Glenna Goodacre, 1939-2020

Photo credit - WWP team

An award-winning famous American sculptress, who designed the Vietnam Women's Memorial in DC.

Born in Lubbock, TX, studied at Colorado College, and after taking classes at the Art Students League in New York, she moved to New Mexico in 1983. Goodacre is well known for her figurative sculptures, which depict real-life figures, usually in full-size scale and realistic facial expressions. Many of her art and sculptures are set in the open public space, as well as private and museum collections all over the US. One of her most famous works is the 8-foot standing portrait of President Ronald W. Reagan.

Through her art, Goodacre often commemorates symbols of women’s worth and independence, such as The Vietnam Women’s Memorial in Washington, DC, and a smaller replica of it is at Vietnam Veterans Memorial State Park in New Mexico. The memorial perpetuates the female contribution during the Vietnam War, and it was the first monument to honor American women.

In 2000, the Sacagawea dollar entered circulation in the US, which after a nationwide competition, Goodacre was chosen to design. It portrays the important Native-American woman that helped the new settlers and was later recognized by the suffragists as a symbol of their cause. The design was unveiled at the White House by First Lady Hillary Clinton. Goodacre retired from sculpting in 2016, at the age of 77.

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About the Vietnam Women's Memorial: “Women have looked at it and said, 'That was me. That's how I felt'”

About the Vietnam Women's Memorial: “Women have looked at it and said, 'That was me. That's how I felt'”

Fun Facts

  • In 2007, she went into a coma caused by a head injury, but she got better and a year after she unveiled a new sculpture named “Crossing the Prairie”.
  • She married C.L. Mike Schmidt, and their daughter is the 1980s supermodel Jill Goodacre.
  • Streets and locations were named in her honor, such as a downtown Lubbock street, which extends from the Jones AT&T Stadium at University Avenue to the east.

Awards

  • Honorary doctorates from Colorado College, her alma mater, and Texas Tech University in her hometown of Lubbock
  • Inducted into the West Texas Walk of Fame in Lubbock (1997)
  • The James Earl Fraser Sculpture Award for her work at the Prix De West Exhibition (2002)
  • The Texas Medal Of Arts (2003)
  • New Mexico Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts
  • Inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in the Fort Worth historic district
  • Was named the 2008 "Notable New Mexican"
  • Won many awards at the National Academy of Design and the National Sculpture Society exhibitions in New York

Creations By and About Her

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Category: Arts
Tags: Sculptress, The Pioneering Women of the National Mall Neighborhood, and WDC Metro Area Women

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Abigail-Smith-Adams-WWP
Activism & Feminism

Abigail Adams, 1744-1818

A Founding Mother of the United States, a Women’s Rights Advocate, and the Second First Lady.

Abigail Smith was born and raised in Massachusetts. Her father was a liberal minister, her mother was a member of the famous Quincy family mother, and she had two sisters. At a time when women were not allowed to receive a formal education, she was homeschooled and satisfied her appetite for knowledge at the family’s library, forming progressive views. After a two-year courtship, she married John Adams, a country lawyer, and became his closest advisor and partner. They settled in the house John had inherited from his father in Braintree, MA. When his practice expanded, John had to frequently travel while Abigail managed their finances, investments, household, and growing family. For a while, they even moved to Boston next to his practice. Between 1784 and 1788, Abigail joined John in his diplomatic missions in Paris and London. On March 4th, 1797, John became the second president of the United States, and she was the first lady. They lived in the Presidential Mansion in Philadelphia and later in the White House in Washington, DC. She was a politically active first lady, made frequent public appearances, and was involved in the decision-making process, paving the way for future first ladies to be proactive figures. When John lost presidential re-election, the family retired to Peacefield in Quincy in 1800. During his frequent travels before and during the presidency, the couple corresponded in more than 1100 letters, where Abigail demonstrated her talent for writing and opinionated spirit. In one of those letters, she urges her husband to consider women’s rights in the new legislation after independence, warning that if not given equal representation: “women will rebel.” He dismissed her suggestion by writing back that it makes him laugh, but her words “remember the ladies” became an iconic feminist slogan. Before her death, she wrote a will favoring her female relatives. It was an act of protest against the laws prohibiting married women from owning assets. This post is also available in: Español Read more...
Adelaide-Johnson-WWP
Arts

Adelaide Johnson, 1859-1955

A feminist artist and sculptress, known as “The sculptor of the women’s suffrage movement.”

Born as Sarah Adeline Johnson in Plymouth, IL, to a family of farmers. She received her education attending rural schools, and after graduation, she began her art training, taking classes at the St. Louis School of Design. She was only 18 years old when she exhibited her artworks at the 1877 St. Louis Exposition, and thanks to the prizes she won, she was able to move to Chicago and make a living from her art. At 23, on her way to her studio, she fell 20 feet into an open elevator shaft. She was severely injured, but the compensation fee she was awarded enabled her the financial freedom to study sculpture and painting in Europe. As a feminist and women’s rights activist, she expressed her political views in her art. Among the many individual busts she sculptured, were busts of the Suffrage Movement’s leaders – Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Lucretia Mott, which she presented in the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 (The busts are currently located at the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument Museum). She wanted to put the busts as a group monument at the US Capitol Rotunda but did not get the support at that time. After the 19th Amendment was ratified, she got the funding from the philanthropist Alva Belmont and the commission from the National Woman’s Party. She went to Italy to bring an 8-ton piece of marble to her studio and created her most famous artwork – “Group Portrait Monument to Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony.” The statue was dedicated in a special ceremony on Susan B. Anthony’s birthday, February 15th, 1921, in the US Capitol. This was the pick of Johnson’s career. During the 1930s, her career declined, and she had financial problems. In 1939, 80 years old Johnson invited the press to witness how she destroys her own artworks as a protest against her living conditions as well as against her shattered dream of opening a studio-museum honoring the suffragists and women’s rights organizations. This post is also available in: Español Read more...
Alice-Paul-WWP
Law

Alice Paul, 1885-1977

A leader for women’s rights and famous for promoting a federal constitutional amendment for woman suffrage.

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Amelia-Earhart-WWP
Science & Technology

Amelia Earhart, 1897-c.1939

A pioneering pilot who set many aviation records, including the first female pilot to cross the Atlantic Ocean and the first person to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean.

Born and raised in Atchison, Kansas, in 1897. From a young age she broke gender conventions: climbing trees which was seen as boyish behavior and collecting articles about female pioneers in male-dominated fields. She left college to work as a nurse in a military hospital during World War I and later worked as a social worker. After a $10 ride in an airplane at the age of 23, she found her calling within aviation. Earhart took classes with a female instructor, and six months later bought her first plane, painted yellow and nicknamed “The Canary.” She was active in the movement for equal rights for women and was determined to use aviation to make a point that women can do anything they want. Her breakthrough was initiated by publicist George Putnam, whom she later married. He presented her with the opportunity to be the first female to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, which won her worldwide recognition, a New York parade, and a reception at the White House. Fond of “first” achievements and aware of their publicity value, Earhart set and broke several records of destination, speed, and altitude. She wanted to be the first woman to fly around the world, and in her attempt, she vanished with her navigator in 1937. Despite a $4 Million search, the most extensive one in naval history, no clear trace of her was ever found. Amelia Earhart was around the age of 40 at the time of the accident, and in 1939, the pioneering pilot declared dead. This turned her into a mystery that occupies generations, with a wide range of theories and speculations as to her fate.   Dive deeper into the inspiring story of Amelia Earhart with our fun and engaging printable worksheet! Available now on Etsy and Teachers Pay Teachers. This post is also available in: Español Read more...
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