Statue of J. Marion Sims

Last updated
J. Marion Sims
Jmarionsimsjeh.JPG
The statue in Central Park in 2008
Medium Bronze sculpture
Subject J. Marion Sims

J. Marion Sims is a bronze sculpture depicting the American physician of the same name by Ferdinand Freiherr von Miller. [1]

Contents

Description

The sculpture consists of a nearly 9-foot-tall image of a standing Sims upon a plinth resting on a pedestal, and supporting piers on either side with roundels containing descriptions. The figure of Sims is cast in bronze, and the other elements of the sculpture are granite from North Jay, Maine. [2]

History

The statue in Bryant Park Bronze statue of the late Dr J. Marion Sims erected in Bryant Park and CIPB0963.jpg
The statue in Bryant Park

The statue was cast in Munich, Germany, in 1892 [1] and was dedicated on October 20, 1894. [2] Originally erected in Bryant Park in 1894, it was taken down in the 1920s amid subway construction, and moved to the northeastern corner of Central Park, at 103rd Street, in 1934, opposite the New York Academy of Medicine. [3] [4]

This statue became a cause of controversy in 2017 due to Sims' operations on enslaved black women. [5] In August of that year, the statue was vandalized, with someone writing the word "racist" on it in spray paint. [6] Activists' push to remove the statue intensified following the publication of the book Medical Apartheid . [7] In April 2018, the New York City Public Design Commission voted unanimously to have the statue removed from Central Park and installed in Green-Wood Cemetery, near where Sims is buried. [4] The following day, the statue was moved to Green-Wood, where it was temporarily placed in storage. (The pedestal or supporting piers remain at Central Park.) The cemetery plans to place the statue near Sims' gravesite once a historical display on Sims' life is created. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green-Wood Cemetery</span> Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York, U.S.

Green-Wood Cemetery is a 478-acre (193 ha) cemetery in the western portion of Brooklyn, New York City. The cemetery is located between South Slope/Greenwood Heights, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Borough Park, Kensington, and Sunset Park, and lies several blocks southwest of Prospect Park. Its boundaries include, among other streets, 20th Street to the northeast, Fifth Avenue to the northwest, 36th and 37th Streets to the southwest, Fort Hamilton Parkway to the south, and McDonald Avenue to the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bowling Green (New York City)</span> Public park in Manhattan, New York

Bowling Green is a small public park in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, New York City, at the southern end of Broadway. Located next to the site of the original Dutch fort of New Amsterdam, it served as a public place before being designated as a park in 1733. It is the oldest public park in New York City and is surrounded by its original 18th-century fence. It included an actual bowling green and an equestrian statue of King George III prior to the American Revolutionary War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. Marion Sims</span> American physician and gynecologist (1813-1883)

James Marion Sims was an American physician in the field of surgery. His most famous work was the development of a surgical technique for the repair of vesicovaginal fistula, a severe complication of obstructed childbirth. He is also remembered for inventing Sims speculum, Sims sigmoid catheter, and the Sims position. Against significant opposition, he established, in New York, the first hospital specifically for women. He was forced out of the hospital he founded because he insisted on treating cancer patients; he played a small role in the creation of the nation's first cancer hospital, which opened after his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ulysses S. Grant Memorial</span> US historic place in Washington, D.C.

The Ulysses S. Grant Memorial is a presidential memorial in Washington, D.C., honoring American Civil War general and 18th United States President Ulysses S. Grant. It sits at the base of Capitol Hill, below the west front of the United States Capitol. Its central sculpture of Grant on horseback faces west, overlooking the Capitol Reflecting Pool and facing toward the Lincoln Memorial, which honors Grant's wartime president, Abraham Lincoln. Grant's statue is raised on a pedestal decorated with bronze reliefs of the infantry; flanking pedestals hold statues of protective lions and bronze representations of the Union cavalry and artillery. The whole is connected with marble covered platforms, balustrades, and stairs. The Grant and Lincoln memorials define the eastern and western ends, respectively, of the National Mall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Public art in Central Park</span>

New York City's 843-acre (3.41 km2) Central Park is the home of many works of public art in various media, such as bronze, stone and tile. Many are sculptures in the form of busts, statues, equestrian statues, and panels carved or cast in low relief. Others are two-dimensional bronze or tile plaques. Some artworks do double-duty as fountains, or as part of fountains; some serve as memorials dedicated to a cause, to notable individuals, and in one case, to a notable animal. Most were donated by individuals or civic organizations; only a few were funded by the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allen George Newman</span> American sculptor

Allen George Newman III was an American sculptor, best known for his statue "The Hiker".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edmond Thomas Quinn</span> American sculptor and painter

Edmond Thomas Quinn was an American sculptor and painter. He is best known for his bronze statue of Edwin Booth as Hamlet, which stands at the center of Gramercy Park in New York City. His larger-than-lifesize bronze bust of Victor Herbert stands near The Pond in Central Park, New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of Christopher Columbus (Central Park)</span> Statue in Central Park, Manhattan, New York, U.S.

An outdoor bronze sculpture of Christopher Columbus by Jeronimo Suñol is installed in Central Park in Manhattan, New York.

