COLUMBUS, Ohio — Doris Kearns Goodwin, a celebrated historian and Pulitzer Prize winner, will launch a fundraising initiative on Thursday dedicated to establishing a monument honoring women’s suffrage in the state of Ohio.

The event, titled “An Evening With Doris Kearns Goodwin,” is scheduled to take place in the atrium of the Ohio Statehouse. The discussion will be moderated by Megan Wood, the CEO and executive director of the Ohio History Connection, the state’s historical office. Following the conversation, attendees will have an opportunity to participate in a question-and-answer session.

During the evening, Goodwin will delve into her latest book, “An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s,” which was released in April. This work reflects on the final years she shared with her husband, Richard Goodwin, a notable White House speechwriter who passed away in 2018. The book captures their 42-year marriage and the significant historical period they experienced together.

Richard Goodwin served as an aide and a speechwriter for Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, playing a crucial role in defining the term “The Great Society.” Doris Kearns was a White House Fellow and contributed to Johnson’s memoir titled “The Vantage Point.”

This gathering marks the beginning of a $2 million fundraising campaign led by the Capitol Square Foundation and the Women’s Suffrage Monument Commission. The aim is to facilitate the construction of the monument by the year 2026. It’s noteworthy that nationally, less than 8% of public statues represent real women.

The commission was established by state legislators in 2019, coinciding with the centennial celebration of the 19th Amendment, which allowed women the right to vote in 1920. However, new regulations introduced in 2020, amid political strife, imposed a five-year waiting period before any new monuments could be erected on Statehouse property.

Recently, a committee made the decision to shorten the waiting period for the women’s suffrage monument, which might enable the commission to unveil details about the sculpture, including the selected artist, at the Thursday event.