A statue of Thomas Cass by

Richard E. Brooks Richard Edwin Brooks (1865–1919) was born in Braintree, Massachusetts, studied in Paris under the sculptor Jean-Paul Aubé (1837–1916). His early work ''Chant de la Vague'' (Song of the Wave) was idealistic; later works were more conventio ...

, called ''Colonel Thomas Cass'', is installed in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

's Public Garden, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

Description and history

Foundry mark, Thomas Cass statue (Boston Public Garden)

After a previous statue at the same site was found to be ugly, Brooks was commissioned to design a statue of Cass by the Boston Arts Commission in 1897. The

bronze sculpture Bronze is the most popular metal for Casting (metalworking), cast metal sculptures; a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply "a bronze". It can be used for statues, singly or in groups, reliefs, and small statuettes and figurines, as w ...

was cast in 1899 and unveiled on September 22 of the same year. It replaced a previous granite memorial of Cass. The statue earned Brooks a gold medal at the Exposition Universelle of 1900. The statue depicts Cass in a Civil War uniform with his arms folded across his chest. It measures approximately 8 ft. x 2 ft. 4 in. x 2 ft. 4 in., and rests on a granite base measuring approximately 6 ft. 6 in. x 3 ft. 8 in. x 3 ft. 8 in. The granite came from Red Beach, Maine. The artwork was surveyed as part of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

's "

Save Outdoor Sculpture! Save Outdoor Sculpture! (SOS!) was a community-based effort to identify, document, and conserve outdoor sculpture in the United States. The program was initiated in 1989 and ended in 1999. History Save Outdoor Sculpture! was initiated by Herit ...

" program in 1993. The monument has been recognized as an historic feature of the Public Garden, which is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

, by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

. In 2009, Peters F. Stevens of the ''Boston Irish Reporter'' wrote:

A statue of Colonel Cass was erected in the Boston Public Garden, but surviving veterans of his regiment railed that the memorial was both stiff and a poor likeness of the fallen hero. The Society of the Ninth Regiment raised funds to tear down the statue and commissioned noted sculptor Richard E. Brooks to craft a bronze statue of Cass. On September 22, 1899, the striking bronze, which captured the visage and commanding presence of Colonel Thomas Cass and garnered high praise and a prestigious award for Brooks, was unveiled. It stands there today, testimony to a hero – a Boston Irish and American hero.https://www.bostonirish.com/WEB-BIR-07-09.pdf

References

External links

''Colonel Thomas Cass'', 1899
at cultureNOW
Colonel Thomas Cass and the Ninth Massachusetts Infantry
at the Historical Marker Database
Thomas Cass - Boston, MA
at Waymarking {{Public art in Boston 1899 establishments in Massachusetts 1899 sculptures Boston Public Garden Bronze sculptures in Massachusetts Granite sculptures in Massachusetts Monuments and memorials in Boston Outdoor sculptures in Boston Sculptures of men in Massachusetts Statues in Boston

Description and history

See also

References

External links