bostonzest

Tag: memorial

  • Where Would You Find This Hand? Play Attention to Detail!

    IMG_8849 copy

    Let's play Attention to Detail! We give you a close-up clue, like this hand, and you have to figure out where you've seen it around Boston.

    Here are some hints:

    • This hand is in a very appropriate place.
    • You may be in such a hurry when you walk by it, that you never stop to think about this memorial.
    • We think of this place as belonging to two Boston neighborhoods.
    • Another reason you may not pause to view the statue is the strong fumes that exist here.

    Ready? Click through or scroll down past this great book about Boston for the answer.

     

     

    (more…)

  • Sunday Is Leif Erikson Day, Discover his Boston Statue!

    October 9th has been the official Leif Erikson Day since Congress declared it so in 1964. If Hurricane Matthew allows us to have a nice day on Sunday, we suggest you take a walk along the Commonwealth Avenue Mall to the corner of Charlesgate East (map) and discover Boston's Memorial to this Viking explorer. 

    IMG_0623 copy

    At the moment, many details of the monument are hidden by tropical plants. 

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    In this photo from the Boston Public Library Collection, you can see that he stands above a dragon-headed boat and that boat would have been the basin for a fountain rather than a planter.

    According to an 1887 Boston Globe article, the memorial's dedication was originally located on a traffic island at Commonwealth Avenue and West Chester Park, the former name of Massachusetts Avenue. We are still trying to confirm when it was relocated.

    20101102DSC_8714 - Version 3 copy

    Here's a photo that Penny took a few seasons ago with more of the monument showing in the setting sun.

    Plan a return visit!

    Be sure to come back in winter to discover all the lovely details that sculptor Anne Whitney incorporated into this work of art. A few years ago, we interviewed Sarah Hutt, the Friends of the Public Garden Collections Care Manager. She admitted that this is her favorite statue on the Mall. “I just find that so playful,” she said. “I’ve had the opportunity to go up on the scaffolding [during a restoration] and look at it. There is so much interesting detail… It has all these little stories of his voyages engraved in it.”  

    IMG_0632

    How Do You Spell It? 

    Back in 1000, when this man was said to be sailing up the Charles, people were not as fussy about spelling as we are today. References to him include the following spellings: Leif, Leifur, Leiv, Erikson, Ericson, Ericsson, or Ericksson. As you can see on the information plaque attached to the statue, the city has gone with the Leif Erikson version so we are following their example for now. 

    Our research files on this monument contain many more interesting tidbits that we'll share at a later date. For now, enjoy the fall weather and take a walk to see this piece of Boston public art.

    Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

    Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photography: © 2016 Penny Cherubino, historic photo by Moulton Photograph Co. courtesy of the Boston Public Library.

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    Boston Area Commencement Dates for Spring Impact Hotel Prices, Availability, Restaurant Reservations and More
    Lucy Stone and a Leaf (Part 2)

  • Sunday Is Leif Erikson Day, Discover his Boston Statue!

    October 9th has been the official Leif Erikson Day since Congress declared it so in 1964. If Hurricane Matthew allows us to have a nice day on Sunday, we suggest you take a walk along the Commonwealth Avenue Mall to the corner of Charlesgate East (map) and discover Boston's Memorial to this Viking explorer. 

    IMG_0623 copy

    At the moment, many details of the monument are hidden by tropical plants. 

    5790833630_3043cb0850_z

    In this photo from the Boston Public Library Collection, you can see that he stands above a dragon-headed boat and that boat would have been the basin for a fountain rather than a planter.

    According to an 1887 Boston Globe article, the memorial's dedication was originally located on a traffic island at Commonwealth Avenue and West Chester Park, the former name of Massachusetts Avenue. We are still trying to confirm when it was relocated.

    20101102DSC_8714 - Version 3 copy

    Here's a photo that Penny took a few seasons ago with more of the monument showing in the setting sun.

    Plan a return visit!

