JOHNSTOWN — The Elizabeth Cady Stanton Women’s Consortium has announced that an anonymous donor has offered to give up to $10,000 to match donations for the life-size statue of suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton that has been commissioned by the consortium, according to a news release,
The bronze statue, by the sculptor Matt Glenn which will be unveiled in 2020, will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the achievement, in 1920, of Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s lifelong goal — the right of women to vote.
The statue will be erected in the Sir William Johnson Park on West Main Street. The park is located between the site of Elizabeth’s childhood home on the northeast corner of Market and Main streets and the Fulton County Court House where she spent much of her time as a child and a young woman. The statue’s design will be interactive, with Elizabeth sitting on a park bench so that people can sit with her, relate to her, and be photographed with her. Envisioned by the group is a younger version of Elizabeth, one that shows her in her prime, living in upstate New York and connecting to her roots in Johnstown.
The estimated cost of the statue is $75,000. To date more than $50,000 has been raised.
The following levels of contribution have been suggested:
Contributor: $20.20 or more to honor Nora Stanton Blatch Barney, 1883 -1971, the granddaughter of Stanton, a Cornell graduate in engineering, and one of the first American women civil engineers, an architect, and suffragist whose professional and political activities built on the family’s tradition of women leaders.
Supporter: $120.20 or more to honor Molly Brant (Konwatsi’tsiaienni), 1736 -1796, a Mohawk Indian and one of the most powerful women in the New World in the 18th century. She played a major role in helping her British husband, Sir William Johnson, maintain good relations with Native Americans in the Mohawk Valley region.
Sponsor: $520.20 or more to honor Margaret Livingston Cady, 1784 -1871, daughter of Gen. James Livingston, mother of Elizabeth, and wife of Judge Daniel Cady. At nearly 6 feet tall, she was “an imposing, dominant and vivacious figure who controlled the Cady household with a firm hand,” demonstrating effective female presence.
Donor: $1,020.20 or more to honor Harriot Eaton Stanton Blatch, 1856-1940, an American writer and suffragist, Blatch worked with her mother Elizabeth, Matilda Joslyn Gage and Susan B. Anthony on “The History of Woman Suffrage.” She contributed a major chapter to the second volume in which she included the history of the American Woman Suffrage Association, a rival of Stanton’s and Anthony’s National Women Suffrage Association This action helped to reconcile the two organizations.
Patron: $2,520.20 or more to honor Rose Markward Knox, 1857-1950, an American businesswoman who single-handedly ran the Knox Gelatin Factory in Johnstown after her husband died. She won wide respect and admiration as one of the leading, fairest and only businesswomen of her time.
Benefactor: $5,020.20 or more in honor of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, 1815-1902, an American suffragist, social activist, abolitionist and leading figure of the early women’s rights movement. Stanton was a complicated personality who lived a long life, saw many changes, and created some of them. Her writings were prolific. She often contradicted herself as she and the world around her progressed and regressed for the better part of a century
Elizabeth Cady Stanton benefactor gifts will receive a replica of the statue upon request.
To be part of this project to recognize Stanton, checks may be made payable to ECSWC and mailed to P.O. Box 251, Johnstown, NY 12095. For get more information, call Sandy Maceyka (518) 736-5130.
The Elizabeth Cady Stanton Her Story Statue will celebrate Johnstown and 100 years of women’s suffrage. Placement of the Statue of Stanton in Johnstown will help to put Fulton County on the National Map and on the New York State History Trail.
