Statuary in Washington D.C., United States
United States historic place
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American Revolution Statuary
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![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/John_Paul_Jones_memorial_DC.JPG/250px-John_Paul_Jones_memorial_DC.JPG) |
Location
| Washington, D.C.
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NRHP reference
No.
| 78000256
[1]
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Added to NRHP
| July 14, 1978
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Designated DCIHS
| March 3, 1979
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American Revolution Statuary
is a group of fourteen statues in
Washington, D.C.
, which honor men whose actions assisted the
Thirteen Colonies
in their fight against the
Kingdom of Great Britain
in the
American Revolutionary War
. They are spread throughout the city, except for the four statues in
Lafayette Square
, across from the
White House
, that honor some of the foreign heroes from the war. Some of the statues are located in prominent places, while others are in small parks or stand alone in front of buildings. All of the statues are owned and maintained by the
National Park Service
, an agency of the
United States Department of the Interior
. The statuary was collectively listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
(NRHP) in 1978 and the
District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites
the following year. In addition, most are also
contributing properties
to
historic districts
listed on the NRHP.
The first statue in
Washington, D.C.
, honoring Revolutionary War heroes was the
equestrian statue
of President and General
George Washington
. It was installed in 1860. The remaining statues were erected from 1878 to 1948. with most being installed in the early 20th-century. All but one of the statues are cast in bronze.
Benjamin Franklin
's statue was carved in marble. The statues depict American military men, two American politicians, and an eighth statue depicts a military man who was also governor of
Massachusetts
. Five statues depict European officers who aided the American cause, and a British politician who spoke out for the American cause. The
U.S. Congress
authorized the original placement of all the statues, and all but four were fully paid for with federal funds. Some of the statues have been moved from their original locations.
History
[
edit
]
19th-century
[
edit
]
Beginning in the mid-1800s,
Congress
, societies, and descendants of the
American Revolutionary War
forces wanted to install statues throughout
Washington, D.C.
, to honor notable men who helped the U.S. win independence from the
Kingdom of Great Britain
. The
first outdoor statue
in the nation's capital depicted
Thomas Jefferson
. It was displayed north of the
White House
in 1847, but was returned to the
United States Capitol
in 1874. In 1853, the
equestrian statue
of President
Andrew Jackson
was installed in the center of
Lafayette Square
.
[2]
It was the first equestrian statue made in the U.S.
[3]
Clark Mills
was commissioned to create an equestrian statue of
George Washington
, the country's first president and commander-in-chief of the
Continental Army
. The
equestrian statue
was installed in 1860 in
Washington Circle
, the first of the 14 American Revolutionary statuary to be erected in Washington, D.C.
[2]
The
next statue
of a Revolutionary War hero was in honor of Major General
Nathanael Greene
, erected in 1878 in
Stanton Park
and designed by
Henry Kirke Brown
.
[4]
It is considered one of the city's best equestrian statues.
[5]
[6]
The
third statue
, depicting
Benjamin Franklin
in a standing pose, was sculpted by
Jacques Jouvenal
and installed in 1889. It was later moved to its current location in front of the
Old Post Office
.
[7]
Franklin's statue is one of four of the statues not paid for by the U.S. government. It was a donation from
Stilson Hutchins
, founder of
The Washington Post
.
[7]
The
fourth statue
installed, sculpted by
Alexandre Falguiere
and
Antonin Mercie
, was in honor of Major General
Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette
, one of two French military figures to be honored in Lafayette Square. It was erected in 1891.
[8]
The park had been named after him during his 1824
visit to the U.S.
[5]
20th-century
[
edit
]
The majority of the Revolutionary War statues were installed in the 20th-century. The first to be erected in the 20th-century, and the fifth overall, was that of
Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau
, in 1902. The
statue of the Comte de Rochambeau
was sculpted by
Fernand Hamar
and is the other French military hero honored in Lafayette Square.
[2]
[9]
The
sixth statue
, sculpted by
William Couper
, depicts Doctor
John Witherspoon
, a politician, minister, and signer of the
Declaration of Independence
. It was dedicated in 1909 and paid for by members of the Church of the Covenant (now known as
National Presbyterian Church
). It is located at the intersection of
18th Street
,
Connecticut Avenue
, and N Street NW.
[10]
The
seventh
and
eighth
statues, depicting Polish heroes
Tadeusz Ko?ciuszko
and
Casimir Pulaski
, respectively, were dedicated on the same day in 1910. Ko?ciuszko's statue, sculpted by
Antoni Popiel
, was the third installed in Lafayette Square and Pulaski's equestrian statue, sculpted by
Kazimierz Chodzi?ski
, stands on the eastern end of
Freedom Plaza
after being moved several times in its history.
[11]
[12]
Also in 1910, the
statue of Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben
, sculpted by
Albert Jaegers
, was installed in Lafayette Square.
[13]
The
John Paul Jones Memorial
, honoring the
Continental Navy
captain, was sculpted by
Charles Henry Niehaus
and is located in
West Potomac Park
. It was erected in 1912 and became the tenth Revolutionary War statue to be installed.
[2]
[14]
In 1914, another naval hero, Commodore
John Barry
, was memorialized with
a statue
in
Franklin Square
. His statue was sculpted by
John J. Boyle
.
