Apr 16, 2011

Alabama Suffrage

Little did we know that Alabama would be making some mini-history when the state replaced the statue of a long-forgotten Congressman with one of Helen Keller in Statuary Hall in The U.S. Capitol.

Congress voted in 2000 to let States change either or both of the statues they have in the collection (two each). Alabama is the only one of eleven States that have replaced statues that has replaced the statue of a man with the statue of a woman (even though she was an avowed socialist).

According to The Washington Post,  there are only a handful of women depicted in the statues on display...and in fact only 8 per cent of the statues on public property in the U.S. are of women.

Maybe American women have been too busy raising the men who would be honored with statues to pose for one?

5 comments:

  1. Funny, that little girl doesn't look like much of a socialist.

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  2. True...but the adult Helen Keller was very much a socialist and lectured widely about her beliefs.
    As they say, "I'm just sayin'"

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  3. Don't tell the Republicans!

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  4. Wonder how long Helen Keller's statue will remain there. If Congress gave the right to replace the statues, she may be relegated to a storage closet and Nick Saban's statue may go up.

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  5. Statue of Sara Winnemucca, Carson City, NV
    http://flic.kr/p/5Ne98d

    This statue of a woman was one I saw while working out West. It also was also featured in Satuary Hall.

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