The story of Lexington’s first and only public statue of a woman -- in 1884 -- until now

When Breaking the Bronze Ceiling committee members cut the ribbon on a statue honoring Lexington suffragists in August 2020, it will be a fitting way to mark the Nineteenth Amendment’s one hundredth anniversary and a long-overdue recognition of women’s contributions.

As Time reported in 2017, only nine percent of the nation’s works of public art feature women. In Lexington currently, one can find statues of men and even of a camel, but none of women, which has prompted planners to fix this oversight and thus “break the bronze ceiling.”

The new statue won’t, however, be the first time a monument honoring women has stood downtown. While the bronze ceiling remains for now unbroken (technically the new monument will be made of aluminum), women broke the marble ceiling in 1884 when they organized to purchase and install “Woman Triumphant” in the city courthouse.

It was a bold effort and unexpected. State College (now the University of Kentucky) had only opened its doors to women four years earlier. Men and women occupied different spheres in society, and women’s place ideally was in the home. Men went out to work, confronting the rough and tumble world of American commerce, while women were expected to provide a welcoming sanctuary at day’s end. The ideal (white) woman was pure, pious, self-sacrificing, and submissive. Once she married, she could not legally own property, nor could she vote, write a will, or testify in court. Man and woman became one under the law, and only his identity remained, leaving women politically invisible.

But some women were not content to live and die only to be remembered on their tombstones as the “the loving wife of ___________.” Statues honoring men popped up in parks across the state after the Civil War, and women chafed at their lack of recognition. Lexington women decided they needed a monument of their own.

Their goal: to install Kentucky artist Joel T. Hart’s marble sculpture “Woman Triumphant” in the city’s new courthouse. The work featured a naked female Venus towering over a chubby childlike cupid whose bow was fixed on her. His arrows lay scattered at her feet. He had tried and failed to inflict her with desire. In a move both defensive and condescending, she held his final arrow above her head and out of his reach. The statue proclaimed women’s beauty and her virtue while also taking a swipe at misbehaving men and the prevailing sexual double standard.

Issa Desha Breckinridge, the wife of a U. S. congressman whose sexual indiscretions would one day come to light, and her sister, Mary Desha, were the instigators, forming an organization two hundred strong who called themselves “Women of the Bluegrass.” The organization’s executive board read like a who’s who of Lexington society sprinkled with the names Clay, Bullock, Todd, and Milward.

The women’s investigation revealed that Tiffany & Co. owned the statue but would sell it for the right price. Kentucky women vowed to bring it home.

The women sought funding from the state legislature, but it denied their request (though it helped pay for other statues, including one honoring John C. Breckinridge that would be installed at the courthouse the same day). The women began fundraising, unpracticed as they were at “efforts of a public kind.” A carnival they hosted at Woodland Park brought in $1000. They published a commemorative booklet and sold advertisements. A gift from the Fayette County Court helped them reach their goal of raising $5,000 ($145,000 today).

The city dedicated the statue on July 4, 1885, and it caused quite a stir. Prudish Kentuckians questioned its decency. Some viewers found its nakedness titillating (this was the Victorian era, after all) and came from all around to see it. The novelty wore off quickly, however, and soon reports circulated that dust and tobacco spit covered the artwork.

Sponsors mistakenly predicted that Hart’s statue would be immortal. But on May 14, 1897, the Lexington courthouse burned, destroying the artwork. Two chivalrous firefighters risked their lives to save it, knowing how much it meant to the women, but they had to abandon their rescue mission. Minutes later, a huge bell hanging from the rotunda fell and crushed it. Only bits and pieces remained for relic hunters to carry off.

Lexington women pledged to recreate the statue, but never did. By the turn of the century, women were more publicly visible, and they were more interested in channeling their energy into church and community reform projects than in recreating a portrait of ideal womanhood that no longer reflected a changing reality.

In 2020, Lexington will honor its women again. It will not be a first, but as Mayor Gorton has noted, it is long overdue. Barbara Grygutis’s work, “STAND,” will feature silhouettes of five suffragists, twenty-seven feet high, well-lit, and positioned on the busy corner of Mill and Vine streets. Its central location promises that it will be a powerful and enduring tribute.

Breaking the Bronze Ceiling, led by Councilmembers Jennifer Mossotti and Kathy Plomin, like Women of the Bluegrass more than a century ago, is working to make women visible and has raised $420,000. But unlike their predecessors who promoted a romanticized image of white, privileged women, this new effort reminds us that women cannot be collapsed into a single category. The Nineteenth Amendment, though a milestone worth recognizing, did not truly enfranchise all women. Many men and women of color were blocked from exercising their rights until Congress passed the Voting Rights Act in 1965, a point which text inscribed on the base of the new statue will emphasize.

Breaking the Bronze Ceiling and the commemorations of 2020 remind us that the best way to honor the past accomplishments of women is by persistently fighting injustice.

We must “STAND.”

Funds are still needed to reach the campaign goal, and your support will assure that Lexington once again celebrates women and their historical impact.

If you would like to support the Breaking the Bronze Ceiling initiative, you can find out more at https://breakingthebronzeceiling.com.

Melanie Goan teaches history at the University of Kentucky. Her new book, A Simple Justice: Kentucky Women Fight for the Vote (University Press of Kentucky), will be available in November.