<i>107th Infantry Memorial</i> Sculpture in Manhattan, New York, U.S.

The 107th Infantry Memorial is an outdoor bronze sculpture and memorial located at the intersection of East 67th Street and Fifth Avenue in Central Park, in Manhattan, New York, which honors members of the 107th Infantry who died during World War I. Created by the sculptor Karl Morningstar Illava (1896–1954), who "drew from his own experience serving as a sergeant with the 107th," according to the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, the sculpture cost an estimated $60,000 at the time of its construction, depicts the actions of seven World War I-era soldiers, and rests on a 25-foot-wide stepped granite base designed by architects Rogers & Haneman.

<i>Ludwig van Beethoven</i> (Baerer) Sculptures series of Ludwig van Beethoven by Henry Baerer

Ludwig van Beethoven is a series of sculptures of Ludwig van Beethoven by German-American sculptor Henry Baerer. Versions are displayed in Central Park and Prospect Park in New York City, as well as Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. The sculpture in Central Park was dedicated on July 22, 1884. It includes two bronze statues, including a bust of Beethoven and an allegorical female figure on a polished Barre Granite pedestal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of Horace Greeley (Herald Square)</span> Statue in Manhattan, New York, U.S.

Horace Greeley, also known as the Greeley Memorial, is an outdoor bronze sculpture of Horace Greeley by Alexander Doyle, located in Greeley Square Park in Manhattan, New York. The statue, cast in 1892 and dedicated on May 30, 1894, sits atop a Quincy granite pedestal. It contains the following inscription:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of Horace Greeley (City Hall Park)</span> Statue in Manhattan, New York, U.S.

An outdoor bronze sculpture of Horace Greeley by artist John Quincy Adams Ward and architect Richard Morris Hunt is located in City Hall Park in Manhattan, New York. Cast in 1890, the seated statue is set on a Quincy granite pedestal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vincenzo Miserendino</span> Italian sculptor

Vincenzo "Vincent" Miserendino was an Italian-American artist and sculptor born in Sicily and active in New York City during the first half of the 20th century. He studied art first in Palermo at the age of 13 and then in Rome at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma. He immigrated to the United States in 1894 at the age of nineteen, and settled on the lower east side of Manhattan, working in many odd jobs while trying to establish himself as an artist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perry Monument (Cleveland)</span>

Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry Monument is a war monument in Cleveland, Ohio that commemorates Oliver Hazard Perry and his victory at the Battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812. Erected at the center of the city's Public Square in 1860, its Perry statue by sculptor William Walcutt was Ohio's first monumental sculpture.

<i>Statue of Liberty</i> (Seattle) Statue in Seattle, Washington, U.S.

The Statue of Liberty, or Lady Liberty, is a replica of the Statue of Liberty installed at Seattle's Alki Beach Park, in the U.S. state of Washington. It was installed in 1952 by the Boy Scouts of America and underwent a significant restoration in 2007 after repeated vandalism had damaged the sculpture.

A statue of Gouverneur K. Warren by artist Henry Baerer is installed in Brooklyn's Grand Army Plaza, in the U.S. state of New York. The bronze sculpture of Warren in military garb rests on a Conway green granite pedestal quarried from Little Round Top. It was cast in 1893, commissioned by the G.K. Warren Post, No. 286, G.A.R. for $10,000, and dedicated on June 26, 1896. The memorial was cleaned in 1938, and conserved in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Equestrian statue of José Martí (Central Park)</span> Equestrian statue in Central Park, Manhattan, New York, U.S.

A statue of José Martí by Anna Hyatt Huntington is installed in Manhattan's Central Park, in the U.S. state of New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Equestrian statue of Simón Bolívar (Central Park)</span> Equestrian statue in Central Park, Manhattan, New York, U.S.

An equestrian statue of Simón Bolívar, sometimes called the Simón Bolívar Monument, is installed in Manhattan's Central Park, in the U.S. state of New York. The memorial features a bronze sculpture by Sally James Farnham resting on a black granite pedestal designed by the firm Clarke and Rapuano. It was cast in 1919, dedicated on April 19, 1921, rededicated on April 19, 1951, and conserved by the Adopt-a-Monument Program in 1988.

Vinnie Bagwell is an American sculptor and representational figurative artist.

References

  1. 1 2 "Historical Signs: Dr. James Marion Sims Sculpture: Green-Wood Cemetery". New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.
  2. 1 2 "Central Park: Dr. James Marion Sims". New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Archived from the original on April 9, 2013.
  3. H M Shingleton (March–April 2009). "The Lesser Known Dr. Sims". ACOG Clinical Review. 14 (2): 13–16.
  4. 1 2 Neuman, William (April 16, 2018). "City Orders Sims Statue Removed from Central Park". The New York Times.
  5. Pérez, Miriam Zoila. "New Target for Statue Removal: 'Father of Gynecology' Who Operated on Enslaved Black Women". Race Forward. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  6. Brown, DeNeen L. (April 30, 2018). "A surgeon experimented on slave women without anesthesia. Now his statues are under attack". The Washington Post.
  7. 1 2 Sayej, Nadja (April 21, 2018). "J Marion Sims: controversial statue taken down but debate still rages". The Guardian.