National Monument to the Forefathers

Last updated
National Monument to the Forefathers
Monument to the Forefathers 1.jpg
National Monument to the Forefathers, 2005
LocationAllerton St.
Plymouth, Massachusetts
BuiltAugust 1, 1889
NRHP reference No. 74002033
Added to NRHPAugust 30, 1974

The National Monument to the Forefathers, formerly known as the Pilgrim Monument, [1] commemorates the Mayflower Pilgrims. Dedicated on August 1, 1889, it honors their ideals as later generally embraced by the United States. It is thought to be the world's largest solid granite monument. [2]

Contents

Overview

Located at 72 Allerton Street in Plymouth, Massachusetts, the 81-foot-tall (25 m) monument was commissioned by the Pilgrim Society. The original concept dates to around 1820, with actual planning beginning in 1850. The cornerstone was laid August 2, 1859 by the Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts, under the direction of Grand Master John T. Heard. The monument was completed in October 1888, and was dedicated with appropriate ceremonies on August 1, 1889. [3]

Hammatt Billings, Boston architect, illustrator and sculptor, originally conceived the monument as a 150-foot-tall (46 m) structure comparable to the Colossus of Rhodes. Shortly before his death in 1874, Billings reduced the size of the monument, which was to be made entirely of granite quarried in Hallowell, Maine. [4] The project was then passed to Billings' brother Joseph who, along with other sculptors including Alexander Doyle, Carl Conrads, and James Mahoney, reworked the design, although the basic components remained. The monument, which faces northeast to Plymouth Harbor (and, roughly, towards Plymouth, England), sits in the center of a circular drive, which is accessed from Allerton Street from the east. The plan of the principal pedestal is octagonal, with four small, and four large faces; from the small faces project four buttresses. On the main pedestal stands the heroic figure of "Faith" with her right hand pointing toward heaven [5] and her left hand clutching the Bible. Upon the four buttresses also are seated figures emblematic of the principles upon which the Pilgrims founded their Commonwealth; counter-clockwise from the east are Morality, Law, Education, and Liberty. Each was carved from a solid block of granite, posed in the sitting position upon chairs with a high relief on either side of minor characteristics. Under "Morality" stand "Prophet" and "Evangelist"; under "Law" stand "Justice" and "Mercy"; under "Education" are "Youth" and "Wisdom"; and under "Liberty" stand "Tyranny Overthrown" and "Peace". On the face of the buttresses, beneath these figures are high reliefs in marble, representing scenes from Pilgrim history. Under "Morality" is "Embarcation"; under "Law" is "Treaty"; under "Education" is "Compact"; and under "Liberty" is "Landing". Upon the four faces of the main pedestal are large panels for records. The front panel is inscribed as follows: "National Monument to the Forefathers. Erected by a grateful people in remembrance of their labors, sacrifices and sufferings for the cause of civil and religious liberty." The right and left panels contain the names of those who came over in the Mayflower. The rear panel, which was not engraved until recently, contains a quotation from Governor William Bradford's famous history, Of Plymouth Plantation :

Thus out of small beginnings greater things have been produced by His hand that made all things of nothing and gives being to all things that are; and as one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shone unto many, yea in some sort to our whole nation; let the glorious name of Jehovah have all praise.

The overall scheme was designed by architect Hammatt Billings. The 36-foot figure of Faith was based on a 9-foot plaster model by William Rimmer in 1875, [6] that was enlarged and altered by Joseph Edward Billings and a sculptor named Perry (probably John D. Perry). The subsidiary statues were executed by area sculptors including Alexander Doyle, Carl Conrads, and James H. Mahoney. [7]

National Register

The monument was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 30, 1974. Originally under the care of the Pilgrim Society, it was given to the Massachusetts government in 2001. [8] It and Plymouth Rock constitute the Pilgrim Memorial State Park. Although intended as national in scope, the Forefathers Monument is not a federal "National Monument" as understood today from the Antiquities Act of 1906.

