NOMAS proud sponsor of Friedan Monument: “Birthplace of the Modern Women’s Movement”
GRAND VIEW, NY, TO DEDICATE BETTY FRIEDAN MONUMENT NOVEMBER 10, 2011.
Picturesque Grand View-on-Hudson in New York State lays claim to the title of “Birthplace of the Modern Women’s Movement” on November 10 at 11 a.m. with dedication of a monument proclaiming the village as the site where Betty Friedan wrote her world-changing book “The Feminine Mystique.”
Set on a seven-foot-tall post in front of the Grand View Village Hall, the monument features a cast bronze bas relief of Friedan’s profile, sculpted by renowned artist Cristina Biaggi of Palisades, New York. The wording is:
GRAND VIEW-ON-HUDSON, BIRTHPLACE OF THE MODERN WOMEN’S MOVEMENT
In Grand View Betty Friedan wrote “The Feminine Mystique.” Its publication in 1963 and the birth of the National Organization for Women (NOW), which Friedan co-founded and headed in 1966, helped reduce gender discrimination for millions of women and girls worldwide.
Creation of the monument involved a two-year effort by five organizations headed by the following committee: Catherine Whitney of the Grand View Village Council; Marianne Leese, president of the Historical Society of Rockland County; Muriel Fox, chair of Veteran Feminists of America; Phyllis B. Frank, president of Rockland County NOW; and Hon. Harriet Cornell, chair of the Rockland County Legislature.
Fox elaborated: “This is the first but not the last monument honoring Betty Friedan’s unique contribution as the most important American woman of the 20th century. It’s fitting that the funding for this monument in these recessionary times was raised entirely from individual donations — not only from NOW members but also from the National Organization for Men Against Sexism, an organization of men and women who value Betty Friedan’s fight against sex discrimination on behalf of all human beings on this planet.”
