Monument City » Downtown

William Donald Schaefer Statue (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:21:30 +0000

Location

Light Street & E Conway Street at the Inner Harbor (Street View – approximate)

GPS: 39° 17′ 3.69″ N 76° 36′ 43.70″ W

History

Mayor of Baltimore from 1971 to 1987, William Donald Schaefer was central to the redevelopment of our city. The Inner Harbor, Oriole Park at Camden Yards and countless historical preservation projects dominate his political legacy. After nearly two decades as mayor, Schaefer became Governor of Maryland, serving the maximum two terms. In 1998 he became Comptroller of Maryland, a post he held until January of 2007. The often controversial Schaefer was never far from criticism, and his numerous remarks on immigration and women constantly sparked sharp responses from press and political rivals. However, his intense passion for Baltimore (and Maryland) have cast a positive light on the man, his work outliving his words.

Notes

The William Donald Schaefer statue stands in Bicentennial Plaza, next to the Visitor’s Center, serenely surveying the Inner Harbor. The left hand is raised and waving while the right hand holds a “Mayor’s Action Memorandum.” Dedicated on Scheafer’s 88th birthday, the bronze likeness actually depicts the politician in 1980, midway through his term as Baltimore’s chief administrator. With Schaefer’s declining health making posing difficult, sculptor Rodney Carroll used old photographs, video and borrowed family items to create the ideal monument. The result is a powerful representation of one of Charm City’s most important (and unique) public servants. The statue was unveiled on November 2, 2009, with Willy Don attending the ceremony.

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Mother Catherine McAuley Statue (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:16:02 +0000

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Location

Saint Paul Place & E Pleasant Street (Street View)

GPS: 39° 17′ 35.91″ N 76° 36′ 48.54″ W

History

Born near Dublin, Ireland, in 1778, Mother Catherine McAuley dedicated her storied life to helping others. A devote catholic, McAuley was challenged when, after her parents died, she was sent to live with anti-catholic relatives. This difficult period in her life only strengthened her convictions and she began establishing the Sisters of Mercy. The organization’s goal was to aid suffering families and children as well as training women for employment. When Catherine was in her mid-twenties a Quaker family offered her residence in their home. The family grew to adore her and when they passed away they left their entire estate to their adopted daughter. In 1827, McAuley used this money to set up her first House of Mercy. In 1990, Pope John Paul II declared her Venerable, a first step towards official sainthood.

Notes

The Mother Catherine McAuley monument in front of Baltimore’s Mercy Hospital was installed on November 11, 2000. The tablet and statue commemorate the 125th anniversary of the Sisters of Mercy.

Nearby

Links

On Flickr & Panoramio
Catherine McAuley on Wikipedia

Police Memorial (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:21:14 +0000

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Location

E Baltimore Street & S President Street (Street View)

GPS: 39° 17′ 25.51″ N 76° 36′ 20.80″ W

History

In 1972, Mayor William Donald Schaefer presented the Women’s Civic League, a local community service organization, with the idea of renovating the former residence of Baltimore’s second mayor, Thorowgood Smith. The house, built around 1794, is located next to the historic Phoenix Shot Tower directly behind the Police Memorial. Now known as Shot Tower Park, the small tract of land across the street from Police Headquarters contains one of the largest installations in honor of fallen officers in the United States. The memorial contains three statues, a large panel of inscribed names and various dedication plaques. Unveiled in 1978, the monuments face City Hall and War Memorial Plaza, adding to the dignified appearance of the downtown location.

Notes

Donald Pomerleau was Police Commissioner during the memorial’s construction. Pomerleau was hired by the International Association of Chiefs of Police in 1965, and sent to Baltimore to examine the city’s law enforcement system during the peek of the civil rights movement. He found the police force to be as corrupt and antiquated as any in the country. He spent the next fifteen years integrating officers and correcting the mistakes of his predecessors. Pomerleau retired from the force in 1981, three years after the memorial’s completion.

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Links

On Flickr & Panoramio
Baltimore Police Memorial Fund

War Memorial Building (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Sat, 30 May 2009 22:36:03 +0000

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Location

N Gay Street & E Fayette Street (Street View)

GPS: 39° 17′ 26.85″ N 76° 36′ 31.96″ W

History

Construction on the War Memorial Building at 101 North Gay Street began in 1921, and was completed four years later. The massive monument to Maryland’s soldiers that died in World War I is the work of Laurence Hall Fowler, a local architect who’s design won a competition held by officials for the commission. Directly across from Baltimore’s City Hall, the lot was chosen as part of the 1910 Olmstead plan to focus the city’s more important buildings into a civic plaza. Flanking the Neoclassical edifice are two aquatic war horse sculptures created by by Edmond R. Amateis that are said to depict “the might of America crossing the sea to come to the aid of the Allies.” Made of Indiana limestone, the horses, when viewed up-close, display fossils of marine organisms. Along the sides and back of the building are German cannons confiscated during WWI. In 1977, the memorial was rededicated to honor the state’s lost from both World Wars, the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

