ROCHESTER - Amelia Witherstine made history here when she was first elected to the local school board in 1911. She later became president of the board, leading it for almost a decade. And she was the first woman to serve on a jury in Olmsted County.
At a time when women were fighting for the right to vote, Witherstine was an elected official, paving the way for more women to get involved in Rochester’s public sphere.
Witherstine and women like her who have changed Rochester for the better are set to be honored later this year with a statue and pavers at Central Park as local groups led by Mayor Kim Norton pay homage to the women who came before them.
“We’re really excited to not only have found a wonderful first, the first elected woman here, but also someone who still has family here,” Norton said.
It took almost two years of work to get this far. Norton presented the idea of honoring Witherstine during her 2024 State of the City address, and updated residents earlier this month. The idea came from a pitch she heard at a conference about a global initiative called Statues for Equality, which aims to place more statues of women around the world to honor their work.
The initiative is spearheaded by Australian artists Gillie and Marc Schattner, who work primarily in public art. They founded Statues for Equality after finding women were vastly underrepresented in public statues around the world — about 5% of statues globally.
Several groups, from the local League of Women Voters to the Greater Rochester Arts and Cultural Trust, gathered to determine how Rochester would honor its own female pioneers. Residents with Mayo Clinic connections like Mary Alfred Moes, the nun who founded St. Marys Hospital, were considered.
Organizers zeroed in on Witherstine after considering upcoming milestones: The History Center of Olmsted County and the local Rotary Club celebrate centennial anniversaries this year; and the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote was passed in 1920, making this the 105th anniversary of its ratification.