Help us close the gender gap in public statuary in San Diego, where less than 10% of statues are of real women.
Our Mission
To create a lifelike statue of and honoring Ellen Browning Scripps, a visionary journalist, business leader and social activist at the core of our San Diego community.
Chosen by a juried competition, the statue will:
1. Be placed in a prominent and accessible location in La Jolla where she lived.
2. Provide a focal point for educating young people especially about the history and achievements of women and present a role model for future generations of philanthropists and activists.
3. Serve as a catalyst for efforts to create statues of other deserving San Diego women, putting us at the forefront of the growing national movement.
Why honor Ellen Browning Scripps?
Ellen Browning Scripps was a journalist, businesswoman, social activist and philanthropist who wrote for, helped build and invested in her family’s newspapers.
Born October 18, 1836, she made her home in La Jolla in 1890 and lived there until her death in 1932. She initiated and/or funded more than 20 organizations, educational and medical institutions, and edifices, including Balboa Park Tower, the San Diego Zoo, and Scripps Hospital.
She was passionate about free speech, women's rights and educational opportunities, and environmental protections. From Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve to the San Diego Natural History Museum and Children’s Pool, she helped form the pillars of our community.
representation is needed
Did you know that even New York City's Central Park didn't have a statue honoring women until 2020?
Our founders, Myriam Miedzian and Gary Ferdman, started Monumental Women, the organization that created Central Park's first-ever statue honoring real women in its 167-year history.
On the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th "Votes for Women" amendment, their Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument depicting Sojourner Truth, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony was unveiled.
featured PRESS
We’ve got people talking
San Diego Union Tribune
Opinion: Historic San Diego women should be memorialized - The San Diego Union-Tribune
La Jolla Light
Plans are underway for statue of Ellen Browning Scripps in La Jolla
New York's Women's Rights Pioneers Monument has roots in La Jolla
La Jolla
Ellen Browning Scripps: Here’s How La Jolla May Soon Honor Local Legend
“The most important and beautiful gift one human being can give to another is, in some way, to make life a little better to live.”
— Ellen Browning Scripps, 1924
Image credit: San Diego History Center