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Frederick Douglass Statue at Morgan State (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:44:56 +0000

Location

Just northeast of Hillen Road & E Cold Spring Lane on Morgan State’s campus

GPS: 39° 20′ 49.27″ N 76° 35′ 2.91″ W

History

The idea to erect a Frederick Douglass statue on the campus of Morgan State University was conceived in 1943. The notion was presented to and carried out by the Maryland Educational Association. Artist James E. Lewis was chosen to design the monument, an associate professor at the university, Lewis was the obvious choice for the project. By 1956 the memorial was completed and unveiled in front of the school’s Holmes Hall, a building named for Morgan’s first black president, Dwight O. W. Holmes

Notes

The eight-foot tall bronze cast stands in a high traffic area of campus directly north of the school’s stadium. Douglass is shown in a dignified stance with a cane in his right hand (the cane given to him by Abraham Lincoln’s widow, Mary Todd). A second monument to the great orator can be found at the Frederick Douglass Isaac Myers Maritime Park at Harbor East.

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Links

On Panoramio & Flickr
Douglass on Wikipedia

Frederick Douglass Memorial Bust (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Wed, 20 May 2009 14:16:56 +0000

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Location

South Caroline Street & Philpot Street (Street View)

GPS: 39° 16′ 45.60″ N 76° 35′ 46.80″ W

History

One of the most important figures in American civil rights, Frederick Douglass spent his honorable life defending human liberties, including his own. Born a slave in Talbot County, Maryland, Douglass was passed around between owners for most of his early life. He began learning to read at an early age from the white children in his neighborhoods and from Sophia Auld, the wife of his Baltimore owner, Hugh Auld. Douglass began reading newspapers at the age of twelve, helping to form the basis of his ideas of liberty at a young age. Constantly angering his owners through his courage and knowledge, he was shipped off to a rural farm run by a man know for “breaking slaves”. Here, at the age of sixteen, Frederick’s spirit was crushed until he finally fought back against his enemy. He won the fight and began planning his escape, eventually succeeding through the help of the Underground Railroad. He immediately joined abolitionist groups and began writing and making speeches. His autobiography, published in 1845, was a major success and his status as leading man for his numerous causes was established.

Notes

The memorial bust is placed on the grounds of the newly opened Frederick Douglass Isaac Myers Maritime Park. The park is part of the Living Classrooms project and is located at the site of the first African-American owned and operated shipyard in the United States. Douglass worked at these docks during his early years in Baltimore. The statue sits right on the dock and is constructed in sections. The artist Marc Andre Robinson created the work and it was installed in 2006. A second Douglass monument is located on the campus of Morgan State University.

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Severn Teackle Wallis Monument (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Mon, 18 May 2009 14:16:50 +0000

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Location

Saint Paul Street & E Monument Street (Street View)

GPS: 39° 17′ 51.29″ N 76° 36′ 50.95″ W

History

The Severn Teackle Wallis monument at Mount Vernon Place stands dignified as it looks east down Monument Street. Directly west is George Peabody with Washington and the rest of his monumental friends looming behind the two. Wallis stands with his right hand on a pedestal covered with some of his papers, and is depicted with his trademark mustache and long sideburns. One of the premiere lawyers of his generation, Severn Teackle was elected to the Maryland Legislature in 1861, where he proceeded to lead a faction of politicians opposed to the Civil War. The Federal Government, under the direction of Lincoln, swooped in on a September evening that year and imprisoned Mr. Wallis for his apparent transgressions. He was thrown in jail for fourteen months at various Union fortresses, yet he was never informed of the crime he committed. Upon his release he wrote a lengthy correspondence to Senator John Sherman explaining his displeasure with the situation, continuing his crusade for civil liberties.

Wallis was also a writer, penning literature throughout his long and storied life. His Glimpses of Spain and Discourse on the Life and Character of George Peabody are his most famous works and are still in print today. He wrote poetry as well and is highly regarded for his careful use of language and positive sentiment. Two of his most well-known poems are The Last of Hours and The Blessed Hand. Wallis was also an avid collector of literature and owned one of the first editions of Don Quixote in the United States. In 1877, he donated the volume to the Peabody Library.

