Memorializing Women – An Interview with FDR Four Freedoms Park

This past International Women’s Day, I spoke to FDR Four Freedoms Park about the importance of representing women in NYC’s historic landscape. While women have had a great impact on the city and its history, there are very few memorials and statues dedicated to them. In fact, there are only five statues in the city that honor women —Joan of Arc, Golda Meir, Gertrude Stein, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Harriet Tubman. There are also a few other memorialization sites aside from statues such as a plaque honoring Emma Lazarus and a birdbath dedicated to Edith Deacon Martin.

While there’s still a lot of room for growth in terms of memorializing women, New York City is taking steps to improve women’s representation through organizations like Statue for Equality or She Built NYC. Statue for Equality will be installing ten bronze statues to commemorate women including icons like Oprah, Pink, and Tracy Dyson. She Built NYC is commissioning statues of two women, Rep. Shirley Chisholm and Billie Holiday. Additionally, Brooklyn will be getting a 407-acre state park that honors Shirley Chisholm, which will be a great new addition to the New York State Park community. While we won’t be changing anything to Louis Kahn’s design to FDR Four Freedoms Park, Four Freedoms Park Conservancy, which oversees the park has been looking into new ways to honor women, in particular in the digital space.  

As March, Women’s History Month, comes to a close, it’s a good time to reflect on what strides can still be made to make women equal in our society. In the interview with FDR Four Freedoms Park I discussed reasons why women weren’t previously represented, how FFPC may be using augmented reality and digital to make the park more inclusive, and which women I would want to honor with a statue. 

Read the full interview here.