Organized by LexSeeHer, Inc.
Build the First Monument to Women in Lexington, MA
Something exciting is being done in #lexingtonma to make women visible: the first monument to women in Lexington is being sculpted by Meredith Bergmann and includes more than 20 women and girls from the 18th century forward. LexSeeHer, Inc. has already raised $340,000 but we need additional financial support to complete the project.
Who lives? Who dies? Who tells HER story? With your help, LexSeeHer is writing women into the narrative of American history with a permanent bronze monument in the heart of Lexington's historic district!
The work is 16 feet wide and stands 11 1/2 feet tall. It rests on an accessible circular granite plaza resembling a spinning wheel. The design invites visitors to hold hands with historic women from each of Lexington's four centuries.
So many people know about the Battle of Lexington and the Boston Tea Party. But what about Lexington's revolutionary 1769 Spinning Protest? Or Margaret Tulip's successful court battle for her freedom from enslavement?
Unknown. Unheralded. Until now.
With your help to fully fund this monument, history will remember women's political, economic, intellectual, social and cultural contributions across more than 300 years. More than 20 women and girls are memorialized in the sculpture, including Phebe Banister Burdoo, Margaret Tulip, Abigail Harrington, Anna Harrington, Ruth Buckman, Eliza Follen, Ellen Adelia Stone, Mary Elizabeth Miles Bibb, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, Sylvia Ferrell-Jones, and Janet Haas. To learn more about these women and the monument, visit lexseeher.com.
Help make women visible in the Birthplace of American Liberty.
The unveiling ceremony for the bronze monument is anticipated in May 2024.
Funding details:
- Please leave your name in the comments if you would like your name listed as a contributor in the Unveiling Ceremony program and in the #SweetheartCampaign at LexSeeHer.com.
- The first $165,000 raised will address increased costs from the foundry + granite.* This is the amount we are striving to raise by April 1, 2023 to keep the project on schedule for a May 2024 unveiling.
- Inflation and COVID have continued to escalate costs and we are determined to complete the monument on time. Remaining on time is a top priority as we see an urgent need to include women and girls in public art.
- Project cost increases for the foundry and granite have put time pressure on fundraising.
- Additional funds raised will further support accessibility, including information and signage about the honorees, audio guides, lighting (subject to town approval), and visitor guides. More than 100,000 visitors come to Lexington's historic district annually, and the monument will be situated in a highly visible location, helping put women on the map. One million visitors are expected for the 250th Anniversary of the Battle of Lexington in 2025 and we want women to be seen!
- Any additional funds raised will be used for educational programming to celebrate the untold stories of these 20+ women.
*Prior fundraising for the monument began in 2020. More than 600 donors contributed directly through our website. As LexSeeHer, Inc. nears completion, and work to keep up with inflation, we need your help!
Photo description: work on the monument has begun in clay.
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