A young Concord man named Daniel Chester French won the contest to create a monument for the 100th anniversary of the battle (1875). Civil war cannons were melted down to create this cast bronze statue. French later created many other pieces of art, including the seated Lincoln statue in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.



The Minute Man Statue

 French performed the commissions with associate Adolph A. Weinman, sculpted by the Piccirilli Brothers. Each sculptural group costing $13,500. From east to west, the statues depicted larger-than-life-size personifications of the continents Asia, America, Europe, and Africa. The primary figures were female, but there were also auxiliary human figures flanking each primary figure. In addition, Asia's figure was paired with a tiger, and Africa's figure was paired with a lion.

Four Continents

 Anne Lewison, architect and board member of cultureNOW, reads a selection from the book, Manhattan Outdoor Sculpture, by Margot Gayle and Michele Cohen, about The Four Continents, by Daniel Chester French, located at the US Customs House. 

French was commissioned in 1901 and began working on the design. &nbsp;The woman in academic robes holding a scepter of stalks of wheat on top of which is a small version of the original crown of King's College. The final work was to have been ready for the 1902 Commencement but the piece didn't get completed until the first day of classes in 1903.&nbsp;

When Charles McKim originally planned the Columbia campus he left a large granite plinth on the grand staircase to the Low Library as a ‘placeholder’ for an appropriate statue to welcome visitors to the University. &nbsp;Several years later a donor, the family of Robert Goelet appeared. &nbsp;

Opening of the institution's 150th academic year celebrated by the dedication of [Daniel Chester] French's Masterpiece of Sculpture--T. C. Muller.

on the steps of Low Library - on the campus

Alma Mater

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's children donated the land of Longfellow Park to the City of Cambridge as a memorial to their father. The Longfellow Memorial Association raised funds for the design and construction of the park, by Charles Eliot and later the Olmsted Firm, and the monument, by Henry Bacon and Daniel Chester French. The bas relief of the monument, dedicated in October 1914, depicts six iconic characters from Longfellow's works: Miles Standish, Sandalphon, the Village Blacksmith, the Spanish Student, Evangeline, and Hiawatha.

Longfellow House-Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Memorial

Bas-relief on stele; terrace.Foundry: Gorham Co.Donor: Henry Harteau

Bas-relief H: 10' W: 13' ; Stele H: 19' W: 22' D: 8'10"; Terrace W: 72' D: 35'

The Marquis De Lafayette, this monument was erected and presented by Henry Harteau a distinguished citizen of Brooklyn to be an enduring tribute to the memory of one who as a friend and companion of the immortal Washington fought to establish in our country those vital principles of liberty and human brotherhood which he afterward labored to establish in his own.

This memorial was unveiled and dedicated by Marshall Joffre and M. Vivani of the French War Commission, May 10, 1917

Lafayette Memorial

The stature of the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, was created to honor his memory. The statue is lying between the north and south chambers where the central hall is where the statue stands.<a href="https://culturenow.org/people/national-park-service?name=National_Park_Service">[1]</a> It is often thought that the figure of Lincoln is signing his own initials in the American manual alphabet: “A” with his left hand, “L” with his right. However, there are different interpretations of what the hand placement means. It is also thought that one hand is clenched, representing his strength and determination to see the war through a successful conclusion. The other hand is a more open, slightly more relaxed hand representing his compassionate, warm nature.<a href="https://culturenow.org/people/national-park-service?name=National_Park_Service">[3]</a> When French created the statue of Lincoln he took 7 years to research Lincoln and study the photographs of him.<a href="https://culturenow.org/people/national-park-service?name=National_Park_Service">[2]</a>

Lincoln Memorial

Statue of Abraham Lincoln

Daniel Chester French`s allegorical figures of Miss Brooklyn &amp; Miss Manhattan, which graced the Manhattan Bridge before being moved to the entrance of the Brooklyn Museum in 1963.Miss Brooklyn - A young woman seated with child holding open book sitting at her feet. At least some of the modeling for the Brooklyn figure was done byRosalie Miller.Miss Manhattan - A young woman seated holding globe with left arm, feet resting on treasure chest, figure of peacock on right and headless, armless torso on left.

