Suffrage Mural Goes Up at Lower East Side’s P.S. 134

A blank brick wall at the P.S. 134 Henrietta Szold School on the Lower East Side now carries a monument to the women who won the vote. More than 100 adults and students gathered to dedicate the mural, a day before New Yorkers began early voting.

The artwork was designed by lead artist Sam Kirk and painted by her and a team of women muralists. It features 16 suffragists, a number organizers chose from the hundreds who played a role in winning the vote. Page-Lieberman said the portraits include New York suffragists who not only worked here for the cause but helped pass the national amendment.

Michelle Duster, co-director of the National Suffrage Mural Series and the great-granddaughter of suffrage leader Ida B. Wells, said the neighborhood was the right fit. “We wanted to find a place where you would be inspired by them,” Duster said. “We had to come to the Lower East Side of Manhattan.” Page-Lieberman said murals are also slated for Portland, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Kansas City and Austin, Texas.

The painters said the work drew curious passersby while it took shape. “Everyone had a lot of questions about what the mural was,” said Danielle Mastrion. “People were pleasantly surprised that we were a team of all women.” Liv Novotny said the history is closer than people assume. “It was not that long ago,” she said. “We’ve got to constantly celebrate how far we’ve come and how recent this was.” Pelumi Ayeni called it “mind-blowing” to be part of the project, adding, “There was a message to remember what happened and continue to fight.”

The mural also speaks to a gap in the city’s public art. Monumenta says less than 5% of public art depicts women or women-centered historical events, and only one statue in Central Park, out of nearly 170, portrays a woman.

Not everyone portrayed worked directly on the vote itself. Some, like Laura Cornelius Kellogg, a member of the Oneida nation, worked on empowering women in that era. Michelle Schenandoah, an Oneida member and founder of Rematriation who said she is related to Kellogg, said, “Our women always had authority and a voice in our government.”

Council Member Christopher Marte recalled being inspired as a child by a mural of journalist and activist Dorothy Day. “These paintings, this art, can inspire the next generation of leaders and artists,” Marte said. Danyel Fulton, who played Ida B. Wells on the national tour of “Suffs,” said art can start a larger conversation about how many people made the vote happen, noting that audience members registered to vote in the lobby of that show.

Duster spoke directly to the students at the school. “All of you who are students in this school, you give me hope. We need hope today,” she said. Gale Brewer, co-chair of the City Council’s women’s caucus, told them, “I think P.S. 134 has the best mural in New York City. You are so fortunate that you can walk by every single day and think about the history of this country. When you get older, you can vote.”

Passerby Daisy Rameckerps stopped to study the key identifying the women. “I love that it represents strong women throughout our history,” she said. “It’s representative of different women.”