Notes

Inside the building is an impressive banquet hall occupying the top floor. With high ceilings and room for hundreds of people, the vast open space is used for various events. Usually occupied by veteran’s groups and city or state politicians (the memorial is owned jointly between Baltimore and Maryland), the location has recently been used for fashion shows and movie sets. A gigantic mural depicting the “sacrifice to patriotism”, painted by Charm City artist R. McGill Mackall, covers the back wall. Throughout the auditorium are the names of the 1752 Maryland fatalities of WWI.

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Flame at the Holocaust Memorial (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Sat, 23 May 2009 13:09:16 +0000

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Location

E Lombard Street & S Gay Street (Street View)

GPS: 39° 17′ 16.74″ N 76° 36′ 30.01″ W

History

One of the more ominous spots in the city, the Holocaust Memorial sits just a few blocks north of the Aquarium and takes up an entire city block. In the 1970s a ninth grade Baltimore Hebrew class told their teacher, Alvin Fisher, they didn’t believe the Holocaust occurred. Mr. Fisher promptly took a proposal for a memorial to Charm City’s Jewish Counsel, hoping to erase the unfortunate misconception. They granted his wish and the site was chosen, an area downtown owned by the Baltimore City Community College. The memorial consists of a monolith formed to resemble a train with a steel gate symbolizing the internment of Jews in concentration camps. On the ground leading up to the large structure is a series of railroad tracks, tall grass growing from between the rails. At the southern end of the park a statue was erected, in 1988, that has since become the center-piece of the memorial. Two Baltimore businessmen and philanthropists, Melvin Berger and Jack Luskin, donated funds for the monumental flame. Dedicated in memory of the Night of Broken Glass, the 1938 destruction of Jewish homes, communities and synagogues by the Nazis, the sculpture is the creation of artist Joseph Sheppard and displays the bodies of victims engulfed in fire. Sheppard also sculpted the Pope John Paul II statue near the Basilica of the Assumption.

Notes

Baltimore’s Holocaust Memorial has seen many changes over the years. It was constructed in 1980 at a cost of $300,000 and consisted of a grassy mound and two 80 foot blocks of concrete. The stark scene became a haven for the city’s homeless and a plan to re-design the area was presented in 1995. Architect Jonathan Fishman was commissioned to create the empty rail yard that exists today. A plaque, it’s inscription written by author Deborah Lipstadt, was dedicated in 1997 upon completion of the project. Several Holocaust survivors attended the ceremony.

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Memorial Stadium Urn at Camden Yards

admin — Fri, 22 May 2009 16:24:34 +0000

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Location

S Eutaw Street & W Lee Street (Street View)

GPS: 39° 16′ 55.96″ N 76° 37′ 14.29″ W

History

Memorial Stadium was completed in 1950. The outdoor professional sports arena was a renovation of the old Baltimore (or Municipal) Stadium that was built, in 1922, on 33rd Street in Waverly. The north Baltimore site was primarily the home of the city’s football clubs until 1944 when Orioles Park, an all wood framed structure nearby that housed the baseball team, burned to the ground completely, prompting the Orioles to move into the facility up the street. The larger stadium interested Major League Baseball, with it’s capacity for crowds in excess of 20,000, helping Baltimore finally receive a full charter franchise. Six years later the re-construction was complete and the new park was officially opened as the home of the Orioles and the National Football league’s Colts. In 1976, after the conclusion of a Colts-Steelers football game a single engine plane crashed into the upper deck. The pilot was apparently buzzing the stadium, but his approach was too low. No one was hurt in the incident.

The front facade of the stadium was a memorial to the Veterans of both World Wars. Dedicated in 1954, the edifice was nearly saved during the razing of the structure, but was finally taken down in 2002. The resulting materials from the demolition were used to create an artificial reef in the Chesapeake Bay. The military veterans memorial was moved to the southern side of Oriole Park at Camden Yards. It consists of an urn on pedestal and a large sloped wall displaying the message once inscribed on the old memorial. The urn contains soil from military cemeteries around the world. The monument was rededicated on March 31, 2003, as part of the Orioles opening day ceremonies.

Notes

The old ballpark’s home in Waverly is now the site of Stadium Place, a complex containing multiple apartment buildings for seniors and the states largest YMCA. A memorial Bell Tower has been erected, along with an Egyptian-style pergola, just slightly west of the stadium’s original front gates.

