Brenda Councill spent seven months sculpting the Ohio Women's Monument. Just moments after its unveiling, women were already gathering to take photographs.
"I'm so pleased that everyone has come out to pay tribute to the women that came before us," Councill said.
Unveiled Oct. 14 on the Ohio Statehouse's South Plaza, the monument honors women's contributions to Ohio, from the fight for voting rights to the achievements of later generations. Bronze figures and four granite columns commemorate their work, with one column left without a figure to represent future accomplishments.
Well over 100 people attended a morning program at the Ohio Theatre before crossing to the Statehouse, where Gov. Mike DeWine joined community members for a ribbon-cutting.
The two-hour celebration began at 9:30 a.m. and included speeches, a poem and a time-lapse video of the monument's creation.
For Charles Moses, chair of the Capitol Square Foundation, the tribute connects generations of his own family.
At the March groundbreaking, he thought about his mother, born seven years before the ratification of the 19th Amendment. On Oct. 14, his thoughts turned to his granddaughter, born last year.
"It is a monument for all women," Moses said.
Visitors reflect on women's influence
Marlena Boyce, chief human resources officer at Sherwin-Williams, reflected on honoree Belle Sherwin and mentors who encouraged Boyce to pursue opportunities before she felt ready.
"Say someone's name in a room that they're not in," she urged listeners.
Ohio University President Lori Stewart Gonzalez, the university's first woman president, recalled growing up in Appalachia and the women who helped her see possibilities for herself.
"Every first stands on the shoulders of those who came before," Gonzalez said.
Donna Collins, the monument's project director and Ohio Arts Council executive director, urged the audience to keep encouraging others. Poet Holly Brians Ragusa highlighted women’s labor and their struggle for recognition.
For Sandra Brogdon, who publishes Role Model Magazine for girls, the monument reflected the message behind her work.
Brogdon, who grew up in Kenya, said meeting Councill and seeing her work was especially inspiring.
"If she can see it, she can be it," Brogdon said.
Attendee Amanda Weitz welcomed a permanent place to reflect on women's contributions to Ohio.
Weitz said the sculpture, inscriptions and names felt deliberate and meaningful.
"There's just so much meaning behind it," she said.
How the Ohio Women's Monument began
The project began with a question former state Sen. Stephanie Kunze asked in 2019: What was Ohio doing to commemorate the approaching 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment?
Kunze and then-Sen. Sandra Williams worked on bipartisan legislation creating the Ohio Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission. The pandemic disrupted plans to celebrate in 2020, but the effort grew into a proposal for a permanent monument.
Ohio is the second state, after Virginia, to install a monument honoring women’s contributions on its state capitol grounds, Moses said.
Looking around the Statehouse and its grounds, Kunze said, organizers saw tributes to men and asked where Ohio's women were represented.
"We began with a centennial celebration," she said. "We started imagining instead a permanent reminder."
The Oct. 14 unveiling came nearly seven months after the March 25 groundbreaking, following years of approvals, fundraising and collaboration. Support included a $1 million anonymous gift honoring former Ohio House Speaker Jo Ann Davidson.
Secretary of State Frank LaRose, whose office housed the commission, said the monument gives girls a visible reminder that their voices and leadership matter.
"This is more than just a tribute to the women's suffrage movement, this is a reminder that representation matters, being at the table matters," LaRose said.
Remembering Jo Ann Davidson
Davidson, the first woman to serve as speaker of the Ohio House, is one of the honorees remembered via the monument.
Moses, who served alongside her on the Capitol Square Foundation board, remembered someone he could turn to for guidance.
"She was always well-prepared," he said.
Moses worked for former Democratic Gov. Richard Celeste, but said party affiliation did not stand in the way of his relationship with Davidson, a Republican.
"Many times I went to her for advice and counsel," he said.
Former Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery recalled Davidson entering a Democratic caucus meeting to assure members that a proposal they opposed would not reach the floor. Political opponents could disagree with her, Montgomery said, while trusting her leadership.
"They knew she was fair," Montgomery said.
Who is honored at the monument?
The monument includes about 100 women's names, according to Moses. He said the selection process involved Councill's research, input from the Ohio History Connection and the suffrage commission, and a final decision by the Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board.
Honorees had to have been born in Ohio or spent significant time in the state, be deceased, and have contributions dating back more than 25 years, Moses said. Space remains for additional names.
Councill sculpted the monument at the Alan Cottrill Sculpture Museum and Studio in Zanesville. Its stonework was created in Lebanon.
She described life-size figures inspired by historical sources and a setting intended for school groups, families and other visitors to gather.
"This monument is a collective achievement," Councill said, crediting craftspeople, donors and public officials.
DeWine described the work as "a place of memory." He reflected on the women who shaped his family, including mothers, grandmothers, daughters and granddaughters, and named Councill an honorary Ohioan.
"It's a great day for women," Councill said.
Trending reporter Amani Bayo can be reached at abayo@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 'It’s a great day for women.' Ohio Women’s Monument unveiled
