Ulysses S. Grant Monument
41°55′03″N 87°37′51″W / 41.9176°N 87.6308°W | |
Location | Lincoln Park, Chicago |
---|---|
Designer | Louis Rebisso |
Type | Presidential memorial |
Material | Bronze, granite base |
Height | 60 ft 9 in (18.52 m) |
Beginning date | 1885 |
Completion date | 1891 |
Dedicated date | October 7, 1891 |
Dedicated to | Ulysses S. Grant |
Website | Official website |
The Ulysses S. Grant Monument is a presidential memorial in Chicago, honoring American Civil War general and 18th president of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant. Located in Lincoln Park, the statue was commissioned shortly after the president's death in 1885 and was completed in 1891. Several artists submitted sketches, and Louis Rebisso was selected to design the statue, with a granite pedestal suggested by William Le Baron Jenney. At the time of its completion, the monument was the largest bronze statue cast in the United States, and over 250,000 people were present at the dedication.
In 2021, Mayor of Chicago Lori Lightfoot announced that Grant, as well as 40 other statues and dedications in the Chicago area, were under review for possible removal. The Grant Monument's inclusion in this list has been met with criticism from academics, politicians, and journalists.
Description
The Grant Monument is situated in
Noted
Fellow sculptors, as well as Grant's family, largely praised the design of the monument. His widow,
History
Creation and dedication
President Grant died on July 23, 1885, of
The project suffered a number of delays. Rebisso not only fell ill for several months, but he grew tired of his work partway through the project. At one point, the original mold for the bronze casting was broken and needed to be replaced.[4] The monument was finally completed and dedicated on October 7, 1891. While exact attendance numbers vary, it is generally agreed that at least 250,000 Americans attended the Grant Memorial Day. At the time, this number would have been equivalent to at least one in four Chicagoans.[8] One attendee was Julia Dent, in a rare public appearance after the death of her husband.[9] The dedication was accompanied by a banquet and parade, provided by the Army of the Tennessee, while Horace Porter delivered a eulogy.[10]
In 1958, a military history organization known as the Civil War Round Table recommended that the monument be moved to nearby Grant Park,[11] but the park board denied this request after learning it would cost $230,000 (equivalent to $2,370,000 in 2022) to complete the move.[12] In the mid-1990s, the Chicago Park District fully conserved the monument, a process which included cleaning and treating both the sculpture and pedestal, as well as installing new lighting.[1]
Potential removal
On February 17, 2021, Mayor of Chicago Lori Lightfoot announced that, in an effort to confront the "hard truths of Chicago's racial history", 41 statues, plaques, and works of public art within the city were to be placed under review for possible removal by the Chicago Monuments Project.[13] A potential rationale for the removal of the Grant Monument was that his "American Indian policies were well intentioned, but ultimately disastrous".[14]
Lightfoot's decision was met with widespread criticism from historians and other government officials.
See also
References
- ^ a b c d "Ulysses S. Grant Monument". Chicago Park District. Government of Chicago. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
- ^ a b c d "Chicago's Grant Monument". The Illustrated American. Vol. 8, no. 87. October 17, 1891. p. 408. Retrieved June 9, 2021 – via HathiTrust.
- ISBN 9780801858611. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e Bonner, John; Curtis, George William; Alden, Henry Mills; Conant, Samuel Stillman; Schuyler, Montgomery; Foord, John; Davis, Richard Harding; Schurz, Carl; Nelson, Henry Loomis; Bangs, John Kendrick; Harvey, George Brinton Mcclellan; Hapgood, Norman (July 4, 1891). "Grant Monument in Chicago". Harper's Weekly. Vol. 35, no. 1802. p. 494 – via Google Books.
- ^ Glover, Ellve Howell (April 1898). "The Monuments of Chicago". The International. Vol. 4, no. 4. pp. 291–306 – via Google Books.
- ISBN 9780252015014. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
- ISBN 0-393-01372-3. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
- ISBN 9780821444818. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
- ISBN 9781786258540. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
- ^ Porter, Horace (1906). DuBois Shurter, Edwin (ed.). Masterpieces of Modern Oratory. Boston, MA: Ginn. p. 257. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
- ^ "Urge moving Grant statue to Grant Park". Chicago Tribune. April 24, 1958. p. 53. Retrieved August 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Board weighs bid to move Grant statue". Chicago Tribune. June 11, 1958. p. 38. Retrieved August 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Spielman, Fran (February 17, 2021). "Statues of four U.S. presidents among 41 under the microscope by Chicago committee". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
- ^ "Ulysses S. Grant Monument". Chicago Monuments Project. Government of Chicago. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
- ^ McGinnis, John O. (March 15, 2021). "Chicago's Monumental Mistake". City Journal. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
- ^ Whidden, Jenny (March 5, 2021). "In Land of Lincoln, what's wrong with statues of Honest Abe? And should Ulysses S. Grant be taken off his high horse?". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
- ^ Nowicki, Jerry (April 21, 2021). "Review of state monuments, statues begins". Daily Herald. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
- ^ Cramer, Maria (February 18, 2021). "Chicago Lists Lincoln Statues Among Monuments to Review". The New York Times. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
- ^ "Editorial: Take down Chicago statues of Lincoln? No". Chicago Tribune. February 19, 2021. Retrieved June 9, 2021.