia Rivera the “Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries” (STAR) organization, a home for gay and trans street kids. In July of 1992, her body was discovered floating in the Hudson River. She was 46 years old. According to some, she committed suicide due to mental illness, while others say it was a homophobic hate crime. The statue stands on a pedestal that reads: “Marsha “Pay It No Mind” Johnson “History isn’t something you look back at and say it was inevitable, it happens because people make decisions that are sometimes very impulsive and of the moment, but those moments are cumulative realities.” Lover of Poetry, Flowers, space and the color purple. August 24, 1945 – July 6, 1992” Click here for more things to do in Greenwich Village. Read more...

In Battery Park, Overlooking Lady Liberty, Ellis Island, and Brooklyn stands the statue of the patron saint of immigrants, Frances Xavier Cabrini, also known as Mother Cabrini. Cabrini was an Italian American Roman Catholic nun, the founder of the female religious congregation Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In 1889 She immigrated from Italy to the US with six sisters. They supported the Italian immigrants’ community in NYC, founding schools, orphanages, and hospitals. Overall she founded 67 missionary institutions all over the US. Twenty-one years after she passed away, Pope Pius XI beatified her, and she became the first US citizen to be canonized and declared a saint. To commemorate her contribution to New York City, the governor, Andrew Cuomo, announced the commission of her statue. The father and daughter team of Giancarlo Biagi and Jill Burkee Biagi won the design competition, which depicted the young Mother Cabrini guiding two children in a boat on their way to America. The girl is holding a book and symbolizes Cabrini as a young girl. On the base of the statue, there are scenes from Mother Cabrini’s life inscribed on the bronze. The statue was dedicated on Columbus Day, October 12th, 2020, a year after the announcement on the commission. A few months later, another statue of Cabrini was dedicated in the city, this time in Brooklyn, in Sacred Hearts and Saint Stephen Roman Catholic Church in Caroll Gardens. Read more...

This museum highlights the part women of color and women of African descent had in the struggle for equal rights. It examines the role and impact in the resistance and highlights their stories in the permanent and rotating exhibitions. The permanent exhibition reviews their part in the resistance since the early days of slavery, through the civil war and the emancipation, the Jim Crow era, great migration, civil rights movement, and during major events in the long struggle for equal rights. Videos and sound stations, photographs, songs, folk tales, and more give the visitor the entire story. The exhibit Gender Trap: Black Women, Rape and Resistance focuses on the response and revolutionary acts by Black women in America. The last exhibit review a historical timeline of institutional rape, violence, and sexual harassment of Black women by police officers and their forerunners. It is the only museum in the world dedicated to this cause. Read more...

The Spirit of Audrey is a statue honoring Audrey Hepburn’s dedication, work, and contribution as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF from 1987 until she died in 1993. Hepburn traveled more than 50 times to Africa, Asia, and Central and South America to visit famine-stricken areas raising awareness for children in need. In 1992 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her activism work. Hepburn (1929-1993) was an award-winning, legendary actress for several decades. The 7-foot bronze sculpture stands at the UNICEF headquarters in NYC. It depicts two abstract figures of a woman and a child looking at each other holding hands while the woman’s second-hand hags the child. It was created by John Kennedy, commissioned, and donated to UNICEF by her partner, Robert Wolders. The dedication ceremony happened on May 7, 2002, the eve of the three days world summit, the United Nations Special Session on Children. Hundreds of guests attended, among them was the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan. From Robert Wolders’s speech – “Audrey personified the spirit of UNICEF, and we hope those who see this statue will be inspired by her efforts on behalf of children.” A copy of this sculpture stands on the grounds of the Oxfordshire Museum in Woodstock, England. Read more...

Only six months after her death, a statue of Ruth Bader Ginsburg was unveiled, on March 12th, in Brooklyn, NY, the place she was “born and bred.” Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a lawyer who devoted her life to fighting for justice and equal rights for all. She worked within the system to establish equality in American law and correct injustices inside the system. In 1993, she was nominated to the US Supreme Court, becoming the second female US Supreme Court justice, a position she passionately fulfilled till she passed away in 2020. The statue was created by the NYC artistic duo, Gillie and Marc, who is famous for creating innovative public sculptures in more than 250 cities for more than 27 years, and still counting. Among their many projects is the Statues For Equality, aiming to promote the erection of statues of notable women in every big city. This statue of Bader Ginsburg is part of this project. Justice Ginsburg’s statue depicts her standing, wearing her justice gown, and her famous jabot in a way that “the public has an opportunity to stand at her side, and gain inspiration from her journey fighting for equal rights.” – Gillie and Marc, 2021. It is the 7th statue honoring women in NYC. Read more...

A statue of Annie Moore, the first immigrant to the US to arrive at Ellis Island inspection station, is standing in the exhibitions in the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration. The Irish artist Jeanne Rynhart created this statue and a statue of Moore with her two brothers, located at Cobh Heritage Centre in Cork, their departure port. 17 years old Moore arrived from Queenstown, Ireland, in New York with her two younger brothers on January 1st, 1892. They traveled for ten days on the Nevada steamship to join their parents, who immigrated three years earlier. Upon her arrival, a US officer welcomed her and gave her a 10 dollar coin. Over the years, Moore settled down in NYC, got married, and had 11 kids. She died in 1924. The statue, a gift for the American people from the Irish-American Cultural Institute, was unveiled on May 18th, 1993, by the president of Ireland, Mary Robinson. More things to do at Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration: Enjoy the NYC skyline and the views of the Statue of Liberty. Explore the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration and its three floors of exhibits about the history and experience of the immigrants who came to build a new life in America; Check out your ancestry in the collection of arrival records. Continue with the ferry to Liberty Island and travel to the grounds of the Statue of Liberty. Ellis Island can only be accessed by a ferry (operated by Statue Cruises) from Battery Park in Manhattan or Liberty State Park in New Jersey. If you are visiting Liberty State Park, consider stopping 3 miles before it at the Mary McLeod Bethune Park and the Mary McLeod Bethune statue. Read more...

A bronze statue depicting three national women’s rights leaders and pioneers – Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. All were also New Yorkers at some point in their life. This statue is joining the 23 statues of historical figures located in New York’s Central Park, but it is the first to depict and honor real women. The artist, Meredith Bergmann, designed the figures as if they are working and collaborating – “They are an allegory of sisterhood, cooperation, and activism, but they are not just an allegory, as so many sculptures of women are.”   The statue’s journey started in 2014 by Monumental Women, a not-for-profit, volunteer organization, which set an initial goal to add a statue of real women in Central Park. They raised more than $1.5 million to the commission, install, and maintain the statue. The organization is still accepting donations for the maintenance of Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument, as well as to continue with their further goals – “increasing awareness and appreciation of Women’s History through a nationwide education campaign and challenging municipalities across the country to rethink the past and reshape the future by including tributes in their public spaces to the diverse women who helped create and inspire those cities.” Its dedication day, August 26th, 2020, was chosen in advance since it was also the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment to the US constitution, giving women the right to vote.   Read more...