ALL OF THESE SCULPTURES ARE LOCATED IN PHILADELPHIA
Spirit of ’61 (1911)
Artist: Henry Kirke Bush-Brown (1857-1935) Location: Union League of Philadelphia, 140 South Broad Street A successor to the Gray Reserves, which originated in 1822, the First Regiment was the first to be called to action following the attack on Fort Sumter. The Spirit of ’61 shows a First Regiment soldier marching in full uniform, a unique rendering at the time of its execution. The statue was commissioned for the 50th anniversary celebration of the regiment in 1911. |
Washington Grays Monument (Base 1872, Figure c. 1907)
Artist: J. Wilson
Location: Union League of Philadelphia, 140 South Broad Street
The Washington Grays Militia Unit was organized in Philadelphia in 1822 and soon became one of the city’s most popular military outfits. Later named the Artillery Corps, Washington Grays, the unit served with distinction in the Civil War and remained in existence until 1879, when it merged with the First Regiment of the National Guard of Pennsylvania.
Artist J. Wilson first built the monument’s base, which was unveiled at Broad and Girard Streets in 1872 and relocated to Washington Square in 1898. The plaques around the monument’s granite base list the unit’s Civil War record with the added inscription: “To our fallen comrades 1861-1865.”
General Galusha Pennypacker Memorial (1934)
Artist: Albert Laessle (1877–1954), initial concept by Charles Grafly
Location: 19th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Galusha Pennypacker, a native of Chester County, Pennsylvania, became at age 22 the youngest general to serve in the Civil War. The basic concept was developed by Charles Grafly, an instructor at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine art who had studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In addition to his sculptures for the Smith Memorial, he had created a massive statue of General Meade for Washington D.C. But Grafly died before the Pennypacker Memorial could be completed. The project was taken over by his student Albert Laessle, who was already known in Philadelphia for his Billy in Rittenhouse Square and his Penguins at the Zoo.
Major General George Gordon Meade (1887)
Artist: Alexander Milne Calder (1846–1923)
Location: Lansdowne Drive north of Memorial Hall, West Fairmount Park
General Meade commanded the Union Army of the Potomac during the Civil War, and is best known for defeating General Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. He is responsible for designing many of Fairmount Park’s drives, walks, and bridle paths. Following Meade’s death, the Fairmount Park Association (now the Association for Public Art) initiated a campaign to finance an appropriate memorial. The artist chosen was Alexander Milne Calder (sculptor of William Penn atop Philadelphia’s City Hall), and he based his rendering of Meade on his own memory, photographs, and the recollections of family members and friends. In 1887, over thirty thousand people watched Meade’s grandsons unveil the Meade statue, which was Calder’s first large-scale bronze and the first major commission project of the Fairmount Park Art Association.
Artist: Alexander Milne Calder (1846–1923)
Location: Lansdowne Drive north of Memorial Hall, West Fairmount Park
General Meade commanded the Union Army of the Potomac during the Civil War, and is best known for defeating General Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. He is responsible for designing many of Fairmount Park’s drives, walks, and bridle paths. Following Meade’s death, the Fairmount Park Association (now the Association for Public Art) initiated a campaign to finance an appropriate memorial. The artist chosen was Alexander Milne Calder (sculptor of William Penn atop Philadelphia’s City Hall), and he based his rendering of Meade on his own memory, photographs, and the recollections of family members and friends. In 1887, over thirty thousand people watched Meade’s grandsons unveil the Meade statue, which was Calder’s first large-scale bronze and the first major commission project of the Fairmount Park Art Association.
General George McClellan (1891)
Artist: Henry Jackson Ellicott (1847-1901)
Location: City Hall, North Plaza, Broad and Market Streets
George McClellan was born in Philadelphia in 1826. He had the reputation of being a brilliant but sometimes overly cautious. He was a general who inspired loyalty and confidence in his men. The memorial to the general was commissioned by the Grand Army of the Republic and given as a gift to the city of Philadelphia. The artist, Henry Jackson Ellicott, completed a number of equestrian statues and memorials for cities throughout the country.
Artist: Henry Jackson Ellicott (1847-1901)
Location: City Hall, North Plaza, Broad and Market Streets
George McClellan was born in Philadelphia in 1826. He had the reputation of being a brilliant but sometimes overly cautious. He was a general who inspired loyalty and confidence in his men. The memorial to the general was commissioned by the Grand Army of the Republic and given as a gift to the city of Philadelphia. The artist, Henry Jackson Ellicott, completed a number of equestrian statues and memorials for cities throughout the country.
