The Leif Erikson statue is a

monumental statue A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...

honoring

Leif Erikson Leif Erikson, Leiv Eiriksson, or Leif Ericson, ; Modern Icelandic: ; Norwegian: ''Leiv Eiriksson'' also known as Leif the Lucky (), was a Norse explorer who is thought to have been the first European to have set foot on continental North ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Illinois, United States. Located in the city's Humboldt Park, the statue was designed by Sigvald Asbjørnsen and erected in 1901.

History

was a Norse explorer who is credited as being one of the first known Europeans to have set foot in continental North America. In the late 1800s, following the discovery of historical evidence supporting his explorations and further

Norse colonization of North America The Norse exploration of North America began in the late 10th century, when Norsemen explored areas of the North Atlantic colonizing Greenland and creating a short term settlement near the northern tip of Newfoundland. This is known now as L'Ans ...

, various monuments and memorials to Erikson began to be erected across the United States, mainly by

Scandinavian American Nordic and Scandinavian Americans are Americans of Scandinavian and/or Nordic ancestry, including Danish Americans (estimate: 1,453,897), Faroese Americans, Finnish Americans (estimate: 653,222), Greenlandic Americans, Icelandic Americans (esti ...

and

Norwegian American Norwegian Americans ( nb, Norskamerikanere, nn, Norskamerikanarar) are Americans with ancestral roots in Norway. Norwegian immigrants went to the United States primarily in the latter half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the ...

communities. This was the case for the Norwegian community in Chicago's Northwest Side in the late 1800s. Prior to the city's

Columbus Day Columbus Day is a national holiday in many countries of the Americas and elsewhere, and a federal holiday in the United States, which officially celebrates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas on October 12, 1492. ...

celebrations in October 1892, the Norwegian community hosted a celebration in honor of Leif Erikson's discovery of North America. Writing in the

Norwegian language Norwegian ( no, norsk, links=no ) is a North Germanic language spoken mainly in Norway, where it is an official language. Along with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a dialect continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regio ...

newspaper ''

Skandinaven ''Skandinaven'' was a Norwegian language newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois from 1866 until 1941. Background ''Skandinaven'' was established by three Norwegian immigrants; John Anderson, Knud Langeland (1813–88), and Iver Lawson (1 ...

'',

Nicolai A. Grevstad Nicolai Andreas Grevstad (June 2, 1851 – February 20, 1940) was an American diplomat, politician and newspaper editor. Background Nicolai Andreas Grevstad was born in Sunnmøre, the southernmost traditional district of the western Norwegia ...

said that in the lead up to the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordi ...

, held in the city in 1893, a committee was formed for the purpose of creating a statue honoring Erikson. Plans had been made for the statue's unveiling to coincide with the arrival of a replica

Viking ship Viking ships were marine vessels of unique structure, used in Scandinavia from the Viking Age throughout the Middle Ages. The boat-types were quite varied, depending on what the ship was intended for, but they were generally characterized as bein ...

from

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

, but ultimately, construction of the sculpture would be delayed. The statue, designed by Norwegian American sculptor Sigvald Asbjørnsen, was officially dedicated on October 12, 1901, in a celebration attended by many in the city's Norwegian community. The statue, created at a cost of $10,000, was erected in Humboldt Park.

Design

The

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

statue, depicting Erikson with a

shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry or projectiles such as arrows, by means of a ...

in his left hand, is tall and rests on a large

boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In c ...

. On the boulder is inscribed "Leif Erikson Discoverer of America."

References

External links

* {{coord, 41.90673, -87.70157, format=dms, type:landmark_region:US-IL, display=title 1901 establishments in Illinois 1901 sculptures Bronze sculptures in Illinois Monuments and memorials in Chicago Outdoor sculptures in Chicago Sculptures of men in Illinois Statues in Chicago

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

History

Design

See also

References

External links