Which Historical Figures Have Statues in Central Park?

While there is plenty to see in New York City's Central Park, you won't be looking at any women when you view the 23 statues of historical figures on display in the nation's first major landscaped public park. All of those statues depict men, such as Christopher Columbus, Alexander Hamilton, and Daniel Webster. The only women on display are fictional creations, including Alice in Wonderland, Mother Goose, and Shakespeare's Juliet (paired, of course, with her Romeo). However, change is coming, slowly but surely. In 2015, New York approved the addition of a statue honoring two women who fought long and hard for women's rights: Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The only delay has been with funding, since the statue will cost up to $1 million USD to install and maintain. The Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony Statue Fund Inc. is still collecting donations and plans to announce the statues' designer in July 2018.

A walk through Central Park:

  • Sheep once grazed in Central Park, but they were moved during the Great Depression because the city feared that hungry residents might kill and eat them.
  • According to the 2010 United States Census, 25 people claim Central Park as their permanent home; no one knows who they are.
  • The tiny centipede known as Nannarrup hoffmani, which lives in leaf litter, was first discovered in Central Park in 2002.
More Info: Smithsonian magazine

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