    Be sure to come back in winter to discover all the lovely details that sculptor Anne Whitney incorporated into this work of art. A few years ago, we interviewed Sarah Hutt, the Friends of the Public Garden Collections Care Manager. She admitted that this is her favorite statue on the Mall. “I just find that so playful,” she said. “I’ve had the opportunity to go up on the scaffolding [during a restoration] and look at it. There is so much interesting detail… It has all these little stories of his voyages engraved in it.”  

    IMG_0632

    How Do You Spell It? 

    Back in 1000, when this man was said to be sailing up the Charles, people were not as fussy about spelling as we are today. References to him include the following spellings: Leif, Leifur, Leiv, Erikson, Ericson, Ericsson, or Ericksson. As you can see on the information plaque attached to the statue, the city has gone with the Leif Erikson version so we are following their example for now. 

    Our research files on this monument contain many more interesting tidbits that we'll share at a later date. For now, enjoy the fall weather and take a walk to see this piece of Boston public art.

    Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

    Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photography: © 2016 Penny Cherubino, historic photo by Moulton Photograph Co. courtesy of the Boston Public Library.

    Related articles
    Russet May Be the Color of Autumn 2016 in Boston – BostonZest
    Boston Area Commencement Dates for Spring Impact Hotel Prices, Availability, Restaurant Reservations and More
    Lucy Stone and a Leaf (Part 2)

  • Emancipation Statue in Park Square, Abraham Lincoln In Boston

    We were looking for a great photo for our What's Open on Presidents' Day Post when we came across this photo of Abraham Lincoln as he was memorialized by sculptor Thomas Ball in the Emancipation Memorial or Emancipation Statue.

    Since tomorrow is the actual date of Lincoln's birth, we thought we'd share it with our readers. Perhaps, some of you will stop by and see it to honor the man and the spirit of Black History Month.

    5790276061_017d2b2bbc_z

    (Photograph from the Boston Public Library Collection circa 1877-1895)

    It's located in Park Square, but we had never noticed the monument before this research pointed us to it. The memorial is still there today but the view that once existed from the Boston Common and Statehouse is now blocked.

    6309387710_2b402176b9_z

    Here's how it looked circa 1930 in this photo from the Leslie Jones Collection at the Boston Public Library.

    9681690244_5dcbe1056d_k - Version 22014-02-05-emancipation statue map© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    To orient yourself with the photo above, here's the area (with the Emancipaton Statue as a green triangle just below the words Park Square) from the 1912 Bromley Atlas. (Source: State Library of Massachusetts.)

    About the Emancipation Statue

    In Boston, this is called the Emancipation Statue. Moses Kimball gave the sculpture to the city in 1874. It's a copy of the original work by Thomas Ball called the Emancipation Memorial in Washington DC. 

    The Smithsonian American Art Museums descibes the statue in their inventory of outdoor sculputure.

    " A portrait of Abraham Lincoln standing by a kneeling male slave, his proper left hand raised as he is about to emancipate the slave. In his proper right hand, which rests on a bronze podium, Lincoln holds an unrolled copy of the Emancipation Proclamation. To the rear of the figures is a whipping post, chains, shackles, and a frayed whip. On each corner of the podium are fasces and around the base of the podium are thirteen stars. A bas-relief of George Washington decorates the angled face of the podium and a Union shield decorates the inner face of the podium."

    The artiist, Thomas Ball, was born in Charlestown and is also the sculptor of the Public Garden's iconic statue of George Washington.

     Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

     Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photography: from the Boston Public Library and State Library of Massachusetts

  • Emancipation Statue in Park Square, Abraham Lincoln In Boston

    We were looking for a great photo for our What's Open on Presidents' Day Post when we came across this photo of Abraham Lincoln as he was memorialized by sculptor Thomas Ball in the Emancipation Memorial or Emancipation Statue.

    Since tomorrow is the actual date of Lincoln's birth, we thought we'd share it with our readers. Perhaps, some of you will stop by and see it to honor the man and the spirit of Black History Month.

