[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 125 (Tuesday, August 4, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1208-E1209]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   IN RECOGNITION OF THE 95TH ANNIVERSARY OF WOMEN'S EQUALITY DAY ON 
                            AUGUST 26, 2015

                                 ______
                                 

                     HON. LOUISE McINTOSH SLAUGHTER

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, August 4, 2015

  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in recognition of 
the 95th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment of the U.S. 
Constitution, granting voting rights for women. Mr. Speaker, I ask my 
colleagues to join me in marking August 26, known as Women's Equality 
Day, a significant landmark in American history as we acknowledge, 
honor and celebrate the vast and vital contributions that women have 
made to our country.
  Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott and other dedicated supporters 
for women's equality convened the First Women's Rights Convention in 
July 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York. They advocated for the right to 
own property, protection from domestic violence, and other social 
reforms that promoted equality, including voting, and never wavered in 
that pursuit. Stanton wrote a Declaration of Sentiments that called for 
``all men and women'' to be recognized as created equal under the law, 
thus beginning the 72-year struggle for suffrage that ended in 1920.
  2015 is the Bicentennial year for Elizabeth Cady Stanton who was born 
November 12, 1815 in Johnstown, New York. Celebrations of her 
extraordinary life are taking place throughout the year. Stanton met 
Susan B. Anthony in 1851 and they began a 50-year partnership 
advocating for suffrage and women's equality; however both women did 
not live to see the passage of the 19th Amendment. As the mother of 
seven children, Mrs. Stanton can be proud of the legacy she left to her 
descendants, one of whom is today spearheading a

[[Page E1209]]

committee tasked with placing a new statue of these two amazing leaders 
in New York. They gave a voice to millions of women and changed history 
forever following Anthony's vow that ``failure is impossible.''
  A unique crossroad of history resides at 77th and Central Park West 
in New York City with statues of two U.S. Presidents, Theodore 
Roosevelt astride a horse outside the American Museum of Natural 
History and Abraham Lincoln who stands on the steps of the New-York 
Historical Society. Near Lincoln is a statue of abolitionist Frederick 
Douglass symbolically carrying books at a building that safeguards 
history. I am pleased to announce that permission was granted in May 
2015 for a suffragist statue to be installed at the West 77th Street 
entrance to Central Park. It will be the very first statue of a woman 
in this park's 160-year history.
  New York City Park Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver awarded this site 
for a statue of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, pioneering 
leaders of the women's suffrage movement. Included in the sculpture 
design are the names of many remarkable women instrumental in the fight 
toward winning the vote. Its installation in September 2017 will 
coincide with New York State's Centennial of women's voting rights. The 
New-York Historical Society announced that in the transformation of its 
fourth floor there would be a new Center for the Study of Women's 
History that will present special exhibitions, as well as public and 
scholarly programs.
  Over 50 million visitors each year are welcomed to New York City, 
with over half reporting they spend time in Central Park. Placing the 
Stanton and Anthony statue at this highly visible locale that resonates 
social justice will undoubtedly draw local residents and visitors of 
all nations to history lessons that include the story of the equal 
rights and suffrage movements in America.
  I ask, Mr. Speaker, that we give tribute on August 26, 2015, the 95th 
anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, to the early 
suffragists who were steadfast in their pursuit of equality for all 
citizens, which is a sacred trust that we must continue to support 
today.

                          ____________________