The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-12-09
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC J. HAsKIN, Director.
washington. D. G.
InfMORTALIzING LADIES,

IAIMORTALIZING LADIES.
| Washington, D. c., Dec. S,-The ma
tionaI capitol Is soon to have a new
statue added to its collection of i'm
| mortals. This statue will be unlike
anything else in-the capitol in that II
will consist of three heads cut out of
the top of one block of marble. leav-
ing the lower part of the block for a
pedestal. It is further unusual be-
cause the three heads are of women.
There is now opN one statue in the
and that is the marble figure of
Frances Willard. given by the state of
Illinois to Statuary Hall in 1905.
| The new gift to the capitol is a me-
mortal to Susan b. Anthony, Lucretia
Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
then forlorn cause OF women's rights.
| The idea of immortalizing these wo-
men in marble was really conceived
long ago, when it was planned to dis
| play busts of them at the worlds fair.
| Adelaide johnson, the sculptor, mod
eled busts of Susan Anthony and Eliz-
abeth Stanton from life. but the time
for a memorial seemed not quite ripe
| then, with the feminists' aims I'M
| achieved. Now. when the work to
which the pioneers gave their lives is
completed, a memorial has greater
| significance, and Miss johnson has re-
sumed work on the combination statue
on a larger scale than was first
| planned. =
The national woman's party is rails
| ing $4,000 to pay for the materials.
workmanship and transportation of
| the stone. The material is an eight
ton block of Italian marble chosen by
| the sculptor at Seravezza. A photo
graph sent from her studio at Car
rara. Italy, shows the statue in process
of completion. The three heads stand
out above the huge base Of the slab.
They are arranged in triangle, all
facing one way.
The sculptor has promised that the
work will be finished and sent to
Washington in time for the opening
of the womens party convention, Feb
ruary 15, AS that day is the 1O1st
Anniversary of Susan Anthony's birth
day. the women are anxious to unveil
the statue in it's place in the rotunda
of the capitol, then.
Red Tape.
Much red tape is necessary in capt.
toll affairs, even to make a present
The library committee in the senate is
! in charge of matters of art in the
building, and Senator Brandegee of
Connecticut, chairman of this COM
mittee, has long been known as fieEy
opponent of suffrage for women. Dur
ing the crisis in the Connecticut legis-
that the suffrage amendment was in
evitable. if not by Connecticut, then
by some other state. He therefore
came out with a letter urging Con-
necticut to ratify the amendment, and
since then Senator Brandegee has so
far become reconciled to women in
national affairs, that he agreed to use
his influence to have his committee
report favorably on the matter of
placing the memorial in the rotunda
at the next session of congress With
this support, there is small chance of
congress refusing the gift.
The rotunda where the statue is to
be placed is the great hall below the
dome of the capitol. The hall con-
tains eight large paintings showing i'm
lportant scenes in the history of Amer
lea. Above these runs the celebrated
frieze which was begun by Brumidi
the Italian artist, and which for years
has lacked only few feet of compile
ton. The painting, done in gray,
black, and white, to simulate bas-
relief. seems to be a series of Indians,
settlers, and soldiers following one an
other around the walls, or occasionally
facing the other way to become part of
Ia picture in our early history Bru-
midi had planned the entire frieze, but
he died, and since his time no artist
has been found who could keep to the
spirit and technique of the Brumidi
work. Scaffolding is still suspended
by the frieze where an artist recently
tried out his skill.
The rotunda is unfurnished, except
| for a few chairs for the use of blue
coatde guards, and half-dozen sta
tues near the walls. This collection of
statues now consists of Lafayette, Lin
coin, Grant, Hamilton and Baker in
marble; Jefferson in bronze, and a
plaster cast of Washington from the
Z. T.
| also a bust of Washington in bronze,
and a great head of Lincoln rising out
| of a marble block, by Gutzon Borg
/ lum.
An Unbeknown Great Man.
| Next to the massive Lincoln head,
the statue labeled Baker" attracts
the most attention, because few people
can place him in history. His clothes
are of a cut which suggests the time
after the Revolution, and because he
| is reproduced life-size instead of
| heroic, he looks short and chunky.
| Even down in the office of the super
| intendent of the capitol it required
| some wraeking of brains and consulta-
| ton of encyclopedias TO drag forth
| the facts that Col. E. D. Baker was a
noted warrior in the Mexican war, a
senator from Oregon, and finally
died leading a desperate charge early
| in the Civil war. at Balls Bluff.
| After all, Baker was a man of dis
tinction, but placed by Washington,
Jefferson, and Lincoln the visitor is
usually puzzled as to his importance.
Probably some people will be equally
unfamiliar with the women who are to
be added to the occupants of the ro-
tunda. To the women who have been
| fighting for suffrage they are house
| hold names. Susan B. Anthony, in
particular, has always been a name to
conjure with in feminist circles
+ Susan B. was brought up by a
| Quaker father to the belief that both
men and women should be economi-
cally independent. She began to teach
school at Is years, and from then on,
whether teaching or lecturing and
| campaigning for suffrage, she was a
working woman to her death at sc
years.
The most interesting Incident in her
life is nrnhah lY her atfemnt to Ynte in