General Ulysses S. Grant (1897)
Artists: Daniel Chester French (1850–1931) & Edward C. Potter (1857–1923)
Location: Kelly Drive and Fountain Green Drive
Just four days after the death of General Grant in 1885, the Fairmount Park Art Association (now the Association for Public Art) formed a committee to create a fund for erecting an appropriate memorial. By January of the following year, almost $13,000 had been collected for the Grant Memorial Fund. Daniel Chester French was awarded the commission for the monument and requested that a former student, Edward C. Potter, work with him. We endeavored in the figure of Grant to give something of the latent force of the man, manifesting itself through perfect passivity.” The model was completed in 1893 and then enlarged to one and a half times life size in Potter’s studio in Enfield, Massachusetts. The sculpture was dedicated on April 27, 1899, a date selected to coincide with the 77th anniversary of Grant’s birth.
Artists: Daniel Chester French (1850–1931) & Edward C. Potter (1857–1923)
Location: Kelly Drive and Fountain Green Drive
Just four days after the death of General Grant in 1885, the Fairmount Park Art Association (now the Association for Public Art) formed a committee to create a fund for erecting an appropriate memorial. By January of the following year, almost $13,000 had been collected for the Grant Memorial Fund. Daniel Chester French was awarded the commission for the monument and requested that a former student, Edward C. Potter, work with him. We endeavored in the figure of Grant to give something of the latent force of the man, manifesting itself through perfect passivity.” The model was completed in 1893 and then enlarged to one and a half times life size in Potter’s studio in Enfield, Massachusetts. The sculpture was dedicated on April 27, 1899, a date selected to coincide with the 77th anniversary of Grant’s birth.
Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Memorial (1927)Artist: Hermon Atkins MacNeil (1866–1947)
Location: Logan Square, Benjamin Franklin Parkway and 20th Street
These two pylons, one depicting sailors, the other soldiers, were intended to stand as gates to the “Parkway Gardens.” They were moved to accommodate the construction of the Vine Street Expressway, but still mark the entry to Fairmount Park from the city. One of the inscriptions reads: “In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free.”
Location: Logan Square, Benjamin Franklin Parkway and 20th Street
These two pylons, one depicting sailors, the other soldiers, were intended to stand as gates to the “Parkway Gardens.” They were moved to accommodate the construction of the Vine Street Expressway, but still mark the entry to Fairmount Park from the city. One of the inscriptions reads: “In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free.”
Abraham Lincoln (1871)
Artist: Randolph Rogers (1825–1892)
Location: Kelly and Sedgely Drives
Philadelphia was one of the first cities in the nation to erect a monument to Lincoln after he was assassinated on April 14, 1865. Seated, with quill in hand, Lincoln is shown just having signed the Emancipation Proclamation. The work was enthusiastically received by 50,000 people at its unveiling on September 22, 1871. In 2001 the monument was moved from its location on an island in the midst of Kelly Drive to a more pedestrian-oriented site just east of the roadway.
Artist: Randolph Rogers (1825–1892)
Location: Kelly and Sedgely Drives
Philadelphia was one of the first cities in the nation to erect a monument to Lincoln after he was assassinated on April 14, 1865. Seated, with quill in hand, Lincoln is shown just having signed the Emancipation Proclamation. The work was enthusiastically received by 50,000 people at its unveiling on September 22, 1871. In 2001 the monument was moved from its location on an island in the midst of Kelly Drive to a more pedestrian-oriented site just east of the roadway.
All Wars Memorial to Colored Soldiers and Sailors (c. 1934)
Artist: J. Otto Schweizer (1863–1955)
Location: Aviator Park, Benjamin Franklin Parkway at 20th Street
The Honorable Samuel Beecher Hart, a Pennsylvania legislator and captain of the Gray Invincibles, the last “colored” unit in the Pennsylvania Militia. Schweizer placed a “torch of life” surrounded by four American eagles on the top of the sculpture. A figure of Justice holding symbols of Honor and Reward at the front. In 1994, the city relocated All Wars Memorial to a much more visible site on the Parkway as originally proposed – an extraordinary and long overdue event.
Artist: J. Otto Schweizer (1863–1955)
Location: Aviator Park, Benjamin Franklin Parkway at 20th Street
The Honorable Samuel Beecher Hart, a Pennsylvania legislator and captain of the Gray Invincibles, the last “colored” unit in the Pennsylvania Militia. Schweizer placed a “torch of life” surrounded by four American eagles on the top of the sculpture. A figure of Justice holding symbols of Honor and Reward at the front. In 1994, the city relocated All Wars Memorial to a much more visible site on the Parkway as originally proposed – an extraordinary and long overdue event.