Evening Star Newspaper, March 12, 1933, Page 58

THE SUNDA_\{ STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., MARCH 12, 1933. — - — LOCAL STATUES TO FORMER PRESIDENTS Memorials Which Have Become Park Features— Jefi"érson and _]ackson as Figures in Art Dis- cussions—Some Gifts to Nation. BY JOHN CLAGETT PROCTOR. HEN President Franklin D. Roosevelt returned to the White House after having taken the oath of office a weel: ago Satur- day, it was quite fitting that h2 should ride betweken the tem- porary statues of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, placed to the right and to the left of the entrance to the Court of Honor, on Executive avenue. For many years the different Presidents have been constantly reminded of the illustrious Washington every time they chance to look to the South from the White House, and upon one occasion the late Calvin Coolidge even turned the sight of this old shaft into a telling rebuke, when, after being called upon by a newspaper correspondent tc express an opinion on the unfortunate modern tendency in some quarters to strip from the first President some of our most beautiful traditions, he turned to the famous obelisk and simply said: “His monument still stands!” And, so it does; but far more lasting will be his fame and great- ness, for these will for centuries outlast even the great white shaft erected to his memory by a grateful people. There are not many memorials in the open parks of the Capital to our former Presidents. To Washington there are two, the obelisk and an equestrian statue, cne equestrian statue to Jackson, a statue to Buchanan, two statues and a memorial to Lincoln, a statue each to Grant and Garfield, and a memorial begun to ‘Theodore _Roosevelt. There are no outside monuments in Wash- ington to the first John Adams, nor to Jeffer- son, Madison, Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Van Buren, W. H. Harrison, Tyler, Polk, Tay- lor, Fillmore, Pierce, Johnson, Hayes, Arthur, Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison, Mckinley, Taft, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge or Hoover, and there seems to be no present intention of erecting one to these former Presidents. Greenough’s statue as it stood for many years to the east of the Capitol. The statue has been in the Smithsonian Institution since 1908. At this time it was of considerable bulk, being 10 feet 6 inches in length and 10 feet 6 inches in height, G feet in width and weigh- ing nearly 20 tons. Conveying it from Flor- ence to Leghorn, where it was put aboard the ship Sea, Capt. Delano (a famillar name nowadays) had his difficulties, for much dam- age was done to the trees along the highway between the two places, for which an allow- ance in money was made. - However, it finally arrived in this country July 31, 1841, where a further problem in handling the great bulk of 20 tons had to be met. It was brocught by boal up the Eastern Branch to the mouth of the city canal and thence along that waterway to Maryland ave- nuec and there, placed on a platform, was drawn by means cf czpstans to the Capitol and in due time was placed in the rotunda, where it received all sorts of adverse criticisms, such as “the distinguished citizen without a shirt,” “The Father of His Country about to take a bath,” “the Roman George Washington,” etc. Indead, it received Lttle favorable com- ment, and in 1844 Ccngress directed that it b2 removed to the grounds to the east front of the Capitol with the proviso that it be in- clcsed in a temporary building. It had cost the Government up to the timc it was placed in the Capitol $21,000, and to remove it from there a further appropriation of $5,000 was made. In 1847 the temporary structure sur- Bronze statue of Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Square to the north of the W hite House. OR many years another statue to President Washington stood in the open to the east of the Capitol. This is the famcus Greenocugh statue that for a few years stood in the rotunda of the Capitol, was subsequently re- moved to the east front of the Capitol, where it was enclosed by a temporary building, and finally, in 1908, remcved to the Smithsonian Institution, where it now stands. This statue was provided for by an act of Congress passed July 4, 1832, the contract being given to Horatio Greenough, then but 27 years of age. He was the son of a well-to-do merchant in Boston, Mass., where he was born September 6, 1805, and his father gave him a good education, concluding with a course at Harvard University. He had natural talent and early began to carve figures in chalk without previous in- struction. Soon, however, Solomon Ward of Boston gave him scme instruction in modeling in clay, and Alpheus Cary, a stonecutter, gave him an idea in the carving of marble, and his artistic skill was further developed by a French sculptor named Binon, then residing in Boston. In 1827 Greenough took up his residence in Florence and here the statue was riade, and with much difficuly taken to Lern- horn fec- cthipment to this country. rounding it was removed and an iron railing installed at a further cost of $1,000, and it is in this condition that it is recalled by the early Washingtonian. In nearby Alexandria there is, of course, the George Washington Mem-=rial, erected by the Masons of the country and dedicat:d on May 12, less than a year ago, and the Clark Mills equestrian statue in our own city at Pennsyl- vania avenue and Twenty-fifth street was un- veiled with pomp and ceremony on February 22, 1860. HE bronze statue of Thomas Jefferson in the Capitol is significant at this time, since for 40 yecrs it stood in the White House grounds not far from the temporary statue ornamenting the entrance to the Inaugural Court of Honor. Its history is equally as inter- esting, if not even more so, as is that of the Greenough statue of Washington. The Jefferson statue was executed by David d’Angers in his studio in Paris upon order of Uriah P. Levy, a I‘eutenant in the United States Navy. It was modeled from an excellent portrait of Jefferson by Sully, in the posses- sion of Gen. Lafayette, and which is said to have passed the ordeal of that venerated patriot’s criticism, and when the work was completed hz pronounced it a most faithful counterfeit of the man. In 1934 Lieut. Levy presented the statue to th2 Pederal Government, but its acceptance by Congress was wifthheld for many years. In “Arts and Artists of the Capitol of the United States of America” Charles E. Fairman has this to say cn the subject: “Licut. Levy presented this gift by a let- ter, cne copy of which was sent to the Spezker of the House of Representatives, the other copy to the Vice President. The letter, upon being read, was in each case referred to the Library Committee for a report. The report was favorable and il seems to have been the intention of Ccngre-s to accept the statue, and the Library Committee practically anticipated