Northwood University unveils a bronze Sybil Ludington statue Saturday, Oct. 24, in a public ceremony honoring the teenage rider of the American Revolution

MIDLAND, Mich. — Northwood University will unveil a bronze statue of Sybil Ludington, the 16-year-old remembered for riding through the night to call out militia during the American Revolution, at a public ceremony on its Midland campus Saturday morning, Oct. 24.

Doors open at 9:30 a.m. at the Griswold Communications Center, and the unveiling program begins at 10 a.m., followed by brunch, the university says. The event is open to the public, and Northwood asks guests to RSVP in advance through its online form.

The statue. The piece is a bronze replica of “Sybil Ludington’s Ride” by the American sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington. It will join her “Lincoln on the Prairie,” which has stood on Northwood’s Mall Walk for nearly six decades; Huntington visited the campus in 1967 to dedicate it. Northwood announced the project at its 2024 Distinguished Women Awards gala and broke ground in June as part of its nearly yearlong celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary.

The story behind it. As Northwood tells it, Ludington rode nearly 40 miles in 1777 to rally militia after a British raid on Danbury, Connecticut, earning the nickname “the female Paul Revere.” “In answering the call to act, Sybil Ludington demonstrated how one individual can make a meaningful impact, regardless of age or circumstance,” said Mary-Ellen MacPhee, Northwood’s first lady, who co-chairs the Distinguished Women Awards and championed bringing the sculpture to campus.

At the June groundbreaking, Northwood President Kent MacDonald tied the statue to the Declaration of Independence and to what the school calls the Northwood Idea, citing “personal responsibility, earned success, leadership, and service to a greater cause.”

Who’s coming. More than 23 past Distinguished Women Award honorees, a record, are expected back in Midland, including longtime WXYZ-TV anchor Carolyn Clifford and Rick Case Automotive Group owner Rita Case, the university says. Huntington will receive the award posthumously during the program, with Robin Salmon of Brookgreen Gardens accepting it on her behalf.

The gala. The Distinguished Women Awards gala is also Oct. 24, at The H Hotel in Midland. Seats are limited, and tickets are sold through the university’s awards webpage.

Sources:
Northwood University, “Northwood Invites Community to Oct. 24 Unveiling of New Campus Landmark Celebrating Women, Courage and Initiative,” Oct. 14, 2026, https://www.northwood.edu/news/northwood-invites-community-to-oct-24-unveiling-of-new-campus-landmark-celebrating-women-courage-and-initiative/
Northwood University, “Northwood University Breaks Ground on Sybil Ludington Statue,” June 4, 2026, https://www.northwood.edu/news/northwood-university-breaks-ground-on-sybil-ludington-statue/
Northwood University, unveiling RSVP form, https://forms.northwood.edu/sybil-unveiling/
Midland Daily News, “Northwood University unveils new campus landmark,” Oct. 19, 2026, https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/northwood-university-unveils-new-campus-landmark-22483670.php
Photo: Doug Coldwell, “Sybil Ludington statue, Offner museum.JPG” (sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington), March 24, 2010, Wikimedia Commons, public domain, cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sybil_Ludington_statue,_Offner_museum.JPG

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