Monument to Women's Right To Vote - Coloradoan opinion: Every Word We Utter

Loveland Colorado, artist pursues a monument celebrating women's voting rights — Colorado effort would plant it in Washington D.C.

An opinion published in the Fort Collins Coloradoan newspaper by Kevin Duggan

Of course!

As women’s influence in American politics grows, Jane DeDecker wants people to remember the long struggle it took to get here.

DeDecker, an accomplished Loveland sculptor, hopes to erect a monument in Washington, D.C., that would commemorate the decades of work that went into ratifying the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and women receiving the right to vote.

DeDecker’s vision is “Every Word We Utter,” a graceful bronze monument that would stand about 20 feet tall and 28 feet wide at its base.

It would feature six larger-than-life figures of women who were instrumental in the women’s rights movement: Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Stanton Blatch, Ida B. Wells and Alice Paul.

The monument’s general shape would look like a drop of water, with an American flag at its peak and ripples fanning out from its base to symbolize the effect of women receiving the vote. 

Meaningfully, the rings would carry the names of prominent female leaders and public officials over the years.

Inspiration for the name of the monument came from a line in a letter from Stanton to Lucretia Mott, about the power of the women’s movement: “Every word we utter, every act we perform, waft unto innumerable circles beyond,” according to the monument’s website.

The 19th Amendment was ratified in August 1920, after 70 years of hard work and social progress. 

Indeed, the significance of the amendment is profound, DeDecker said.

“I feel half the population of this country was given the right to be full citizens and to vote,” she said.

DeDecker developed her idea for the sculpture while participating in a call for concepts for a monument to celebrate women’s suffrage that is to be placed in Central Park in New York City. She was a finalist but did not receive the commission.

The Central Park monument is expected to focus on Anthony and Stanton, she said.

“I wanted to be more inclusive,” she said. “I thought it was important to include Sojourner Truth and Ida Wells.”

DeDecker didn’t want to let go of her vision. Working with her friend Jody Shadduck-McNally, who became the project director, she launched an effort to place “Every Word We Utter” in Washington, D.C.

DeDecker learned placing the monument would literally take an act of Congress. The monument would be located near an entrance to the Supreme Court building and the historic headquarters of the National Woman's Party.

In January, Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., introduced a resolution that if approved would permit the monument. Colorado’s delegation in the House of Representatives, Democrats and Republicans alike, signed on as cosponsors. The resolution is making its way through the House committee process.

The resolution states no federal funding may go toward the project. The organization backing “Every Word We Utter” would be responsible for raising the estimated $1 million needed to build and maintain the project.

But first things first, DeDecker said. Authorization for the monument must get through Congress and substantial seed money secured. Donations are already being accepted online at everywordweutter.com and DeDecker’s studio: 1503 W. Eighth St., Loveland, CO 80537.

A project goal is to mark the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment in 2020.

“I think it’s going to take some time,” DeDecker said. “I hope it doesn’t take 70 years.”

Kevin Duggan is a senior columnist and reporter. Support his work and that of other Coloradoan journalists by subscribing: See Coloradoan.com/subscribe to learn how.

Learn more

To view models of the “Every Word We Utter Monument” and learn more about the project that would celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, attend an open house at artist Jane DeDecker’s studio from 1-3 p.m. Saturday at 1503 W. Eighth St. in Loveland, Colorado. Presentations are scheduled at 1:15 and 2:15 p.m.