Smith Memorial Arch is an

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

monument at South Concourse and Lansdowne Drive in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Built on the former grounds of the

1876 Centennial Exposition The Centennial International Exhibition, officially the International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures, and Products of the Soil and Mine, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876. It was the first official wo ...

, it serves as a gateway to

West Fairmount Park Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, w ...

. The Memorial consists of two colossal columns supported by curving, neo-Baroque arches, and adorned with 13 individual portrait sculptures (two equestrians, three figures, and eight busts); two eagles standing on globes; and architectural reliefs of eight allegorical figures.

History

In 1891, Richard Smith (1821-1894), a wealthy Philadelphia electroplate and type founder, wrote a will that provided $500,000 ($ million today) for a memorial arch to be adorned with portraits of Pennsylvania's Civil War military and naval heroes. Smith deposited the model and designs for the memorial with the Fidelity Insurance Trust and Safe Deposit Company and stipulated that: Fidelity president John B. Gest handle his request, that the architectural designs and construction be handled by Philadelphia architect James H. Windrim, and that the selection and supervision of sculptors for the specified portraits should be handled by the

Fairmount Park Art Association Established in 1872 in Philadelphia, the Association for Public Art (aPA), formerly Fairmount Park Art Association, is the first private, nonprofit public art organization dedicated to integrating public art and urban planning in the United Stat ...

(now the Association for Public Art). These provisions of the will went into effect upon the death of Smith's wife in 1895. Two years later, the Fairmount Park Art Association began to select the sculptors. The initial commissions were awarded on May 8, 1898, and the final sculpture was installed in 1912. The estate of Richard and Sarah Smith also funded the creation of

Smith Memorial Playground & Playhouse Smith Memorial Playground & Playhouse is a free young children's playground near North 33rd Street and Oxford Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, within the borders of Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ''Philadelphia'' magazine awarde ...

, in East Fairmount Park.

Sculpture

Statues

*'' Major General George Gordon Meade'' by

Daniel Chester French Daniel Chester French (April 20, 1850 – October 7, 1931) was an American sculpture, sculptor in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His works include ''The Minute Man'', an 1874 statue in Concord, Massachusetts, and his Statue of Abr ...

(atop south column). *'' Major General John Fulton Reynolds'' by

Charles Grafly Charles Allan Grafly, Jr. (December 3, 1862 – May 5, 1929) was an American sculptor, and teacher. Instructor of Sculpture at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts for 37 years, his students included Paul Manship, Albin Polasek, and Walker H ...

(atop north column). *Richard Smith (donor of the Memorial) by Herbert Adams (on pedestal of north column).

Equestrian statues

*'' Major General George B. McClellan'' by

Edward Clark Potter Edward Clark Potter (November 26, 1857 – June 21, 1923) was an American sculptor best known for his equestrian and animal statues. His most famous works are the marble lions, nicknamed ''Patience'' and ''Fortitude'', in front of the New York ...

(atop south pier). *'' Major General Winfield Scott Hancock'' by

John Quincy Adams Ward John Quincy Adams Ward (June 29, 1830 – May 1, 1910) 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. Early y ...

(atop north pier).

Busts

* Major General John F. Hartranft by

Alexander Stirling Calder Alexander Stirling Calder (January 11, 1870 – January 7, 1945) was an American sculpture, sculptor and teacher. He was the son of sculptor Alexander Milne Calder and the father of sculptor Alexander Calder, Alexander (Sandy) Calder. His best-kn ...

. * Major General Samuel W. Crawford by

Bessie Potter Vonnoh Bessie Potter Vonnoh (August 17, 1872 – March 8, 1955) was an American sculptor best known for her small bronzes, mostly of domestic scenes, and for her garden fountains. Her stated artistic objective, as she told an interviewer in 1925, was t ...

. * General James Addams Beaver by Katherine M. Cohen. * Admiral David Dixon Porter by

. * Admiral John A. B. Dahlgren by George Bissell. * Governor Andrew Gregg Curtin by

Moses Jacob Ezekiel Moses Jacob Ezekiel, also known as Moses "Ritter von" Ezekiel (October 28, 1844 – March 27, 1917), was an American sculptor who lived and worked in Rome, Italy, Rome for the majority of his career. Ezekiel was "the first American-born Jewis ...

. * James H. Windrim (architect of the Memorial) by Samuel Murray. * John B. Gest (executor of Richard Smith's estate) by

Other sculpture

*Two eagles standing on globes by

John Massey Rhind John Massey Rhind (9 July 1860 – 1 January 1936) was a Scottish-American sculptor. Among Rhind's better known works is the Stephenson Grand Army of the Republic Memorial and the marble statue of Dr. Crawford W. Long, located in the Natio ...

. *Eight bas-relief allegorical figures such as ''Courage'' and ''Heroism'', also by Rhind *The Memorial's frieze is carved with the names of 84 Pennsylvania veterans. *The Memorial's inscription reads:

THIS
MONUMENTAL MEMORIAL
PRESENTED BY
RICHARD SMITH
TYPE FOUNDER
OF PHILADELPHIA –
IN MEMORY OF
PENNSYLVANIANS WHO
TOOK PART IN THE CIVIL WAR
THEIR STRIFE WAS NOT FOR
AGGRANDIZEMENT AND WHEN
CONFLICT CEASED THE NORTH
WITH THE SOUTH UNITED AGAIN
TO ENJOY THE COMMON HERITAGE
LEFT BY THE FATHERS OF OUR
COUNTRY RESOLVING THAT
THEREAFTER ALL OUR PEOPLE
SHOULD DWELL TOGETHER
IN UNITY.Inscription
from Flickr.

References

Sources

*Fairmount Park Art Association, ''Sculpture of a City: Philadelphia's Treasures in Bronze and Stone'' (New York: Walker Publishing Company, 1974), pp. 168–179. *Penny Balkin Bach, ''Public Art in Philadelphia'' (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1992), p. 208.

External links

Smith Memorial Arch, from Philadelphia Public Art
*
Smith Memorial Arch, from Smithsonian Institution Research Information SystemSmith Memorial Arch, from Association for Public Art
{{Pennsylvania in the Civil War Buildings and structures in Philadelphia Equestrian statues in Philadelphia Historic American Buildings Survey in Philadelphia West Fairmount Park Monuments and memorials in Philadelphia Triumphal arches in the United States Union (American Civil War) monuments and memorials in Pennsylvania