the action of Congress and sent to Mr. Levy a letter of thanks for his gift. It appears that a resolution passed the House accepting the statue and requesting the concurrence of the Senate therein, an< that an almost identical resolution pa:s>d the Senate in which the concurrence of the House was asked. For somz rcason or other it does not appear that final action was taken upon either of these resolutions, although both branches of the Congress had practically voted to accept the gift. “Just why it happened that the statue was placed in the rotunda when Congress had voted to place it in the square at the eastern front of the Capitol is not understood. Neither _ is there any definite record, so far as has been found, showing the means by which the statue was taken from the rotunda and placed . in the grounds of the Executive Mansion. After the lapsec of 40 years, Mr. Jonas P. Levy ad- dressed a letter to the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds in relation to this statue and requested that if it was not the purpose of the Government to accept the statuz it should be turned over to the heirs of Lieut. Levy, who had presented it to the Government. The letter was referred to the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds and Senator Morrill presented- the report of that . committee. From this' report much in- formation is cbtained. It appears that the statue never was placed in the grounds east of the Capitol, the location selected by ths Con- gress at the time of the introduction of the resolution of acceptance. A resolution was in- troduced February 16, 1835, nearly a year after the statue came into the pessession of the Gov- ernment, which throws some light upon the subject but does not wholly explain how it happened to be located in the grounds of the Executive Mansion. The resolution referred to is as follows: ‘Resolved, That the ¢ m- missioner on thz public buildings and public grounds be directed to remove the bronz: siatue of Jefferson from the rotunda to some suitable place for iis preservation until th> final dis- pocition of it is cetermined by Congrez-."" Mr. Fairman also tells us: “There had been from time to time con- siderable objcction to the acceptance of this statue, which, however, never materialized as bearing the support of a majority of the mem- bers of Congress. One of the objections was based upon the theory that if Congress de- sired to have a statue of this distinguished man (Jefferson) it would be more consistent with propriety to procure one for themselves than to be indebted to any person whatever. At the time that the resolution was introduced providing for its removal from the rotunda, one of the members in discussing the question said that a present ought not be accepted from any but a distinguished source. After being absent from the rotunda for about 40 years the statue was returned to the Capitol and has since bzen considered a valuable ac- cession to the art works of the Capitol.” FTER the Jefferson statue had been in the White House grounds for a few years, the bronze lost its luster and became dark, which caused it to be referred to frequently as the “Black Thomas Jefferson.” Thus two statues, which formerly stood in the open, were finally placed where they would have a minimum of conspicuousness—the Washington statue in the old chapel of the. Smithsonian Building and the Jefferson bronze figure in the rotunda of the Capitol surrounded by many statues, some of which are not s> good and some a whole lot better. But when Mr. Roosevelt looks out of the north windows of the White House he will be able to see the statue of Gen. Andrew Jackson, seventh Presidcnt of the United States. Many efforts have been made to have this bronze work of Clark Mills removed and even occa- sionally now the matter comes up in a mysteri- ous way, for which no one is willing to take responsibility, but the idea is always speedily checked. The last occasion when the rumbling of dis- content was heard was in the Spring of 1923, but, through the timely action of the Southern Democrats and particularly Senator McKellar of Tennessee, the matter was checked and every one in official position denied intention to remove the statue. But maybe some day, when Congress and the people are not looking, some one will slip a joker into a bill and before knowledge leaks cut the statue will be taken down and stored away—just as they did in the case of the statue of Lincoln in front of the Court House, which, however, was later restored, when a popular demand was made for its re-erection on the same spot. Andrew Jackson’s statue should lend courage and determination to any President, just as the monument to Washingtcn to the south of the White House should inspire the Chief Executive with those lofty ideals with which the Father of His Country was so freely endowed. What if it is not a work of art today, it was considered to b> so when it was erected 80 years ago, and if it grows in favor as the ancient Greck and Roman sculp- ture has done, perhaps in a thousand years it may be looked upon as a distinct work of art. The statue is the work of Clark Mills, and A close-up view of i..o ... ... of Thomas Jeffersen which stoed in front of the W hite Honse for 40 years. replicas stand in the cities of New Orleans and Nashville. Fer the cne in Lafayette Square he received from Congress £2),000. The Jack- son Democratic Association of this city. which was formed in 1828, and is ctill carrying on, cortributed toard its eraction $12,000. It was unveiled and dedicated undér that association’s auspices on the thirty-cighth anniversary of the Battle cf New Orleans, J-nuary 8, 1853. ILLS was cn unusual m:u, w.s self-taught in the art of sculpturz, and never received any professicne] training in this line. He had early learned the trade of ornamental plas- terer, and when still young hcd shown so much promise as a sculpter in Charleston, S. C, that his friends had arranged to pay his ex- penses of studsing art abroad. It was when he was on his way to Europe with this inten- tion in view that he visited Washington, where his talent and original ideas made such an impression that he was induced to give up his foreign trip and remain to make the statue of the hcro of New OTlcans. Up to this time there had b2en but one equestrian statue executed and set up in the United States, and this one, a st2tuc of George III, was dedicated cn August 21, 1770, before we had broken ties with the mother country. It was a leaden, gilded affair and was re- moved on July 9, 1776, by patriotic sympa- thizers, broken up and sent to Litchfield, Conn., where it was melied into 42,033 ball cartridges, which were undoubtedly used to good advantage by those of cur fathers who fought in the Revolutionary War. Naturally Mills undertook his task with the added handicap of never having seen an eques- trian statue, but that he had genius few will deny and that he had resourcefulness, courage