Monument City » Ethnic

William Wallace Monument (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Fri, 08 May 2009 21:04:55 +0000

Location

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

GPS: 39° 19′ 2.48″ N 76° 38′ 28.54″ W

History

William Wallace is one of several monumental figures dedicated within the bounds of Baltimore City to the cause of freedom, independence and the sovereignty of a people. Born around 1270, Wallace was the second son of a Scottish nobleman, Sir Malcolm Wallace, and was a pivotal military leader during the Wars of Scottish Independence waged against the encroaching English monarchs to the south. Wallace’s role in this struggle was dramatized in Mel Gibson’s film, Braveheart, which itself was adapted from a quasi-historical 15th century romantic biographical poem entitled, “The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace,” by a poet or minstrel (see: Scottish makar) who is known only as Blind Harry. Composed some 170 years after the fact, Blind Harry’s account is at variance with other historical documents, but follows the flow of the traditional folk narratives about Wallace’s life. Various sources have Wallace operating as a petty criminal, brawling with English soldiers and killing a governor’s son around 1291 or 1292. Wallace enters documented history in 1297 with his killing of the English Sheriff of Lanark. Later that year, Wallace’s rebel forces routed the English at the Battle of Stirling Bridge. After the battle, Wallace was knighted and named “Guardian of Scotland and Leader of its armies”. Six months later, he lead a raid into northern England to harry the English forces. Wallace was captured in 1305 and transported to London where, Wikipedia explains, “…he was tried for treason, and the execution of civilians and prisoners, and was crowned with a garland of oak to suggest he was the king of outlaws.” Before being convicted of treason, Wallace is said to have exclaimed, “I could not be a traitor to Edward, for I was never his subject.” Wallace was hanged, drawn, quartered, emasculated, eviscerated, had his bowels burnt, was beheaded and his head placed on a pike on London Bridge. By artist David Watson Stevenson, a member of the Royal Academy of Scotland, this magnificent monument was presented to the City of Baltimore by William Wallace Spence in 1893 and was rededicated one hundred years later by the St. Andrews Society of Baltimore. The base is made of Woodstock granite and the statue is modeled after one atop the Abbey Craig near Stirling in Scotland, where Wallace is said to have watched the battle brewing below.

Notes

This monument is inaccessible by car, though you can park along Swann Drive, or you can approach on foot or by bicycle from Druid Hill Lake. Wallace rests on the west end of the lake, sword raised in the air as if charging off to the Turkish Tower at the east end of the man-made reservoir.

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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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Simon Bolivar Memorial Bust (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Thu, 07 May 2009 20:45:31 +0000

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Location

N Charles Street & St Paul Street & Bedford Place (Street View)

GPS: 39° 20′ 36.56″ N 76° 37′ 17.90″ W

History

Simon Bolivar (1783-1830) is frequently referred to as the “George Washington of South America.” This bust, by artist Felix de Weldon, was a gift from the government of Venezuela to the City of Baltimore and was dedicated on April 19, 1961. (Felix de Weldon is also the sculptor of the famous Marine Corp Memorial, which depicts a determined group of soldiers raising the American flag over Iwo Jima) According to Baltimore’s City Paper, “Duplicate busts were given to the municipalities of Bolivar, W. Va., Bolivar, Mo., and New Orleans.” Known as a El Libertador – “The Liberator,” Bolivar was inspired by the American Revolution to throw off Spanish rule in South America. He fought in or organized revolutionary actions for close to two decades, resulting in the formation of the nation of Gran Colombia. It’s area encompassed present-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama along with small parts of Peru, Brazil, and Guyana. Around the neck of the Bolivar bust is a medallion with a portrait of George Washington.

Notes

The location of this monument compared to most others in the city is a bit far-flung. Travel north until Charles Street and St. Paul Street merge into one in the neighborhood of Guilford. There is what might be considered a brother-statue to Bolivar down towards Fell’s Point of Jose Marti, a Cuban revolutionary hero. Bolivar’s influence on South American politics is felt even today, thanks to a political philosophy referred to in English as Bolivarianism, and the subsequent Bolivarian Revolution of Venezuela’s leader, Hugo Chavez. The movement is typified by a strong emphasis on Venezuelan sovereignty, self-sufficiency, equity and patriotic service.

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Katyn Memorial (Baltimore, MD)

admin — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 05:29:23 +0000

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Location

Roundabout at Aliceanna Street and S President Street (Street View)

GPS: 39° 16′ 59.37″ N 76° 36′ 6.05″ W

History

One of two Holocaust memorials in Baltimore, this one was dedicated on November 19, 2000. It commemorates the 22,000 estimated Polish military officers, police, intellectuals and civilian prisoners of war executed by the NKVD, Stalin’s secret police at the Katyn forest and other Soviet detainment camps in 1940. The Soviet government officially denied the massacre ever took place until 1990. The monument also depicts significant figures from other points in Polish history, re-conceptualizing the destructive flame as the transformation and renewal of a people. Artist: Andrzei Pitynski.

Notes

This monument stands a majestic fourty-four feet tall at a geographic hub connecting the Inner Harbor, the commercial and residential revitalization projects at Harbor East and Fells Point. Construction is on-going in the area. The old President Street Station was once nearby (later turned into the Civil War Museum – now run by the Maryland Historical Society), connecting passengers on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O) to the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad (PW&B).

Nearby

Links

National Katyn Memorial Foundation
Katyn Remembrance in Baltimore, MD
They Shall Not Be Forgotten: Remembering the Victims of Katyn
Remembering Katyn from the Hoover Institute
On Panoramio & Flickr