The Eleanor Roosevelt Monument is located at the southeast corner of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

's Riverside Park. It was the first work of public art in New York City to be dedicated to an American woman and, according to the Eleanor Roosevelt Monument Fund, which provided much of the funding for the project, it was the first work of public art to be dedicated to an American president's wife. The centerpiece of the monument is a bronze statue of

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

(the first lady at the time) gave the keynote address at the monument's dedication on October 5, 1996.

Design

The landscape architects Bruce Kelly and David Varnell designed a circular, elevated bed planted with oak trees as a setting for a bronze statue of Roosevelt leaning against a granite boulder, both sculpted by Penelope Jencks. The architect Michael Dwyer designed two granite medallions, set into the surrounding bluestone paving (one inscribed with a quotation from a 1958 speech of Roosevelt's; the other with a quotation from

Adlai Stevenson Adlai Stevenson may refer to: * Adlai Stevenson I Adlai Ewing Stevenson (October 23, 1835 – June 14, 1914) was an American politician and diplomat who served as the 23rd vice president of the United States from 1893 to 1897 under President Gr ...

's 1962 eulogy for her), and a bronze plaque, located in the tree bed, summarizing her many achievements. Jencks, who was chosen by a nationwide competition, took four years to complete the work. Douglas Martin, reporting for ''The New York Times'' in 1995, wrote that she took so long because she "was determined to do everything just so." According to Martin,

The first step was finding the rock for Mrs. Roosevelt to lean on, a key feature of Ms. Jencks's award-winning design. That took months before she realized she would have to create the shape of the rock herself. Then, she fought to get the proportions of the body right, doing copious geometrical calculations. Solutions came more easily when she found the perfect model, at least for the upper body. (Other models were used for other parts.) It was Phoebe Roosevelt, Mrs. Roosevelt's great-granddaughter, who is 5 feet 11 inches tall, an inch shorter than Mrs. Roosevelt.

Gallery

File:Eleanor Roosevelt Monument.JPG, The Eleanor Roosevelt Monument designed by landscape architects Bruce Kelly & David Varnell. File:Riverside Drive at 72nd Street.jpg, The bronze statue of Eleanor Roosevelt seen from the south. File:Elroos72st.JPG, The statue of Eleanor Roosevelt seen from the northeast. File:Eleanor Roosevelt Statue.jpg, The statue of Eleanor Roosevelt seen from the northwest. File:Eleanor Roosevelt Monument - 2017-12-02 - Adlai Stevenson Quote.jpg, Granite medallion inscribed with Adali Stevenson's quote, designed by Michael Dwyer. File:MMDA-Photos - 2017-08-13 - Biographical Plaque, Eleanor Roosevelt Memorial, Riverside Park, New York City.jpg, Eleanor Roosevelt Biographical Plaque, designed by Michael Dwyer.

References

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