Notes

On the fourth floor of the Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. Courthouse is another memorial to Mr. Wallis. The memorial consists of a bronze bust, a copy of William Rinehart’s work, atop a marble structure with a young woman reaching upwards with a laurel branch. The pair of Wallis monuments, along with various streets and locations bearing his name, create an important historical reference to one of Maryland’s great men. The Mount Vernon Place monument, dedicated in 1906, is by artist is Laurent Honore Marqueste.

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Links

On Panoramio & Flickr
Wallis on Wikipedia

Eli Siegel Monument (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Tue, 12 May 2009 16:45:56 +0000

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Location

Swann Drive & Mansion House Drive (Street View – approximate)

GPS: 39° 19′ 1.16″ N 76° 38′ 29.32″ W

History

Eli Siegel was a poet and philosopher during his storied life, creating a body of work that few in his generation can match. He was also an extremely polarizing figure, gaining ardent supporters along with staunch opponents. Born in Baltimore, Siegel, however, spent most of his life in Greenwich Village, New York City. In the 1930s he was master of ceremonies for a popular poetry and jazz night, known for his charged readings of his work. When he was subsequently fired from this job he started the Aesthetic Realism movement, continuing to teach until his 1978 suicide. In 2002, a monument was dedicated in Druid Hill Park in his honor. Martin O’Malley declared August, 16, Eli Siegel day in Charm City and a generous ceremony took place at the stone’s unveiling.

Notes

The famed artist Chaim Koppelman was commissioned to create the monument. Koppelman began studying under Siegel in 1940, and is on the faculty of the Aesthetic Realism Foundation. His work, primarily sketches and drawings, can be found in the Archives of American Art.

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Jose Marti Memorial Bust (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Thu, 07 May 2009 21:35:52 +0000

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Location

N Broadway & E Fayette Street (Street View)

GPS: 39° 17′ 39.00″ N 76° 35′ 38.40″ W

History

Like another monumental figure in the Baltimore landscape, Simon Bolivar, José Julián Martí Pérez (1853-1895) was a pivotal figure in opposition to Spanish control of Central and South America. Marti, however, is a hero to the island nation of Cuba, claimed equally by all political factions. He is considered to be the “Apostle of Cuban Independence” and was a revolutionary patriot writer of great reknown, whose writings helped galvanize support for the unsuccessful 1895 colonial rebellion in Cuba. Baltimore’s memorial bust of Jose Marti was dedicated in 1998, under sponsorship by neighboring Latin American communities. Around the pedestal upon which the Marti bust rests are soil samples from 21 Latin American countries, Tampa & Key West (FL) and New York City.

Notes

Though not a career soldier himself, Marti was so passionately dedicated to the cause of Cuban Independence that he died fighting for it on the front-lines during the Battle of Dos Ríos. New York City’s Central Park boasts an equestrian monument to Marti, which is atypical of such memorials, depicting Marti at the moment of his death. A 358 foot tower and monument to Marti adorns the Plaza de la Revolución in Havana and was often used by Castro to address audiences of nearly a million. In 1999, a hand-picked Cuban baseball team defeated the Baltimore Orioles 12-6, while hundreds of anti-Castro protestors gathered at Marti’s bust in opposition.

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Reese Memorial Monument (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 02:28:48 +0000

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Location

1035 E 33rd Street, across from the YMCA (Street View)

GPS: 39° 19′ 41.26″ N 76° 36′ 5.62″ W

History

Born and raised in the Waverly community, Lizette Woodworth Reese was a Baltimore public school teacher for forty-seven years. In the 1890s, she began drawing praise from critics and audiences alike for her rural-themed poems. Her highest regarded piece is the sonnet ‘Tears‘ from her 1909 collection A Wayside Lute. She was co-founder of the Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore, serving as chairman of poetry until her death in 1935.