Film

Monumental: In Search of America's National Treasure , a 2012 documentary hosted by Kirk Cameron, features the history of the monument and the values of those it commemorates. [9]

Images

Seated Figures

Panels on Monument

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pilgrims (Plymouth Colony)</span> Early settlers in Massachusetts

The Pilgrims, also known as the Pilgrim Fathers, were the English settlers who traveled to America on the Mayflower and established the Plymouth Colony in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The Pilgrims' leadership came from the religious congregations of Brownists, or Separatist Puritans, who had fled religious persecution in England for the tolerance of 17th-century Holland in the Netherlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Myles Standish</span> English military officer hired by the Pilgrims (1584–1656)

Myles Standish was an English military officer and colonist. He was hired as military adviser for Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts, United States by the Pilgrims. Standish accompanied the Pilgrims on the ship Mayflower and played a leading role in the administration and defense of Plymouth Colony from its foundation in 1620. On February 17, 1621, the Plymouth Colony militia elected him as its first commander and continued to re-elect him to that position for the remainder of his life. Standish served at various times as an agent of Plymouth Colony on a return trip to England, as assistant governor of the colony, and as its treasurer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plymouth Colony</span> English colonial venture in America (1620–1691)

Plymouth Colony was the first permanent English colony in New England from 1620 to 1691 and the second permanent English colony in America, after the Jamestown Colony. It was settled by the passengers on the Mayflower at a location that had previously been surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement served as the capital of the colony and developed as the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts. At its height, Plymouth Colony occupied most of the southeastern portion of Massachusetts. Many of the people and events surrounding Plymouth Colony have become part of American folklore, including the American tradition of Thanksgiving and the monument of Plymouth Rock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plymouth, Massachusetts</span> Town in Massachusetts, United States

Plymouth is a town and county seat of Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Located in Greater Boston, the town holds a place of great prominence in American history, folklore, and culture, and is known as "America's Hometown". Plymouth was the site of the colony founded in 1620 by the Mayflower Pilgrims, where New England was first established. It is the oldest municipality in New England and one of the oldest in the United States. The town has served as the location of several prominent events, one of the more notable being the First Thanksgiving feast. Plymouth served as the capital of Plymouth Colony from its founding in 1620 until the colony's merger with the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691. The English explorer John Smith named the area Plymouth and the region 'New England' during his voyage of 1614. It was a later coincidence that, after an aborted attempt to make the 1620 trans-Atlantic crossing from Southampton, the Mayflower finally set sail for America from Plymouth, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plymouth Rock</span> United States historic place

Plymouth Rock is the traditional site of disembarkation of the Mayflower Pilgrims who founded Plymouth Colony in December 1620.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Winslow</span> Governor of Plymouth Colony (1595–1655)

Edward Winslow was a Separatist and New England political leader who traveled on the Mayflower in 1620. He was one of several senior leaders on the ship and also later at Plymouth Colony. Both Edward Winslow and his brother, Gilbert Winslow signed the Mayflower Compact. In Plymouth he served in a number of governmental positions such as assistant governor, three times was governor and also was the colony's agent in London. In early 1621 he had been one of several key leaders on whom Governor Bradford depended after the death of John Carver. He was the author of several important pamphlets, including Good Newes from New England and co-wrote with William Bradford the historic Mourt's Relation, which ends with an account of the First Thanksgiving and the abundance of the New World. In 1655 he died of fever while on an English naval expedition in the Caribbean against the Spanish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Degory Priest</span> Mayflower passenger

Degory Priest was a member of the Leiden contingent on the historic 1620 voyage of the ship Mayflower. He was a hat maker from London who married Sarah, sister of Pilgrim Isaac Allerton in Leiden. He was a signatory to the Mayflower Compact in November 1620 and died less than two months later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Quincy Adams Ward</span> American sculptor (1830–1910)

John Quincy Adams Ward was an American sculptor, whose most familiar work is his larger than life-size standing statue of George Washington on the steps of Federal Hall National Memorial in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Hudson Kitson</span> American sculptor

Henry Hudson Kitson was an English-American sculptor who sculpted many representations of American military heroes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hammatt Billings</span> American architect

Charles Howland Hammatt Billings (1818–1874) was an artist and architect from Boston, Massachusetts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Doty</span> Early English colonist in North America

Edward Doty was a passenger on the 1620 voyage of the Mayflower to North America; he was one of the signers of the Mayflower Compact.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pilgrim Monument</span> Monument in Provincetown, Massachusetts, USA

The Pilgrim Monument in Provincetown, Massachusetts, was built between 1907 and 1910 to commemorate the first landfall of the Pilgrims in 1620 and the signing of the Mayflower Compact in Provincetown Harbor. This 252-foot-7+12-inch-tall (77.0 m) campanile is the tallest all-granite structure in the United States and is part of the Provincetown Historic District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cole's Hill</span> Historic cemetery in Massachusetts, United States

Cole's Hill is a National Historic Landmark containing the first cemetery used by the Mayflower Pilgrims in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620. The hill is located on Carver Street near the foot of Leyden Street and across the street from Plymouth Rock. Owned since 1820 by the preservationist Pilgrim Society, it is now a public park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Webster Memorial</span> Memorial in Washington, D.C., U.S.

