The Voices from the Garden: The Virginia Women’s Monument stands at the Virginia State Capitol, honoring the founding mothers of Virginia and commemorating their contribution to the state and the US.
The idea for the memorial was initiated in 2009 by the Virginia native, actress, and writer, Em Bowles Locker Alsop. A year later, the Virginia General Assembly approved it, and the fundraising began. All of it was funded from donations from local corporations, nonprofit foundations, and individuals. It was dedicated on October 14th, 2019.
The monument features life-sized bronze statues of 12 women from every region and ethnicity of the state, symbolizing more than 400 years of the state’s existence. They were all chosen for the creativity, brave, dedication, and the impact they made on Virginia and its residents in various walks of life.
The ladies in the statues are:
- Anne Burras Laydon (c. 1594-after 1625) – One of the first English settlers in Virginia. She arrived at Jamestown and was the first English settler to marry in the New World.
- Cockacoeske (1656-1686) – a Pamunkey chief who was the first tribal leader to sign the Virginia-Indian Treaty of Middle Plantation, which guaranteed her tribe its territory, hunting and fishing rights and other protections under the colonial government.
- Martha Dandridge Custis Washington (1731-1802) – The first First Lady of the US, George Washington’s wife.
- Mary Draper Ingles (c.1732-1815) – a frontierswoman and American pioneer who escaped captivity during the French and Indian War. Her courageous escape and 600 miles journey back home was published 30 years after she died.
- Clementina Bird Rind (1740-1774) – One of the first businesswomen and the first female newspaper printer and publisher in Virginia.
- Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley (1818-1907) – a civil rights activist, seamstress, and author. She was born enslaved and purchased her and her son’s freedom. Build a successful seamstress business and became the modiste and confidante of the First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln. She is also honored on an old Fire Callbox in Washington, DC.
- Sally Louisa Tompkins (1833-1916) – a nurse who sponsored and administered the biggest hospital in Richmond during the Civil War. She was the only woman to be commissioned in the Confederate Army.
- Maggie L. Walker (1864-1934) – a businesswoman, educator, and civil rights activist. She was the first African-American woman in the US to found a bank.
- Sarah G. Boyd Jones (1866-1905) – a physician who co-founded the Richmond hospital. She was the first woman to pass the board and practice medicine in Virginia.
- Laura Lu Copenhaver (1868-1940) – a writer, businesswoman, and entrepreneur. She served as the director of information for the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation and promoted agriculture in Virginia.
- Virginia Estelle Randolph (1875-1958) – an African-American educator who dedicated her life to improving education for African-American kids and promoting vocational training throughout the country.
- Adele Goodman Clark (1882-1983) – artist and suffragist who co-founded the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia and advocated for equal rights for women.
The statues, sculpted by Ivan Schwartz, stand around a sundial engraved with names of different Virginia localities. Behind them are granite benches inscribed with a quote from a speech the Virginian author Mary Johnston gave to an all-male crowd at the 1912 Richmond conference of state governors.
“It did not come up in a night, the woman movement, and it is in no danger of perishing from view. It is here to stay and grow […] It is indestructible, it is moving on with an ever-increasing depth and velocity, and it is going to revolutionize the world.”
A wall of honor, made of glass panels, features names of more than 200 prominent Virginia women, with some space to add more in the future.
The statues stand at eye level, so the visitors can interact with them and view them as imperfect human beings and not as heroes on pedestals. The monument emphasizes the achievements of the ordinary person so that everyone can see themselves in those women and get inspired by them.
Explore more about women in Richmond in this Segway tour.
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