As the rancor of partisanship strangles agreement on a laundry list of issues on Capitol Hill, there are some ideas that have transcended politics and have been greeted with bipartisan buy-in. The quest for a Women’s Suffrage Monument has been one of those emerging efforts.
“People need to see this,” said Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican. “They need to know American women have supported freedom and freedom’s cause.”
Earlier this summer, Blackburn sat down with Spectrum News along with Democratic Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, co-sponsors of an effort to bring a Women’s Suffrage Monument to the National Mall in D.C.
“It has to be properly honored,” Duckworth told Spectrum News. “It must be on the National Mall.”
The effort to build a monument has been years in the making, and has received some heavy-hitting endorsements, including from all five living first ladies. It’s also been supported by members of both political parties.
“We work together to find commonality,” said Duckworth. “And I hope that honors the suffragettes.”
Anna Laymon, the executive director of the Women’s Suffrage National Monument Foundation, said that the idea was born from the realization that fewer than five percent of the monuments in Washington, D.C., tell women’s stories.
“Right now if you visit the National Mall, you will get the impression that women have not done anything for this country,” she said. “You will get the impression that women were not here when the country was founded. But we were here.”
After years of fighting for the monument, the organizers got a big win in December 2020, when Congress passed a law that created the Women’s Suffrage National Monument Foundation. This foundation is tasked with working with the National Park Service and other agencies to plan and fundraise for the monument, a daunting effort since the expected cost is roughly $80 million.
“When you come visit this memorial, it’s going to be unlike any other memorial on the National Mall,” said Laymon. “It’s a memorial to a movement.”
A major outstanding question is about location. The Senate is currently considering a bill, already approved by the House of Representatives, that would authorize the construction of the monument on "Constitutional Gardens," a key section of the National Mall.
This effort passed with widespread support in the House, but has so far been hit by delays in the upper chamber. Despite getting a hearing in a Senate Committee in June 2023, it’s still awaiting a committee vote.
The National Park Service previously pushed back against the location in an effort to protect this designated section of the mall. NPS cited a decades-old law that prohibits the construction of new memorials on the main stretch of the National Mall, which is why this legislation is necessary.
“We strongly support locating the monument in a place of honor and prominence, but not in the Reserve,” Mike Caldwell, Associate Director of Park Planning for the NPS, said while testifying last June. “The Department has worked to protect the reserve by discouraging the establishment of any new commemorative works within in.”
But last fall, the Monument organizers scored a big win, after the National Capital Memorial Advisory Committee recommended approving the memorial within “the reserve.”
In a letter to the Senate Committee, the Advisory Group’s Chair Tammy Stidham wrote that “without a doubt” the Monument is “deserving of a place within the reserve.”
Foundation leaders are hopeful that this recommendation will bolster the chances that this monument gets the green light for this coveted spot on the Mall.
Spectrum News reached out to Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., the Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, and Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on National Parks. Neither offered a comment on the delayed vote.
In March, Sen. Blackburn joined three other Republican senators in penning an opinion piece in the Washington Post, calling for the quick passage of this bill. All four of them are female senators who made history with their respective elections.
“As the first women to represent our states in the Senate,” the Op-Ed reads. “We know that women’s fight for the vote is the story of a great American movement for change. It is a story — written by women, led by women — about democracy at work and the power and courage of the American spirit.”
The National Mall is visited by roughly 36 million tourists every year. The location being suggested for this monument is 60 acres, centrally located, near the Washington Monument. Laymon is hopeful that in a matter of years this dream will become a reality.
“I want this problem to be fixed,” she said. “And I want it to be fixed quickly.”
Blackburn and Duckworth told Spectrum News that they continue to push for this legislation to get a vote this term.
“Within a decade, you’ll see something,” said Blackburn. “It’s picked up steam.”
The monument is being paid for through private donations, as is the case with all National Monuments and Memorials. And with an expected price tag of $80 million, the foundation is encouraging people to donate.
Earlier this week, the foundation announced a donation of $350,000 from the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). This followed a $1 Million donation from the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority in July.
If you want to donate, you can visit https://www.womensmonument.org/.
NOTE: This story has been updated.