Virginia Women's Monument

Virginia Women's Monument
	37°32′22″N 77°26′4″W
Location	1000 Bank St, Richmond, VA 23219
Material	Granite, bronze, glass
Opening date	October 14, 2019
Dedicated to	Contributions of women throughout Virginia history
	Official website

The Virginia Women's Monument is a state memorial in Richmond, Virginia commemorating the contributions of Virginia women to the history of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the United States of America.^[1] Located on the grounds of the Virginia State Capitol, the monument is officially titled Voices from the Garden: The Virginia Women's Monument and features life-sized bronze statues of eleven Virginia women placed in a small granite plaza.^[2]

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The monument was first proposed in 2009^[3] and established by joint resolution of the Virginia General Assembly in 2010.^[1] An 18-member commission, along with input from the Library of Virginia and professors of women's history, selected the women to be honored with statues sculpted by StudioEIS in Brooklyn, New York. The granite plaza and Wall of Honor were opened in October 2018 and the monument was officially unveiled with the first seven completed statues on October 14, 2019.^[4]

The seven women were Cockacoeske, chieftain of the Pamunkey tribe; Anne Burras Laydon, Jamestown colonist; Mary Draper Ingles, frontierswoman and American pioneer; Elizabeth Keckley, seamstress and confidant of Mary Todd Lincoln; Laura Copenhaver, entrepreneur; Virginia Randolph, prominent educator; Adele Goodman Clark, suffragist and activist.^[4]

In May 2022 additional statues of Sarah Garland Boyd Jones, physician; Maggie L. Walker, businesswoman and teacher; Clementina Rind, the first female newspaper printer and publisher in Virginia; and Martha Washington, inaugural first lady of the United States, were installed.^[5]^[6]

Proposal

The idea for the monument came in 2009 from Richmond native Em Bowles Locker Alsop — a writer and former actress who had been considered for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in the 1939 film Gone with the Wind.^[3]^[7] Alsop lobbied her state senator, Walter Stosch, who subsequently introduced Senate Joint Resolution No. 11 in the 2010 session of the Virginia General Assembly.^[8] The joint resolution, which created the Virginia Women's Monument Commission, was passed unanimously in both the Virginia House of Delegates and Senate of Virginia.^[9] In 2015, Alsop died at the age of 98, three years before the monument was first opened to the public.^[7]

From the text of Senate Joint Resolution No. 11:

WHEREAS, throughout the ages women have been central to the perpetuation of society, and women of every nationality and race have left an indelible mark through their countless contributions, achievements, and accomplishments that have benefitted mankind; and

WHEREAS, from the founding of the Commonwealth, the genius and creativity of women and their presence and contributions have been evident in every aspect of Virginia history and the life of the people of the Commonwealth; however, they have received little appreciation, recognition, or official acknowledgement...
RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That a commemorative commission to honor the contributions of the women of Virginia with a monument on the grounds of Capitol Square be established.^[1]

The joint resolution established that the Virginia Women's Monument Commission would be composed of 19 members—the Governor, the Chair of the Senate Committee on Rules, the Speaker of the House of Delegates, representatives from the Senate and House, the Clerk of the House, and eight members of the general public. The resolution also established that the monument would be built with private funds.^[9]

The monument was planned to have a total of 12 statues, chosen from every region of the state and representing the diverse achievements of women throughout the first 400 years of Virginia's history. Standing in the center of the plaza is a granite pedestal topped by a bronze sundial engraved with the names of several Virginia localities.^[2] Two benches line the sides of the oval plaza, along with a series of tempered glass panels, called the Wall of Honor, inscribed with the names of more than 200 additional important women of Virginia history.^[10]

By the time the statues of Sarah Garland Boyd Jones and Maggie L. Walker were installed in 2022, the press referred to a total of 11 figures. Included in the original plan but missing from the final design was Sally Louisa Tompkins a Richmond hospital administrator and a captain in the Confederate army.^[11]^[5]

Early plan for the Virginia Women's Monument.
Model for completed monument
Model for completed monument

Current monument

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Honoree	Lived	Region	Description
Anne Burras Laydon	before c. 1594 – after 1625	Jamestown	Colonist
Cockacoeske	fl. 1656–1686	Middle Peninsula	Pamunkey chief
Mary Draper Ingles	1732–1815	New River Valley	Frontierswoman
Martha Washington	1731—1802	Chestnut Grove	Inaugural first lady of the United States
Clementina Rind	1740–1774	Williamsburg	Newspaper printer and publisher
Elizabeth Keckley	1818–1907	Dinwiddie County	Seamstress and author
Maggie L. Walker	1864–1934	Richmond	Businesswoman and teacher
Sarah Garland Boyd Jones	1866–1905	Richmond	Physician
Laura E. Copenhaver	1868–1940	Smyth County	Entrepreneur and Lutheran lay leader
Virginia E. Randolph	1870–1958	Henrico County	Educator
Adèle Clark	1882–1983	Richmond	Suffragist and artist