MANSI SHAH

What’s in a monument? Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word as “a lasting evidence, reminder, or example of someone or something notable or great”. Brooklyn’s Prospect Park contains more than 40 monuments and statues that have been added to the park since its opening in 1867.  Some monuments have different interpretations in the present-day than when they were first erected, while other notable events and people within the Brooklyn community do not yet have any representation at all. In this way, Prospect Park itself is a monument to Brooklyn, a reflection of the local community’s spirit, strength, and values- changing through time.
 

As of October 2021, the timeline for Prospect Park’s newest proposed statue of Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman to become a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, is still unclear.