image description
Susan B. Anthony, created by sculptor Brian Hanlon, awaits her pedestal on the Town Common last fall. The statue will be unveiled this week.

Polito Attending Unveiling of Susan B. Anthony Statue

Print Story | Email Story
ADAMS, Mass. — Susan B. Anthony has been hiding under a plastic wrap for nearly a year.
 
She's finally about to make her debut.
 
The bronze statue commemorating the voting rights activist is set to be unveiled on Thursday morning at the Town Common with special speaker Lt Gov. Karyn Polito.
 
Also attending will be Brian Hanlon, the artist who sculpted the figures of Anthony as an adult and a child.
 
The statue was supposed to be installed in the renovated park last year as part of a double celebration of Anthony's 200th birthday and the centennial of the 19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote. 
 
The celebration planned by the Adams Suffrage Centennial Celebration Committee was going to culminate in August with a weekend's worth of activities but the emergence of the novel coronavirus force the cancelation of numerous events.
 
The statue itself was installed last September but wrapped up for protection until the park could be completed. 
 
The common at the south end of Park Street has new pathways, a new gazebo in the eastern corner and a small plaza featuring the Susan B. Anthony memorial. 
 
The monument is made up of three pieces — a stepped granite base, the adult Anthony orating (she crisscrossed the nation during her adulthood giving 75 to 100 speeches a year on the subject of suffrage), and Anthony as a child sitting on the lower steps of the base.
 
The civil rights icon was born on East Road and lived there until her family moved when she was 6. She died in 1906, 14 years before the final passage of what is often called the Susan B. Anthony Amendment. She frequently returned to Adams to visit relatives whose descendants still live in the area. Her birthplace is now a museum.
 
The ceremony starts at 9:30 on Thursday, June 24; attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs for the speaking portion of the event.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Adams Sees No Races So Far

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
ADAMS, Mass. — With less than a week left before nomination papers are due, there are currently no contested seats.
 
Only selectman incumbent John Duval has returned papers. Selectman Howard Rosenberg has decided not to seek re-election. 
 
Rosenberg, who was elected in 2021, said he has chosen not to run again to make room for younger candidates.
 
"I feel strongly, we need younger people running for public office,  as the future of our town lies within the younger  generation. The world is so fundamentally different today and rapidly changing to become even more so. I believe we need people who are less interested in trying to bring back the past, then in paving the way for a promising future. The younger generation can know that they can stay here and have a voice without having to leave for opportunities elsewhere," he said.
 
The only person to return papers so far is former member the board Donald Sommer. Sommer served as a selectman from 2007 to 2010 and before that was a member of the School Committee and the Redevelopment Authority. He ran unsuccessfully for selectman in 2019 and again in 2021 but dropped out of before the election.
 
Incumbent Moderator Myra Wilk and Town Clerk Haley Meczywor have returned papers for their respective positions.
 
Assessor Paula Wheeler has returned papers and incumbents James Loughman and Eugene Michalenko have returned papers for library trustees.
 
View Full Story

More Adams Stories