[2]
In 1922, the Sulgrave Institution represented by
Charles Wakefield, 1st Viscount Wakefield
, paid for a
statue of Edmund Burke
to be erected in a small park at the intersection of 11th Street, L Street, and
Massachusetts Avenue
NW.
[2]
The statue honoring a British politician who defended the
Thirteen Colonies
was sculpted by
James Havard Thomas
and became the 12th Revolutionary War statue erected in Washington, D.C.
[2]
The last two installed were the
statue of Artemas Ward
at
Ward Circle
, which was sculpted by
Leonard Crunelle
and dedicated in 1938, and the
statue of Nathan Hale
, a gift from Yale University President
Charles Seymour
, which was sculpted by
Bela Pratt
and dedicated in 1948.
[2]
[15]
[16]
Washington, D.C., has the largest amount of outdoor statues in the country.
[2]
Two well-known landmarks in the city, the
Washington Monument
and
Jefferson Memorial
, are technically American Revolutionary monuments, but due to their size and grandeur, they are excluded from the list. All of the American Revolutionary statuary are owned and maintained by the
National Park Service
(NPS), an agency of the
United States Department of the Interior
.
[2]
In accordance with Executive Order 11593, by President
Richard Nixon
, the NPS surveyed and registered statuary of people of the American Revolutionary War in Washington, D.C., to aid in their preservation.
[17]
[18]
[19]
The statues were collectively listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
(NRHP) on July 14, 1978. The statuary was added to the
District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites
the following year on March 3, 1979. Due to their locations in places originally planned by
Pierre Charles L'Enfant
, many of the statues are
contributing properties
(CP) to the
L'Enfant Plan
. Others are CPs to
historic districts
, including the four at Lafayette Square, that are CPs to the
Lafayette Square Historic District
, a
National Historic Landmark
.
[20]
List of statues
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"National Register Information System"
.
National Register of Historic Places
.
National Park Service
. July 9, 2010.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
Scott, Gary (October 3, 1977).
"National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form - American Revolution Statuary"
. National Park Service.
Archived
from the original on September 29, 2022
. Retrieved
January 16,
2024
.
- ^
"Andrew Jackson, (sculpture)"
. Smithsonian Institution Research Information System.
Archived
from the original on April 22, 2023
. Retrieved
January 16,
2024
.
- ^
"Major General Nathanael Greene, (sculpture)"
. Smithsonian Institution Research Information System.
Archived
from the original on October 20, 2020
. Retrieved
January 16,
2024
.
- ^
a
b
Goode, James M. (1974).
The outdoor sculpture of Washington, D.C
. Smithsonian Institution Press. pp. 84, 371?373.
- ^
Bednar, Michael (2006).
L'Enfant's Legacy: Public Open Spaces in Washington, D.C
. Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 201?202.
ISBN
9780801883187
.
- ^
a
b
"Benjamin Franklin, (sculpture)"
. Smithsonian Institution Research Information System.
Archived
from the original on December 26, 2023
. Retrieved
January 16,
2024
.
- ^
"General Marquis de Lafayette Statue, Lafayette Park, Washington, D.C."
National Park Service. 2003. pp. 1?11.
Archived
from the original on January 15, 2024
. Retrieved
January 16,
2024
.
- ^
"Rochambeau Statue History"
. National Park Service.
Archived
from the original on January 9, 2024
. Retrieved
January 16,
2024
.
- ^
"Department of History of the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A."
Presbyterian Historical Society. 1999. p. 201.
Archived
from the original on December 29, 2023
. Retrieved
January 16,
2024
.
- ^
"Casimir Pulaski Memorial"
. National Park Service.
Archived
from the original on March 20, 2023
. Retrieved
January 16,
2024
.
- ^
Perkowski, Waclaw (May 9, 1910).
"May 11 Polish Day in Washington"
.
The New York Times
.
ProQuest
97093565
. Retrieved
January 16,
2024
.
- ^
"Major General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, (sculpture)"
. Smithsonian Institution Research Information System.
Archived
from the original on January 12, 2024
. Retrieved
January 16,
2024
.
- ^
"Commodore John Paul Jones, (sculpture)"
. Smithsonian Institution Research Information System.
Archived
from the original on October 3, 2023
. Retrieved
January 16,
2024
.
- ^
"Captain Nathan Hale, (sculpture)"
. Smithsonian Institution Research Information System.
Archived
from the original on July 5, 2022
. Retrieved
January 16,
2024
.
- ^
"General Artemas Ward, (sculpture)"
. Smithsonian Institution Research Information System.
Archived
from the original on January 7, 2024
. Retrieved
January 16,
2024
.
- ^
"America's National Park System: The Critical Documents - Edited by Lary M. Dilsaver"
. Archived from
the original
on July 3, 2007.
- ^
"VI. Executive Orders"
. Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. Archived from
the original
on September 27, 2011
. Retrieved
August 12,
2011
.
- ^
"Executive Order 11593--Protection and enhancement of the cultural environment"
. U.S. National Archives.
Archived
from the original on 2011-10-26
. Retrieved
2017-08-25
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
"District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites"
(PDF)
. District of Columbia Office of Planning ? Historic Preservation Office. September 30, 2009.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on July 31, 2017
. Retrieved
January 16,
2024
.
External links
[
edit
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Memorials
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Other
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Parks
and plazas
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Boundaries
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Nearby
landmarks
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Planned
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Canceled
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Related
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Other works
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Architectural
sculpture
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Fountains
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