Nearby

Links

Memorial Stadium on Wikipedia
On Panoramio & Flickr

Johnny Unitas Statue (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Thu, 21 May 2009 13:05:56 +0000

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Location

W Hamburg Street & Russell Street (Street View)

GPS: 39° 16′ 45.09″ N 76° 37′ 19.89″ W

History

Johnny Unitas was one of the greatest American football players of all time. When he retired from the league, in 1974, he held practically every record for quarterbacks, finishing his career with 290 touchdowns and over 40,000 yards passing. After attending Louisville University, Unitas was drafted by his hometown Pittsburgh Steelers, but did not make the team. He eventually landed at a tryout for the Baltimore Colts and was asked to join the organization. That following NFL season when the Colts starting quarterback went down he was inserted in to the starting lineup, and ended up winning the MVP award. The next year he led the team to their first of back-to-back championships in what sports historians call the greatest game ever played. Unitas died of heart attack on September 11, 2002.

Notes

The fourteen-foot tall monument depicts Unitas in a throwing motion, seemingly heaving a long pass down field. Erected at the north entrance of Ravens Stadium, the statue sits in the middle of Unitas Plaza. Giant posters of the legendary quarterback flank the ticket gates on either side of the bronze likeness. 290 replicas of the sculpture, each standing 21 inches tall, were created as well, one for each touchdown Unitas threw during his professional career. Dedicated on October 20, 2002, the statue is the creation of artist Frederick Kail. A slightly smaller Unitas memorial also made by Kail is situated at the Louisville University football stadium.

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Baltimore City Fire Fighter’s Monument (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Tue, 19 May 2009 17:06:20 +0000

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Location

N Gay Street & E Lexington Street (Street View)

GPS: 39° 17′ 29.05″ N 76° 36′ 33.06″ W

History

This monument dates from 1990 and is by artist Tylden Streett, who taught for a time at the Maryland Institute College of Art and was also responsible for the statue of Capt. John O’Donnell in Canton Square. The monument is dedicated to all members of the Baltimore City Fire Department, past, present and future. Erected by the Baltimore City Fire Fighter’s Monument Committee, the statue cost some $150,000, much of which was raised by private donations.

Notes

The statue stands at the north-east corner of War Memorial Plaza, outside of the plaza proper. A sister memorial to Baltimore City’s police lies just to the east across the terminus of the highway, within view of the Shot Tower.

Nearby

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Negro Heroes of the U.S. Monument (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Tue, 19 May 2009 15:30:58 +0000

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Location

War Memorial Plaza – Holliday Street, Between E Lexington Street & E Fayette Street (Street View)

GPS: 39° 17′ 27.21″ N 76° 36′ 36.05″ W

History

Dedicated on May 30, 1972, this monument to African-American servicemen slain in the protection of their country is by artist James E. Lewis. Paid for by an anonymous donor, it stands on the west end of War Memorial Plaza, facing the magnificent War Memorial Building with its aquatic horse statues. Behind the statues rises Baltimore’s City Hall. This monument is sometimes also referred to as the Negro Soldier. The statue was originally installed on the north side of the Battle Monument, but opponents argued it would detract from the importance of that memorial, and it was moved to it’s current location.

Notes

On January 17, 2009, President-Elect Barack Obama came to War Memorial Plaza to deliver a well-attended speech in which he referenced Baltimore and Maryland’s historic role in the formation of the United States. The Negro Heroes statue stands on the former site of the Holliday Street Theatre, a famous playhouse where Junius and John Wilkes Booth once performed.

Nearby

Links

On Panoramio & Flickr
A close-up of the dedication plaque from the Engineer’s Guide to Baltimore
Entry for this monument on HMDB
Smithsonian entry

Mayor Thomas D’Alesandro, Jr. Memorial (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 02:08:26 +0000

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Location

N Charles Street and E Lexington Street (Street View – approximate)

GPS: 39° 17′ 28.14″ N 76° 36′ 56.47″ W

History

This double statue depicts the father of Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Thomas D’Alesandro, Jr. who served as of Baltimore from 1947 to 1959. He is described as a visionary man who oversaw the revitalization of the downtown area, especially around Charles Center, which his statue overlooks. His son, Thomas D’Alesandro, III also served as mayor between 1967 and 1971 – a tumultuous period of Baltimore history which bore witness to rioting in the wake of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination. Memorial commissioned in 1986. Artist: Lloyd Lillie.

Notes

You’ll find this monument tucked away from the intersection of Charles and Lexington to the west, at the entrance of One North Charles Street, a skyscraper. The monument consists of two statues, one of which stands overlooking the plaza down below, and the second of which is seated in a bench with his arms outstretched.

Nearby

Links

The Mayor on Wikipedia
Smithsonian entry for this sculpture
Italian-American Political Dynasties, with a section on the D’Alesandros
On Panoramio & Flickr