The Women’s Table, located at the heart of the Yale campus, is a sculpture dedicated to women in Yale. It was commissioned in 1989 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of coeducation in the institute.
The artist, Maya Lin, a Yale graduate herself, was personally chosen to create this monument. It took her a year to design it, researching the history of women who enrolled at Yale since its inception in 1701. The elliptical table rotates off a rectangular base, made from green granite, with numbers inscribed on it spiraling out. The numbers indicate the number of women enrolled at Yale each year since it was established. For most of its years, it was a man-only college, and the spiral starts with lots of zeros. 1873 was the first year 13 women enrolled in The School of Art. The counting ends in 1993 when the sculpture was completed.
During the spring and summer, the fountain is working, and water runs from the middle of the spiral. The sculpture is used spontaneously as a table and bench, gathering place, and sometimes even a protest platform.
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