[Lincolnparkdc] Origins of Lincoln Park Statue

Thu Jun 18 21:32:42 EDT 2020

You know, I’m thinking that the real solution is to make all of the wonderful information we are sharing among ourselves available by the statue at the park.  Particularly the Frederick Douglas speech. Keep the statue, but put it in context. I’ve always found the statue to be a bit off-putting, but felt better after learning the history.  Why not make that available to all visitors?  

Not sure how to start a campaign to put historic explanatory materials in national parks, nor do I have any preference for how it should be presented, but if there is an interest, I’ll check into it.  Other ideas welcome. 

Barbara Meierhoefer
115 Kentucky

> On Jun 18, 2020, at 12:50 PM, jobyl boone <jobyl01 at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I mentioned Kirk Savage's book, Standing Soldiers, Kneeling Slaves, in a previous post on this topic and linked to the full text of the chapter, "Freedom's Memorial," which deals specifically with the Lincoln Park statue group. I link it again here:
> https://books.google.com/books?id=E9bDt6n9DW4C&pg=PA89&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false <https://books.google.com/books?id=E9bDt6n9DW4C&pg=PA89&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false>
> 
> Jobyl
> 14th St, SE
> 
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2020 21:21:08 -0500
> From: Hannah Bergman <hannah.haley at gmail.com <mailto:hannah.haley at gmail.com>>
> To: lincolnparkdc at lincolnparkdc.info <mailto:lincolnparkdc at lincolnparkdc.info>
> Subject: Re: [Lincolnparkdc] Origins of Lincoln Park Statue
> 
> When I talked to her today about it, she said she is supportive of the
> statue as is. She believed that there was a debate at the time on the
> design and that there had been a consensus, and that the statue should be
> viewed as part of a larger body of work.
> 
> Her own graduate research focused on the differences between statues in the
> Caribbean which feature slaves breaking free and asserting themselves as
> opposed to those in the US which she described as being in the loyal mammy
> vein. She pointed to this story
> https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/05/the-mammy-washington-almost-had/276431/ <https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/05/the-mammy-washington-almost-had/276431/>
> as an example of a successful push back against a statue.
> 
> Hannah
> 
> On Wed, Jun 17, 2020 at 7:26 PM Diana Quinn <dqquinn at gmail.com <mailto:dqquinn at gmail.com>> wrote:
> 
> > I'd be interested to know what she thinks about the Lincoln Park statue....
> > On Wed, Jun 17, 2020 at 8:23 PM Hannah Bergman <hannah.haley at gmail.com <mailto:hannah.haley at gmail.com>>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> Hi,
> >>
> >> One of my coworkers (I work at the National Archives) did her graduate
> >> work in history on statutes and racial iconography. She recommended this
> >> book, for a scholarly discussion of the issue.
> >>
> >> Standing Soldiers, Kneeling Slaves: Race, War, and Monument in
> >> Nineteenth-Century America,
> >>
> >> https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07CSFQTMS/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=&sr= <https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07CSFQTMS/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=&sr=>
> >>
> >> I believe there is significantly more to the discussion and meaning of
> >> the statue then just taking the images at face value.
> >>
> >>
> >> Hannah
> >>
> >> On Tue, Jun 16, 2020 at 4:51 PM padma cariappa <padmacariappa at gmail.com <mailto:padmacariappa at gmail.com>>
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >>> Thank you for this interesting and enlightening background, Sandra.
> >>> I do hope its history and origins are given some thought by those who
> >>> may have designs on the statue.
> >>> Best regards, Padma
> >>>
> >>> On Jun 16, 2020, at 5:43 PM, Sandra Moscoso-Mills <
> >>> smoscosomills at hotmail.com <mailto:smoscosomills at hotmail.com>> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> More (short) reading! Passing this background along from our friends at
> >>> NPS.
> >>> ----------
> >>>
> >>> Sources are the original speech delivered by Frederick Douglass at the
> >>> dedication of the statue at Library of Congress, Program at the dedication
> >>> at Library of Congress, and the book "The story of Archer Alexander" from
> >>> 1886.
> >>>
> >>> Of note:  Frederick Douglass was the keynote speaker when the statue was
> >>> dedicated in 1876 and he saw it a symbol of freedom - although he did both
> >>> praise and criticize the Presidency of Abraham Lincoln at the dedication.
> >>>
> >>> Key points:
> >>>
> >>>    1. It is an anti-slavery statue.  It was officially titled
> >>>    "Freedom's Memorial"
> >>>    2. Anti-slavery allegories on the statue show a former whipping post
> >>>    (with scourge marks showing the violence of slavery) - whipping post has
> >>>    ivy growing up it to show that slavery is a thing of the past in the US.
