Kate

“I'm writing to submit a concept for your open call for the Women's Suffrage National Monument, on behalf of my daughter Kate. This concept came out of a summer project Kate took on at home, researching women's history and monuments and developing her own design idea. I've attached her sketch and wanted to walk you through the thinking behind it. At the top, the design recreates a top-down view of the 1913 Woman Suffrage Procession, the parade held the day before Woodrow Wilson's inauguration. The rows leave space between them. Room for women of today to step in and walk alongside the women of the past, so that past, present, and future are literally woven together in the same space. At the center of the procession is Inez Milholland, riding a white horse at the front, leading the way just as she did in 1913. Around the perimeter of the monument, walls of water symbolize the ongoing force of change and movement. Also on the inside of the perimeter are Silent Sentinels protesting, like at the gates of the White House. The sense that this fight didn't end with one moment in history, but keeps flowing forward. At the entrance, two large figures of women hold back the water, beckoning visitors to come in and join them.”