A memorial statue of

Francis Scott Key Francis Scott Key (August 1, 1779January 11, 1843) was an American lawyer, author, and amateur poet from Frederick, Maryland, who wrote the lyrics for the American national anthem "The Star-Spangled Banner". Key observed the British bombardment ...

stood in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, in the U.S. state of California, from 1888 until 2020.

Original monument

The monument to Francis Scott Key was commissioned by

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

businessman James Lick, who donated some $60,000 for a sculpture of Key to be raised in San Francisco's

Golden Gate Park Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, United States, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. It is administered by the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department, which began in 1871 to oversee the development ...

. The nation's first memorial to Key, it consisted of a sculpture of the seated Key, within a

travertine Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a pro ...

monument displaying text from "

The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the b ...

", and surmounted by a statue of

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...

and four eagles. It was executed by sculptor William W. Story in Rome during 1885–1887, transported to San Francisco, and unveiled on July 4, 1888 near a new

music stand A music stand is a pedestal or elevated rack designed to hold sheets of music in position for reading. Most music stands for orchestral, chamber music or solo orchestra-family instruments (violin, oboe, trumpet, etc.) can be raised or lowered to a ...

. In the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, the monument was damaged and, when repaired, it was re-erected in a more prominent position in the park, on the south side of the Music Concourse. In 1967 it was dismantled and taken into storage to allow further expansion of the nearby

California Academy of Sciences The California Academy of Sciences is a research institute and natural history museum in San Francisco, California, that is among the largest museums of natural history in the world, housing over 46 million specimens. The Academy began in 1853 ...

. When restored to public view, on July 4, 1977, it was placed in yet another location, at the eastern end of the Music Concourse. In the 2010s, the city of San Francisco completed a renovation of the Key monument.

Removal and ''Monumental Reckoning''

The statue was toppled by protesters on June 19, 2020 in the wake of the

murder of George Floyd On , George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's n ...

. A year later, on Juneteenth 2021, sculptor

Dana King Dana King (born March 7, 1960) is an American broadcast journalist and sculptor. She served as an anchor for the CBS owned-and-operated station KPIX-TV in San Francisco. In 2012, King left KPIX to pursue her passion in sculpting and art. Her outdo ...

unveiled '' Monumental Reckoning'', comprising 350 sculptures which now encircle the plinth of the empty monument. These 4 feet (1.2 meters) high sculptures represent the first Africans kidnapped from their homeland in

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

and sold into chattel slavery in Virginia in 1619. The words ‘Lift Every Voice’ were also installed above the Spreckels Temple of Music in honor of the civil rights activist James Weldon Johnson, author of ' Lift Every Voice and Sing,’ a hymn often referred to as the "Black national anthem."

References

External links

Monumental Reckoning
{{DEFAULTSORT:Key, Francis Scott, statue, San Francisco 1888 sculptures Statue of Francis Scott Key (San Francisco) Golden Gate Park Monuments and memorials in California Monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests Outdoor sculptures in San Francisco Sculptures of men in California Statues in California Statues removed in 2020 Vandalized works of art in California