The Daniel Webster Memorial is a monument in Washington, D.C. honoring U.S. statesman Daniel Webster. It is located near Webster's former home at 1603 Massachusetts Avenue Northwest, beside Scott Circle at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Rhode Island Avenue.

<i>Mayflower</i> 17th-century ship of American colonists

Mayflower was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After 10 weeks at sea, Mayflower, with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, reached what is today the United States, dropping anchor near the tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, on November 21 [O.S. November 11], 1620.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane G. Austin</span> American writer

Jane Goodwin Austin was an American writer, notable for her popular stories of the time. During her lifetime, she was the author of 24 books and numerous short stories. Her friends throughout her life were some of the most well-known American authors, including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Louisa May Alcott.

Henry Bergh is a statue by American artist James H. Mahoney located at the Wisconsin Humane Society in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. The bronze statue portrays Henry Bergh, the father of the humane movement in the United States, holding a cane in his proper right hand and petting a dog with a bandaged paw with his proper left hand. It was created in 1891 and stands 9 feet high.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Resolved White</span> Mayflower passenger

Resolved White was a passenger on the Pilgrim ship Mayflower. In 1620, he accompanied his parents, Pilgrims William and Susanna White, on the journey. He married Judith Vassall, daughter of William Vassall, a founder of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Later in life White became a notable person of Plymouth Colony.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Conrads</span> American sculptor (1839–1920)

Carl H. Conrads was an American sculptor best known for his work on Civil War monuments and his two works in the National Statuary Hall Collection at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. He was also known as Charles Conrads.

<i>Signing of the Mayflower Compact</i> Sculpture in Provincetown, Massachusetts

Signing of the Mayflower Compact (1922) is a fifteen-figure, bas-relief sculpture by Cyrus E. Dallin located at the base of Monument Hill below the Pilgrim Monument in Provincetown, Massachusetts. The sculpture is one of three major commissions he received as part of the Pilgrim Tercentenary in 1920. The other two were the statue of Massasoit in Plymouth, Massachusetts and the Pilgrim half dollar, which featured renditions of a pilgrim and the Mayflower under sail.

References

  1. Toomey, Daniel P. (1892). Massachusetts of To-day. Columbia publishing company. p. 2.
  2. Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Planning and Engineering, Resource Management Planning Program, September 2006. "Resource Management Plan: National Monument to the Forefathers, Plymouth, Massachusetts", p 1. Accessed 8 October 2012.
  3. Plymouth Guide. "Forefathers Monument". Archived from the original on May 11, 2006. Retrieved May 16, 2006.
  4. Michael Shepherd. "Hallowell to Celebrate a Long Forgotten Past Saturday" . Retrieved July 18, 2013.
  5. Billings, Hammatt; Billings, Joseph; Rimmer, William; Perry, John D.; Doyle, Alexander; Conrad, Karl; Mahoney, James H. (24 October 2017). "National Monument to the Forefathers" via siris-artinventories.si.edu Library Catalog.
  6. Armstrong, Craven et al, ‘’200 Years of American Sculpture’’, David R. Godine, Publisher in association with the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1976 p. 302
  7. O'Gorman, James F. (September 1995). "The Colossus of Plymouth: Hammatt Billings's National Monument to the Forefathers". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. University of California Press. 54 (3): 278–301. doi:10.2307/990993. JSTOR   990993.
  8. Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. "Resource Management Plan, National Monument to the Forefathers". Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved May 18, 2006.
  9. Kirk Cameron (2012), Monumental - In Search of America's National Treasure , retrieved 2012-03-28

Further reading

41°57′36″N70°40′34″W / 41.96000°N 70.67611°W / 41.96000; -70.67611