Monument City Blog

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The monument is referenced by Herman Melville (as Ishmael) in Chapter XXXV (The Mast-Head) of Moby-Dick, “Great Washington, too, stands high aloft on his towering main-mast in Baltimore, and like one of Hercules‘ pillars, his column marks that point of human grandeur beyond which few mortals will go.”

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William Rusk, in his book “Art in Baltimore: Monuments and Memorials”, tells the following story about the raising of Italian sculptor Enrico Causici’s marble statue of Washington in 1829. “Tradition recalls a prodigy occurring when the statue was raised to the summit of the monument – a shooting star dashed across the sky and an eagle lit on the head of the settling general.”

Merriam-Webster defines, in this case, a prodigy as a “portentous event, an omen, something extraordinary or inexplicable.”

This picture, from the Maryland Historical Society’s website, is of Druid Hill Park’s George Washington Monument in it’s original location on the front of the Washington Building.  The photo dates from 1880 with the relief decorated for Baltimore’s sesquicentennial celebration, recognizing 150 years since the city’s founding.

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Howard’s contemporaries considered him to be one of the finest officers of the period. “Light-Horse Harry” Lee wrote of him: “We have seen him at the Battle of Cowpens seize the critical moment and turn the fortune of the day; – alike conspicuous, though not alike successful, at Guilford and the Eutaws; and at all times, and all occasions eminently useful. He was justly ranked among the chosen sons of the South.” General Nathanael Greene wrote, “Colonel Howard is as good an officer as the world afforded, and deserves a statue of gold, no less than the Roman or Grecian heroes.” Congress honored John Eager Howard for his actions at Cowpens, not with a gold statue, but with a silver medal, which he received in 1790.

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Pulaski Monument Restoration – A celebration to mark the completion of the restoration of this monument was held in October 2001. There was a parade through the park to the monument where the Pulaski Monument Restoration Celebration began. The work was completed by Steven Tatti and Bob Pringle.

The Reese Monument, the artwork of Grace Turnbull, was moved from Lake Clifton / Eastern High School to the new Johns Hopkins Eastern Campus, the former site of old Eastern High School, in April of this year.  This May two plaques were placed at the foot of the memorial, one on either side.

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The design of the simple classic column was chosen in a competition and the cost defrayed by a public lottery. Enrico Causici created the statue at the summit – Washington resigning his Army commission.

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One of Baltimore’s many nicknames is “City of Firsts,” for its nearly one hundred instances of first events in the U.S. These “firsts” are testament to the innovation that Baltimoreans have shown throughout the city’s history. Numerous advances and inventions in industry, transportation, science and education have pioneered in Baltimore. As one of the East Coast’s fastest growing cities, Baltimore became a hub of creativity and capital in the 19th pot of cross-cultural ideas, and the city’s prominence as a center of trade meant these ideas could be tested and exchanged with ease. Transportation innovations like the clipper ship and railroad enhanced commerce and mobility, which helped make Baltimore the third largest city in the U.S. and the second largest port of entry for immigrants. The resources of the Heritage Area are both vestiges of these innovations and monuments to them.

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The Library of Congress contains the George Washington Papers, which may be viewed online. A search inquiry yielded archives which contain actual photographs of original documents either written to or by Washington. The reader may view these documents in their original form. We have also transcribed certain letters which demonstrate, not only Washington’s close ties to Freemasonry, but his position as Grand Master of the Alexandria Lodge No. 22 of Virginia.

Although Washington’s correspondence with the Masonic Lodges is replete with Masonic references to the Great Architect of the Universe, his response to a Christian clergyman conspicuously avoids mention of Jesus Christ or acknowledgment of personal Christian faith.  Washington also defended American Freemasonry and denied that American Masonic societies were connected to English Freemasonry or contaminated with the subversive principles of the Illuminati. The final exchange of letters reveals the mutual admiration between Washington and the Swedenborgian New Church of Baltimore.

Monuments in Baltimore by J. Maxwell Miller:

• Star-Spangled Banner Memorial at Patterson Park
• Confederate Women of Maryland Monument
• Latrobe Monument (with Edward Berge)
• Poetry Panel (Concert Hall of the Peabody Institute)

J. Maxwell Miller (1877-1934) studied sculpture under William Rinehart at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, and between 1900 and 1905, traveled to France to learn further from Raoul Verlet at the Julian Academy in Paris.  His creations were well received in Europe, and when he returned to Baltimore he began his private practice preparing fine art for commission.  Miller’s detailed work is best exemplified by his Star-Spangled Banner Memorial in Patterson Park.  Dedicated in 1914, during the city’s massive centennial celebration of defensive victory in the War of 1812, the monument was placed directly in front of the park’s observatory.  The accessible location allows for close inspection of the artist’s craft.