‘Million-Dollar Staircase’ in NY’s Capitol Adding Face of Ruth Bader Ginsburg

By: Hellen Zaboulani

The New York State Capitol building in Albany, and its famed “Million-dollar Staircase”, is adding another face carving.

As reported by the NY Times, the 125-year-old ornate staircase is adding the face of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  Ginsburg served as a Supreme Court justice from 1993 until her death in 2020, at age 87.  The Brooklyn native was a Harvard, and Columbia Law school graduate who fought for gender equality, becoming the second female law professor at Rutgers—and demanding equal pay. It is only fitting, that the trailblazing Supreme Court justice and feminist be the one to break into the male dominated fixtures on display at the capitol.

The iconic 444 steps, spanning four floors of the NYS Capitol already have dozens of intricate face carvings of well-known dignitaries.   In 1898, when the staircases were completed, some 77 iconic faces were put on display, including: Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Hudson, poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, former governor John Jay, and African American abolitionist Frederick Douglass.  At the time, a state official had added several women’s faces on the lower level, after noticing that all the faces were of men.  Those female carvings included babies, goddesses, the architect’s granddaughter, suffragist Susan B. Anthony and novelist Harriet Beecher Stowe.  The staircase had cost over a million dollars, a tremendous fortune at the time, leading to the staircase’s nickname.

This new carving, added after more than a century, will be made from the same Corsehill sandstone which the original stairs were constructed of. The new stone will be flown in from Scotland, and the sculpture is slated to be ready by the end of March, just in time for Women’s History Month.  The addition is expected to cost roughly $150,000.  The artist, Meredith Bergmann, who had met and observed the iconic judge in 2010 for a different project, sculpted the figure first in clay to start. The final model has been approved by Ginsburg’s family, so the construction can begin.   The sculpture will feature the justice wearing her signature collar and glasses and emanating wisdom.

As per the Times, the carving project was initiated under former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, but Gov. Kathy Hochul was more than eager to have the chance to put a mark on Capitol. “New York is not static,” Ms. Hochul said, noting the availability for other additions. “We’re not frozen in time 125 years ago.” She added: “It could be here for centuries, and I want to make sure that we’ve left our mark.”  She noted that Justice Ginsburg is also the first person of Jewish descent to be memorialized on the staircase, but added she doesn’t need to be the last.  Ms. Hochul told the NY Times that she has a private list of possible additions for the staircase but she declined to share it with the press.

The state apparently agrees that more faces may be added to the capitol staircase.  “We ordered extra sandstone blocks,” said Bevin Collins, the Capitol architect who is overseeing the project. “We’ve got the sandstone here to be able to do additional carvings and there certainly are some blanks.”