> >>>    The formerly enslaved person has broken shackles on his wrists to show that
> >>>    he freed himself - a tribute to the African American Union soldiers who
> >>>    fought for freedom during the  Civil War, or as quoted in the book: "The
> >>>    Story of Archer Alexander" (1885) "whose hand has grasped the chain as if
> >>>    in the act of breaking it, indicating the historical fact that slaves took
> >>>    active part in their own deliverance."
> >>>    3. Funding for the statue ($17,000) was raised entirely by African
> >>>    Americans - note there were those in the US government (notably President
> >>>    Andrew Johnson) who tried to prevent the erection of the statue because
> >>>    they were pro-Southern.
> >>>    4. The African American in the statue is based on a real person,
> >>>    Archer Alexander - who had been enslaved but freed during the Civil War.
> >>>    5. The kneeling of the enslaved person:  Two interpretations here:
> >>>    One is he is rising from the condition of slavery. The 1886 book "The Story
> >>>    of Archer Alexander" states that he is receiving a benediction from
> >>>    Lincoln.
> >>>    6. In addition to Douglass, US Representative, John Mercer Langston,
> >>>    first African American US Representative from Virginia, gave a short
> >>>    address at the dedication of the statue.
> >>>    7. The statue was the historical epicenter for DC Emancipation Day
> >>>    ceremonies during much of the 19th century.
> >>>    8. The Mary McLeod Bethune statue was erected to compliment the
> >>>    Freedom's Memorial - the plaza between them is known as "Centennial Plaza"
> >>>    to represent the 100 years between the Emancipation Proclamation (1863) and
> >>>    the original intended date of the Bethune statue (1963) (note: active Civil
> >>>    Rights issues in the 1960s delayed the erection of the Bethune statue until
> >>>    1974). When erected, the "Lincoln" statue was turned to face Mrs. Bethune.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> What Frederick Douglass said (conclusion of his speech dedicating the
> >>> statue) (Speech and program are at the library of Congress)
> >>> <https://www.loc.gov/resource/lcrbmrp.t0c12/?sp=1&r=0.116,0.157,0.741,0.903,0 <https://www.loc.gov/resource/lcrbmrp.t0c12/?sp=1&r=0.116,0.157,0.741,0.903,0>>
> >>>
> >>> ". . . In doing honor to our friend and liberator, we have been doing
> >>> the highest honors to ourselves and those who come after us; we have been
> >>> fastening to ourselves to a name and fame imperishable and immortal; we
> >>> have also been defending ourselves from a blighting scandal. When now it
> >>> shall be said that the colored man is soulless, that he has no appreciation
> >>> of benefits and benefactors when the foul reproach of ingratitutde is
> >>> hurled at us, and it is attempted to scourge us beyond the range of human
> >>> brotherhood, we may calmly point to the monument we have this day erected
> >>> to the memory of Abraham Lincoln."
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> ------------------------------
> >>> *From:* lincolnparkdc <lincolnparkdc-bounces at lincolnparkdc.info <mailto:lincolnparkdc-bounces at lincolnparkdc.info>> on
> >>> behalf of Nicholas Alberti <alberti6a04 at yahoo.com <mailto:alberti6a04 at yahoo.com>>
> >>> *Sent:* Tuesday, June 16, 2020 5:12 PM
> >>> *To:* lincolnparkdc at lincolnparkdc.info <mailto:lincolnparkdc at lincolnparkdc.info> <lincolnparkdc at lincolnparkdc.info <mailto:lincolnparkdc at lincolnparkdc.info>
> >>> *Subject:* [Lincolnparkdc] Origins of Lincoln Park Statue
> >>>
> >>> I suggest the neighbors read the link below that describes the origin of
> >>> the Lincoln statue in the park.
> >>> Emancipation Memorial (Freedman's Memorial)
> >>> <https://washington.org/find-dc-listings/emancipation-memorial-freedmans-memorial <https://washington.org/find-dc-listings/emancipation-memorial-freedmans-memorial>>
> >>>
> >>> Nick Alberti
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> LincolnParkDC mailing list
> 
> To post to the list address your message to: LincolnParkDC at lincolnparkdc.info <mailto:LincolnParkDC at lincolnparkdc.info>
> When replying, please consider whether to reply to the sender only, or to the list, which is the default.
> Not all replies are appropriate for the entire list.
> 
> Please do not send administrative requests to the list. Please click on the following link to
> switch to digest mode, change your password, or otherwise manage your subscription:
> https://vps.woteki.com/mailman/listinfo/lincolnparkdc_lincolnparkdc.info <https://vps.woteki.com/mailman/listinfo/lincolnparkdc_lincolnparkdc.info>
> 
> If you need assistance managing your subscription, please address your request to: towncrier at lincolnparkdc.info <mailto:towncrier at lincolnparkdc.info>
> Please do not address assistance requests to the list. Thank you for your cooperation.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lincolnparkdc.info/pipermail/lincolnparkdc_lincolnparkdc.info/attachments/20200618/8ebf6db3/attachment.htm>