Statue of John Carroll
Statue of John Carroll | |
---|---|
John Carroll | |
Dimensions | 437 cm × 282 cm × 353 cm (14 ft 4 in × 9 ft 3 in × 11 ft 7 in) |
Location | Washington, D.C., United States |
38°54′27.4″N 77°04′20.1″W / 38.907611°N 77.072250°W | |
Owner | Georgetown University |
Bishop John Carroll is a statue by the sculptor
The monument rises more than 14 feet (4.3 m) in height, and was unveiled in 1912 with an elaborate three-day ceremony. Among the thousands of people in attendance were dignitaries including bishops and high-ranking clergy; members of Congress; judges, including the Chief Justice; the Attorney General; and distinguished alumni. The statue has been the subject of student frivolities over the years, including a still current tradition of sitting in the archbishop's lap.
History
After the completion of Healy Hall, an area was set aside for a future statue of Georgetown's founder.
Dedication
Three days of pomp over the erection of the statue began on the evening of May 3, 1912. The Philodemic Society hosted a reception in Gaston Hall, with music provided by the university's glee club. Thomas Walsh delivered an ode, and Daniel William O'Donoghue gave a history of the society and a tribute to the life of John Carroll. Afterwards, the alumni retired to the refectory and gave informal speeches. The statue was publicly unveiled at 11:00 a.m. on May 4, 1912.[7][9] In advance of the scheduled unveiling, the foundry that was casting the statue notified the university that the metalwork would not be ready in time. Not wishing to rescind invitations to dignitaries slated to speak, Georgetown went ahead with the unveiling ceremony after a brown-painted plaster cast of the statue was placed on the pedestal, unbeknownst to the several thousand ceremony attendees. This secret was kept until 1940, when Brother James Harrington, the overseer of campus workers in 1912, revealed it to the university's student newspaper, The Hoya.[6]
The ceremony began with a procession of clergy, government officials, faculty, and alumni.
Additional speeches were made by: the Archbishop of Baltimore,
The following day, celebrations continued at the
Several weeks later, the plaster cast stand-in was replaced with its bronze counterpart in the middle of the night.[6]
Description
Bishop John Carroll is positioned on a circular lawn between Healy Hall and the university's front gates,[13] an area known as Healy Circle.[6] It was created by Irish sculptor Jerome Connor who trained as a stone carver.[14]
The
The sculpture rests on a plinth of North Carolina granite,[7] which measures 57 inches (140 cm) long by 70 inches (180 cm) wide by 102 inches (260 cm) tall. This brings the overall dimensions of the statue to 11 feet 7 inches (3.53 m) long, 9 feet 3 inches (2.82 m) wide, and 14 feet 4 inches (4.37 m) tall. An inscription on the front of the base reads: "JOHN CARROLL" and beneath it, "FOVNDER", while the rear contains the words "PRIEST" and beneath it, "PATRIOT PRELATE". On the right-hand side of the sculpture, near the base, is the artist's signature and date of completion: "Jerome Conner – 1912".[b][15]
Student traditions
A popular belief is that the sculpture was modified in 1923 by filling in the space beneath the chair with a bronze stack of books in response to pranks by students who would place a chamber pot in the vacant space.[15] However, this myth is untrue, as the books were a part of the original statue from its creation.[16] On one occasion, students painted the statue red.[15] A tradition that has developed is for graduating Georgetown students to climb the statue and sit in the lap of John Carroll.[17]
The statue has appeared in a number of films, including
See also
Notes
- ^ a b The Archdiocese of Baltimore initially had ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the entire United States.[3] Washington, D.C. fell within the territory of the Archdiocese of Baltimore until the creation of the Archdiocese of Washington in 1939.[4]
- ^ The artist's signature near the base of the statue is spelled "Jerome Conner," not the more common "Jerome Connor."[15]
References
- ISBN 9780738515090. Archived from the original on October 31, 2018. Retrieved October 30, 2018 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b White, Jasmine (September 22, 2017). "Storied Statues Reveal Georgetown's History". The Hoya. Archived from the original on September 30, 2017. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
- ^ "The Premier See (1789 – 1823)". Archdiocese of Baltimore. Archived from the original on April 29, 2019. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
- ^ "75th Anniversary". Archdiocese of Washington. Archived from the original on February 21, 2019. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
- ^ Spalding, Thomas W. "Most Rev. John Carroll". Archdiocese of Baltimore. Archived from the original on July 11, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
- ^ a b c d "Is it true that the John Carroll statue, which sits in Healy Circle, arrived on campus too late for its own unveiling ceremony?". Georgetown University Library. Archived from the original on September 28, 2016. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "The Carroll Celebration at Georgetown". America. Vol. 7, no. 5. America Press. May 11, 1912. p. 115. Archived from the original on October 30, 2018. Retrieved October 29, 2018 – via Google Books.
- ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ "To Georgetown's Founder: Statue to Father Carroll Unveiled by Men High in Church and State". The New York Times. May 5, 1912. Archived from the original on July 27, 2018. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
- ^ Carr, Martena (1913). "Report of the Chronicler". Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C. 16: 207. Archived from the original on October 29, 2018. Retrieved October 29, 2018 – via Google Books.
- ^ Judge, Mark (July 21, 2005). "Joe McCarthy's Jesuit". The American Spectator. Archived from the original on October 30, 2018. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
- ^ a b McCormick, Patrick J. (June 1912). "Current Events". Catholic Educational Review. 4: 83–84. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved December 15, 2018 – via Google Books.
- ISBN 9781442248816. Archived from the original on October 31, 2018. Retrieved October 30, 2018 – via Google Books.
- ISBN 9781467120807. Archived from the original on November 5, 2018. Retrieved November 5, 2018 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Bishop John Carroll, (sculpture)". Smithsonian Institution Research Information System. 2016. Archived from the original on October 30, 2018. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
- ^ a b "Fact of Fiction? Mythbusting Hoya History with the University Archives". Georgetown University Library. August 23, 2016. Archived from the original on March 1, 2018. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
- ^ Kuh, Simon (September 7, 2016). "College tour fail: Why can't admissions offices tell it like it is?". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 30, 2018. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
- ISBN 9780595267972. Archived from the original on November 18, 2018. Retrieved November 18, 2018 – via Google Books.