The ''Washington Monument'' is a public artwork by American artist

Richard Henry Park Richard Henry Park (also Richard Hamilton Park; February 17, 1838—November 7, 1902) was an American sculptor who worked in marble and bronze. He was commissioned to do work by the wealthy of the nineteenth century. He did a marble bust of John ...

located on the Court of Honor in front of the

Milwaukee Public Library Milwaukee Public Library (MPL) is the public library system in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, consisting of a central library and 13 branches, all part of the Milwaukee County Federated Library System. MPL is the largest public library syst ...

Central Library, which is near

Marquette University Marquette University () is a private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Martin Henni, the first Bishop of the diocese of M ...

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

. The bronze sculpture is a full-length portrait of a 43-year-old

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

, and stands on a

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

pedestal; a bronze woman points up at Washington while a child, also made out of bronze, gazes upward. It was sculpted by

and was erected in 1885 with philanthropic financial support from Elizabeth Plankinton. The statue was restored between July 2016 and January 2018.

Description

The 10 foot and 6 inch high full-length sculpture depicts

at the age of 43. "He wears a hat with flower, cape, boots, jacket, vest and pants. He holds a sword with both hands in front of him."George Washington, (sculpture)
SIRIS. There are two bronze figures at the foot of the base that were added at the suggestion of Miss Elizabeth Plankinton. One, a woman, points up to the statue with her proper left arm, while the second figure, a child, gazes upward while holding an open book at his side. The inscription on the lower left side of the sculpture reads "RH PARK SC". The inscription on the proper right lower side of the sculpture reads "F. GALLI FUSERO". The front of the base reads "WASHINGTON". The back of the base reads "The Gift of / Elizabeth A. Plankinton / To the City of Milwaukee / 1885".

Background

Richard Henry Park's ''George Washington'', dedicated on November 7, 1885, was the first public monument in Milwaukee. It was given to the city as a gift by Elizabeth Plankinton, popularly known as Miss Lizzie, as a gesture of her love for Milwaukee. "It would also ensure, as one of the speakers noted at the dedication of the statue, that 'during the coming generations when other men shall walk these streets, this monument will stand a text for the old and a lesson for the young.' Because this was to be the city's first public statue, it seemed fitting that the nation's first president, George Washington, be its subject."Buck, Diane M. and Virginia A. Palmer (1995). ''Outdoor Sculpture in Milwaukee: A Cultural and Historical Guidebook'', p. 53. The State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison The 43-year-old Washington is depicted wearing an exact copy of the Commander-in-Chief uniform of the Continental Army. The sculpture cost about $20,000. Thousands of people attended its unveiling, although Miss Lizzie did not. it was placed on the boulevard on W. Wisconsin Avenue, one of the city's earliest parks. This location later became known as the Court of Honor because of the crowning of Rex, King of the Milwaukee Midsummer Carnival Festival, which took place in the same area. Every year on Washington's birthday the

Military Order of the Purple Heart The Military Order of the Purple Heart (MOPH) is a congressionally charteredbr>(Title 36 USC Chapter 1405)United States war veterans organization. Headquartered just outside Washington, D.C., it has a membership of approximately 45,300 veter ...

places a wreath on the monument to honor its founder.

Artist

Artist Richard Henry Park was born on a farm in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

in 1832. Park was inspired to become a sculptor after attending a

Hiram Powers Hiram Powers (July 29, 1805 – June 27, 1873) was an American neoclassical sculptor. He was one of the first 19th-century American artists to gain an international reputation, largely based on his famous marble sculpture ''The Greek Slave''. ...

exhibition. He worked as a marble cutter's apprentice, producing marble copies of

Erastus Dow Palmer Erastus Dow Palmer (April 2, 1817March 9, 1904) was an American sculptor. Life Palmer was born in Pompey, New York. He was the second of nine children. He showed early artistic promise, and pursued his father's trade of carpentry. Palmer married ...

's work. The sculptor moved to Florence in 1871 where he met Thomas Hardy, yet he remained a very popular artist with Milwaukee's elite. He became acquainted with Elizabeth Plankinton while making a sculpture of her father and they became engaged, but he ended up marrying a different woman. Park is also known for sculpting a silver statue of Justice for

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

's exhibit at 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 in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, hel ...

in 1893 in

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

Restoration

A 1994 survey reported in the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database indicated that the sculpture was deteriorating and that treatment was needed. Problems include that Washington's uniform is covered in dirt and corrosion and that part of the head of the bronze figure of a woman at Washington's feet is missing. Similar observations were included in a detailed report about the condition of the monument and works needed produced for the Westown Association in 2014. There had been no restoration work done since it was installed as Milwaukee's first piece of public art. In July 2016, the statue was moved to the Conservation of Sculpture and Objects Studio in

Forest Park, Illinois Forest Park (formerly Harlem) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, United States. The population was 14,339 at the 2020 census. The Forest Park terminal on the CTA Blue Line is the line's western terminus, located on the ...

where Andrzej Dajnowski supervised its restoration. A great deal of fundraising has been done to support the work, which was expected to cost about $100,000, of which the Westown Association provided $60,000. The process of moving the statue revealed several additional challenges, including the rust in base that he described as "a big issue because he original buildersinserted a 1 inch rod in both of his legs and that's why one of the legs is already splitting," and the possibility that Washington's sword is not the original but has been replaced at some point in the past. The restored statue, now a dark bronze color instead of the previous green, was returned to its pedestal at North 9th St. and West Wisconsin Avenue in January 2018. As the , 10-foot tall statue was hoisted into place by a crane, Mayor Tom Barrett observed that "our first piece of public art is in pristine condition."

References

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External links