Hand-chiseled in marble by artist Grace H Turnbull, the sculpture depicts a Shepard and his herd. In-line with Lizette Reese’s country style, the memorial is a reference to the above-mentioned poem, ‘Tears‘. Another piece by Turnbull on public display in Baltimore is the Naiad statue in the eastern section of Mount Vernon Place. The playful sculpture sits in a fountain between the bronze casts of George Peabody and Severn Teackle Wallace. In stark contrast to the style of the Reese Monument, the Naiad is sensual and mysterious. Grace Turnbull was many artists. She was a writer, a painter and a sculptor. She never smoked, drank or read newspapers, her life an example of her philosophies. A woman of inherited wealth, she never had to take orders for her work. Ater graduating from the Maryland Institute of Art, Turnbull traveled the world in search of inspiration, yet she always returned to her home in Charm City. Her Spanish style house in Waverly was designed by her architect brother and contains four sculpted exterior beams, each containing religious imagery. The yard surrounding the estate is littered with her work, fine art springing out amidst the garden landscape. The residence and its contents were auctioned off last November for $315,000. Grace Turnbull died, in 1976, at the age of ninety-five.

Notes

Entitled the Good Shepard, the memorial was dedicated, in 1939, on the grounds of Baltimore’s Eastern High School. In 1986, the school closed down and merged with Lake Clifton High, a campus not far down the road. At some point the sculpture was placed at Clifton where it temporarily resided until April of this year, when it was returned to its original home on 33rd street. In May, two dedication plaques were placed at either side of the marble monument. The historic Eastern High building is now occupied by Johns Hopkins University. Memorial Stadium once stood directly across the street.

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Martin Luther Monument (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 13:48:10 +0000

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Location

Hillen Road & E 32nd Street (Street View)

GPS: 39° 19′ 39.52″ N 76° 35′ 19.59″ W

History

Unveiled on October 31, 1936, the Martin Luther Monument is the work of Baltimore’s Hans Schuler. After studying under William Henry Rinehart, Schuler traveled to France with fellow artists Edward Berge and J Maxwell Miller to continue his studies. In 1901, he won the Salon Gold Medal in Paris, the first American to do so. One of the city’s premiere sculptors, Schuler was director of the Maryland Institute College of Art from 1935 to 1951, resigning a year before his death.

A gift of a prominent local jeweler, Arthur Wallenhorst, the 18-foot tall statue of Luther once greeted visitors at the Mount Royal entrance to Druid Hill Park. In 1959 it was moved to it’s current spot over-looking Lake Montebello. A second statue of the German protestant, also by Schuler, was erected in 1947 at the The Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Notes

Situated in a small park slightly south of the lake, Martin Luther’s likeness gestures sternly with right hand raised. Two benches once flanked the statue, but only their supports remain. Baltimore’s Commission for Historical & Architectural Preservation, or CHAP, has been maintaining the monument since 1980.

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Edgar Allan Poe Monument (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 21:08:33 +0000

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Location

W Mount Royal Avenue & Maryland Avenue (Street View)

GPS: 39° 18′ 20.33″ N 76° 37′ 2.39″ W

History

The Poe monument was dedicated on October 20, 1921 and is by artist Moses J. Ezekiel. It’s original location was in Wyman Park at the corner of 29th Street. Interestingly, the first model for this monument was destroyed in a custom house fire, the second was destroyed in an earthquake and the third was delayed many years during WWI from being shipped across the Atlantic. The original base too, now lost, also has a strange history. It contained two misspellings in its dedication quote, one of which was eventually corrected by a vigilante-fan using a chisel in 1930 who was arrested but not charged. Poe’s monument was moved from Wyman Park to its current location in the Law Center Plaza in 1983 outside the University of Baltimore on Mount Royal Ave.