The grand Manhattan Bridge approach from Brooklyn, you can make out two statues inside the granite pylons flanking the roadway.

Original Location

Brooklyn Museum

Allegory of Manhattan & Brooklyn

A memorial installed along Boston's Fenway. It was created to honor Irish-born writer and activist John Boyle O'Reilly not long after his death in 1890. a popular writer who had helped create the image of Boston as a place full of Irish people and culture and invited Irish luminaries like Oscar Wilde to the city and hosted fundraising rallies for Irish revolutionaries like Charles Stewart Parnell.

John Boyle O'Reilly Memorial

These medallions were enlarged and recast from their 1898 originals. The donors were eighteen civic, veterans', and historical associations, under auspices of American Battle Monuments Commission. It commemorates the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Manila Bay. The replica medallions are based on French's originals.

Plaque H: 3'9" W: 2'8" D: 1"; Plinth H: 4' W: 3'4" D: 2'8"

Obverse of medal at top of plaque:THE GIFT OF THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES TO THE OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE ASIATIC SQUADRON UNDER THE COMMAND OF COMMODORE GEORGE DEWEY D.C. FRENCH 1898&nbsp;Reverse of medal at top of plaque:IN MEMORY OF THE VICTORY OF MANILA BAY MAY 1 1898 U.S.S. OLYMPIA&nbsp;Main text on plaque:THIS MONUMENT ERECTED ON ADMIRAL GEORGE DEWEY PROMENADE TO COMMEMORATE THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF MANILA BAY MAY 1, 1898 UNITED SPANISH WAR VETERANS NAVAL ACADEMY ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK SONS OF THE REVOLUTION IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, NEW YORK CHAPTER NAVAL ORDER OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY LEAGUE OF THE UNITED STATES - NEW YORK COUNCIL NEW YORK STATE SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI UNITED STATES NAVAL INSTITUTE THE MILITARY CHAPLAINS ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA RESERVE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES NAVAL RESERVE ASSOCIATION ROBERT L. HAGUE POST, AMERICAN LEGION CATHOLIC WAR VETERANS, DEPARTMENT OF NEW YORK THE SEAMEN'S BANK FOR SAVINGS PHILIPPINE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE NEW YORK CITY NATIONAL SHRINES ASSOCIATES NAVAL HISTORICAL FOUNDATION BATTERY CASTLE CLINTON MONUMENT ASSOCIATES SPONSORS MAY 1, 1973

Located adjacent to Admiral George Dewey Promenade.

Admiral George Dewey Memorial

 John Harvard was an Englishman from the Southwark neighborhood of London. He emigrated to New England in 1637 but died of tuberculosis only one year later. He is buried in the Phipps Street Burial Ground in Charlestown. When Harvard died he bequeathed half of his fortune and his entire library to the new college that was founded in Cambridge. The college was named after him in 1638. Daniel Chester French (Massachusetts native who also created the Lincoln Memorial sculpture, among many other famous monuments) sculpted the John Harvard Statue, now known as the "statue of three lies" in 1884. The three lies are: 1) the sculpture is not of John Harvard because, of course, it was created 250 years after Harvard died. French used a student as a model. 2) The statue incorrectly states that the founding of Harvard was in 1638, not 1636. 3) The plaque lists Harvard as the founder of Harvard college, when he was in fact only a benefactor after the Massachusetts colonial government founded the college. 

Located in the Old Yard at Harvard, in front of University Hall.

John Harvard Statue

In front of the State House's eastern entrance

Over the pediment of the New York State Appellate Division Courthouse

Fairview Cemetery

Norfolk Southern Headquarters

Downtown St. Louis

Daniel Chester French was a neighbor and friend of Ralph Waldo Emerson, and the Alcott family. His decision to pursue sculpting was influenced by Louisa May Alcott's sister May Alcott. At the age of twenty-three he received a commission from the town of Concord, Massachusetts, for his well-known statue The Minute Man, which was unveiled April 19, 1875 on the centenary of the Battle of Lexington and Concord. French is also famous for his sculpture of Abraham Lincoln seated in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.

Daniel Chester French

SITES