    5790276061_017d2b2bbc_z

    (Photograph from the Boston Public Library Collection circa 1877-1895)

    It's located in Park Square, but we had never noticed the monument before this research pointed us to it. The memorial is still there today but the view that once existed from the Boston Common and Statehouse is now blocked.

    6309387710_2b402176b9_z

    Here's how it looked circa 1930 in this photo from the Leslie Jones Collection at the Boston Public Library.

    9681690244_5dcbe1056d_k - Version 22014-02-05-emancipation statue map© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    To orient yourself with the photo above, here's the area (with the Emancipaton Statue as a green triangle just below the words Park Square) from the 1912 Bromley Atlas. (Source: State Library of Massachusetts.)

    About the Emancipation Statue

    In Boston, this is called the Emancipation Statue. Moses Kimball gave the sculpture to the city in 1874. It's a copy of the original work by Thomas Ball called the Emancipation Memorial in Washington DC. 

    The Smithsonian American Art Museums descibes the statue in their inventory of outdoor sculputure.

    " A portrait of Abraham Lincoln standing by a kneeling male slave, his proper left hand raised as he is about to emancipate the slave. In his proper right hand, which rests on a bronze podium, Lincoln holds an unrolled copy of the Emancipation Proclamation. To the rear of the figures is a whipping post, chains, shackles, and a frayed whip. On each corner of the podium are fasces and around the base of the podium are thirteen stars. A bas-relief of George Washington decorates the angled face of the podium and a Union shield decorates the inner face of the podium."

    The artiist, Thomas Ball, was born in Charlestown and is also the sculptor of the Public Garden's iconic statue of George Washington.

     Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

     Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photography: from the Boston Public Library and State Library of Massachusetts

  • Emancipation Statue in Park Square, Abraham Lincoln In Boston

    We were looking for a great photo for our What's Open on Presidents' Day Post when we came across this photo of Abraham Lincoln as he was memorialized by sculptor Thomas Ball in the Emancipation Memorial or Emancipation Statue.

    Since tomorrow is the actual date of Lincoln's birth, we thought we'd share it with our readers. Perhaps, some of you will stop by and see it to honor the man and the spirit of Black History Month.

    5790276061_017d2b2bbc_z

    (Photograph from the Boston Public Library Collection circa 1877-1895)

    It's located in Park Square, but we had never noticed the monument before this research pointed us to it. The memorial is still there today but the view that once existed from the Boston Common and Statehouse is now blocked.

    6309387710_2b402176b9_z

    Here's how it looked circa 1930 in this photo from the Leslie Jones Collection at the Boston Public Library.

    9681690244_5dcbe1056d_k - Version 22014-02-05-emancipation statue map© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    To orient yourself with the photo above, here's the area (with the Emancipaton Statue as a green triangle just below the words Park Square) from the 1912 Bromley Atlas. (Source: State Library of Massachusetts.)

    About the Emancipation Statue

    In Boston, this is called the Emancipation Statue. Moses Kimball gave the sculpture to the city in 1874. It's a copy of the original work by Thomas Ball called the Emancipation Memorial in Washington DC. 

    The Smithsonian American Art Museums descibes the statue in their inventory of outdoor sculputure.

    " A portrait of Abraham Lincoln standing by a kneeling male slave, his proper left hand raised as he is about to emancipate the slave. In his proper right hand, which rests on a bronze podium, Lincoln holds an unrolled copy of the Emancipation Proclamation. To the rear of the figures is a whipping post, chains, shackles, and a frayed whip. On each corner of the podium are fasces and around the base of the podium are thirteen stars. A bas-relief of George Washington decorates the angled face of the podium and a Union shield decorates the inner face of the podium."

    The artiist, Thomas Ball, was born in Charlestown and is also the sculptor of the Public Garden's iconic statue of George Washington.

     Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

     Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photography: from the Boston Public Library and State Library of Massachusetts