Notes

Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, MA in 1809 to actor and actress David Poe, Jr. and Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe. Poe’s father abandoned the family in 1810, and a year later his mother died. He was taken in as a foster child by John Allan, a prominent businessman in Richmond, VA. Though he was only an occasional resident of the City of Baltimore, Poe was found in the street quite unwell and wearing someone else’s clothes on October 3, 1849 and died several days later. The precise cause and circumstances surrounding his death remain a mystery, though several prominent theoretical explanations have been put forward. He was laid to rest at Westminster Hall and Burying Ground in Baltimore, MD on Fayette Street. The controversy over his demise is perhaps not surprising since much of his work dealt with the vicissitudes of death. Another curiosity connected to Poe’s final moments is a ritual undertaken annually by a mysterious figure known as the “Poe Toaster” who every year on January 19 makes a toast of cognac and leaves three roses at the site of Poe’s grave monument. According to Wikipedia, “Members of the Edgar Allan Poe Society in Baltimore have helped in protecting this tradition for decades.” Though not originally from Baltimore, Poe has become something of a patron saint of the city. The NFL football team, the Baltimore Ravens are named after his famous poem, “The Raven,” and an anthropomorphized raven character named “Poe” is the team’s official mascot.

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Francis Scott Key Fountain Monument in Bolton Hill (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 03:12:21 +0000

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Location

Eutaw Place & W Lanvale Street (Street View)

GPS: 39° 18′ 14.24″ N 76° 37′ 34.15″ W

History

This multi-faceted sculpture is one of two major memorials dedicated to Francis Scott Key, the author of the Star Spangled Banner, which only became America’s National Anthem officially in 1931. The other is located in Ft. McHenry, though there are several markers and smaller memorials dedicated all around Baltimore to the actual song itself. The Bolton Hill piece was commissioned in 1907 by Charles and Theodore Marburg, part of a prominent mercantile family at the time and executed by French sculptor Marius Jean Antonin Mercie. Dedicated on May 15, 1911. In 1996, residents from the local neighborhood raised money to restore this monument, receiving significant financial boosts in 1997 from the Maryland Military Monuments Commission, and in 1998 from the Save Outdoor Sculpture initiative (funded in large part by Target stores), along with grants from the City of Baltimore. At this location, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton delivered a speech on the importance of preserving historical markers in 1998. Restoration was completed by the summer of 1999.

Notes

Standing amidst a broad park which runs north and south along Eutaw Place, the monument heroically depicts Key as poet in a row boat with another sailor humbly manning the oars. Key is standing, holding a manuscript of his poem up as an offering to the allegorical figure of Columbia, defined by Wikipedia as “a poetic name for the United States of America and the feminine personification thereof.” The figure of Columbia is gilded, and stands atop four pillars waving a flag. The historically preserved house of Daniel Coit Gilman, first president of Johns Hopkins University, stands across the street from the fountain.

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Links

On Panoramio & Flickr
Project profile on Save America’s Treasures
Historical information and old images of the Bolton Hill Key monument
Bolton Hill Historic District From National Park Service

Chapin A Harris Memorial Bust (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:48:14 +0000

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Location

W 31st Street & Wyman Park Drive (Street View)

GPS: 39° 19′ 29.35″ N 76° 37′ 15.72″ W

History

The story of formal dentistry begins with Chapin A Harris. Between 1839 and 1840, Harris was instrumental in starting the first dental college, the first society for dental surgeons, and the first dental publication, the American Journal of Dental Science. The original list of subscribers to this pamphlet was discovered by G V Black, the seminal dentist to use nitrous oxide, and published thereafter, providing a transcript of the origins of dentistry. Harris published numerous books during his lifetime, many of which were used as medical guides throughout the world. He acted as dean and as a professor at the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery until his untimely death in 1860.

Notes

Nestled within a loosely trimmed hedge, the memorial bust rests atop a podium with Chapin’s last name and life dates on the front. Harris wears a dignified jacket with scarf and stands facing the university’s main campus. The sculpture, dedicated in 1922, is yet another piece created by Baltimore’s Edward Berge. Directly south, on Wyman Park Drive, is the double equestrian statue of General Robert E Lee and General Stonewall Jackson.

Nearby

Links

The Principles and Practice of Dentistry (a book by Harris)
On Panoramio & Flickr