![Of the 5,193 public outdoor sculptures of individuals in the United States, only 394, or less than 8 percent, are of women….And none of the 44 national memorials managed by the National Park Service (such as the Lincoln Memorial) specifically focuses on women and their accomplishments….
The Vietnam Women’s Memorial in Washington [was] dedicated in 1993 after a nine-year effort to bring it to fruition. But it didn’t happen easily, according to its founder.
“It was incredible how hard we had to work not only to get a sculpture, but one that looked like women,” says Diane Evans, who had been an Army first lieutenant and head nurse in Vietnam and spearheaded the initiative. “We were told by J. Carter Brown, the head of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., that a woman’s statue would upset the delicate balance of tension at the Vietnam Memorial.” (via Washington Post)
(Photo: Jeff Kubina via Flickr)](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljt3emYiSc1qf96tto1_r1_500.jpg)
Of the 5,193 public outdoor sculptures of individuals in the United States, only 394, or less than 8 percent, are of women….And none of the 44 national memorials managed by the National Park Service (such as the Lincoln Memorial) specifically focuses on women and their accomplishments….
The Vietnam Women’s Memorial in Washington [was] dedicated in 1993 after a nine-year effort to bring it to fruition. But it didn’t happen easily, according to its founder.
“It was incredible how hard we had to work not only to get a sculpture, but one that looked like women,” says Diane Evans, who had been an Army first lieutenant and head nurse in Vietnam and spearheaded the initiative. “We were told by J. Carter Brown, the head of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., that a woman’s statue would upset the delicate balance of tension at the Vietnam Memorial.” (via Washington Post)
(Photo: Jeff Kubina via Flickr)
