A 1926–27 statue of

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

Italian American Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...

artist

Pompeo Coppini Pompeo Luigi Coppini (19 May 1870 – 26 September 1957) was an Italian and American sculptor. Although his works can be found in Italy, Mexico and a number of U.S. states, the majority of his work can be found in Texas. He is particularly f ...

was installed in northeast

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, United States. 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 the second of three statues of Washington by the artist, following a similar statue installed in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

in 1912 and preceding

another Another may refer to: * anOther or Another Magazine, a culture and fashion magazine * ''Another'' (novel), a Japanese horror novel ** ''Another'' (film), a Japanese 2012 live-action film based on the novel ** ''Another'' (TV series), a Japanese ...

installed on the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

campus in February 1955. The Portland statue was created to commemorate the 1926 sesquicentennial of the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...

and dedicated in 1927. It was part of the City of Portland and Multnomah County Public Art Collection. In June 2020, it was toppled by protestors. In 2024, the city announced plans to re-install the statue at a yet to be determined location and date.

Description

The statue was installed at the intersection of Northeast 57th Avenue and Northeast Sandy Boulevard, outside the German American Society (or Friendship Masonic Building), in

northeast Portland Northeast Portland is one of the six major divisions of Portland, Oregon. Northeast Portland contains a diverse collection of neighborhoods. For example, while Irvington and the Alameda Ridge feature some of the oldest and most expensive homes i ...

's Rose City Park neighborhood. It depicted a standing Washington with a cane in his proper right hand and a coat and hat under his opposite arm, with his proper left hand on his hip. The

measured approximately 95 x 48 x 48 in., and rested on a granite base measuring approximately 95 x 84 x 84 in. An inscription on the front of the plinth read: "GEORGE WASHINGTON / PRESENTED TO / THE CITY OF PORTLAND / BY / HENRY WALDO COE / 1927". The back of the plinth had the inscription "GIFT FROM DR. HENRY WALDO COE 1926", and inscriptions on the side of the plinth read "P. COPPINI SC" and "CAST BY ROMAN BRONZE WORKS N.Y.".

History

The Portland statue was created by Coppini in his New York studio in 1926, and cast by

Roman Bronze Works Roman Bronze Works, now operated as Roman Bronze Studios, is a bronze foundry in New York City. Established in 1897 by Riccardo Bertelli, it was the first American foundry to specialize in the lost-wax casting method, and was the country's pre-emin ...

. It was donated by

Henry Waldo Coe Henry Waldo Coe (November 4, 1857 – February 15, 1927) was a United States frontier physician and politician. Coe was born in Waupun, Wisconsin, to Samuel Buel Coe and his wife Mary Jane (née Cronkhite). After his education and training, ...

, who commissioned a series of statues for the City of Portland which included '' Theodore Roosevelt, Rough Rider'' (1922), the

equestrian statue An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin ''eques'', meaning 'knight', deriving from ''equus'', meaning 'horse'. A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an equine statue. A full-sized equestrian statue is a ...

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...

, and those depicting Washington and

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

(1928). The latter two were dedicated after Coe's death in February 1927. The memorial's base was funded by the George Washington Memorial Association. The memorial was dedicated on July 4, 1927. Reverend Youngson presented the statue on the Coe family's behalf. The artwork was surveyed by the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

'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 Heri ...

" program in 1993. It is part of the City of Portland and Multnomah County Public Art Collection courtesy of the

Regional Arts & Culture Council The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) is an organization that administers arts grants in Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas Counties that also do advocacy in the Portland metropolitan area in Oregon, United States. It evolved from the city� ...

. In 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, a

face mask The face is the front of the head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affect the ...

was affixed to the statue as well as other local artworks. On the night of June 18, 2020,

protesters A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration, or remonstrance) is a public act of objection, disapproval or dissent against political advantage. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate ...

set the statue aflame before toppling and defacing it with "Genocidal Colonist," "You're on native lands," " BLM," " Big Floyd," and "

1619 Events January– March * January 12 – James I of England's Banqueting House, Whitehall in London is destroyed by fire."Fires, Great", in ''The Insurance Cyclopeadia: Being an Historical Treasury of Events and Circumstances Co ...

." In response to the

murder of George Floyd On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black American man, was murdered in Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old White police officer. Floyd had been arrested after a store clerk reported that he made a purchase using a c ...

, demonstrators also knocked down and damaged four other monuments across the city. On July 28, the mayor of

Sandy, Oregon Sandy is a city located in Clackamas County, Oregon, Clackamas County, Oregon, United States, settled 1853 and named after the nearby Sandy River (Oregon), Sandy River. Located in the foothills of the Cascade Mountain Range, the city serves as t ...

, Stan Pulliam, proposed to have the Washington statue, the

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or Casting (metalworking), cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to ...

, and '' Theodore Roosevelt, Rough Rider'' put back up on their property. In 2024, the city announced plans to re-install the statue at a yet to be determined location and date.

References

External links

''George Washington'', Portland, Oregon
at Waymarking {{Rose City Park, Portland, Oregon 1927 establishments in Oregon 1927 sculptures Bronze sculptures in Portland, Oregon Destroyed sculptures Granite sculptures in Oregon Monuments and memorials in Portland, Oregon Monuments and memorials in the United States removed during the George Floyd protests Monuments and memorials to George Washington in the United States Outdoor sculptures in Northeast Portland, Oregon Rose City Park, Portland, Oregon Sculptures by Pompeo Coppini Sculptures of men in Oregon Statues in Portland, Oregon Statues of George Washington Vandalized works of art in Portland, Oregon Works by Italian people Statues removed in 2020 Stone sculptures in Portland, Oregon

Description

History

See also

References

External links