Negro Soldier - Baltimore, MD
Posted by: 
saopaulo1
N 39° 17.454 W 076° 36.599
18S E 361158 N 4350294
A statue of an African American soldier in front of Baltimore's city hall. The memorial honors African American soldiers.
Waymark Code: WM7KK8
Location: Maryland, United States
Date Posted: 11/05/2009
Views: 9
From the inventory: "Full-length figure of a uniformed African American soldier stands on a square base. The uniform is contemporary and includes a round hard hat, a jacket and boots. The figure holds a wreath in his upraised proper right hand. Hanging from the wreath, is a scroll or sash which lists the years in which American negroes fought, from the American revolution to Vietnam.
The sculpture was commissioned by an anonymous donor as a gift to the City of Baltimore. The cost was $30,000. Controversy arose over the placement of the statue at the site of the Battle Monument (IAS 75005996). Some felt that the addition of any sculpture to Battle Monument Plaza would diminish the significance of the Battle Monument, the City's first monument to the War of 1812 and reportedly the nation's first memorial to its war dead. Others raised concerns that a monument representative of one ethnic group as opposed to an individual would have a polarizing effect in the City.
On the plaque: DEDICATED TO THE/MEMORY OF/THE NEGRO HEROES/OF THE UNITED STATES/"SLEEP IN PEACE/SLAIN IN THY COUNTRY'S WAR"/A GIFT TO/THE CITY OF BALTIMORE/BY AN ANONYMOUS DONOR/SCULPTOR JAMES E. LEWIS, 1971"
TITLE: Negro Soldier
ARTIST(S): Commissioned 1968. 1971. Installed May 1972.
DATE: Sculpture: bronze; Base: granite.
MEDIUM: Sculpture: bronze; Base: granite.
CONTROL NUMBER: IAS MD000550
Direct Link to the Individual Listing in the Smithsonian Art Inventory: [Web Link]
PHYSICAL LOCATION:
Located Battle Monument Plaza, Calvert & Lexington Streets, Baltimore, Maryland 21202
DIFFERENCES NOTED BETWEEN THE INVENTORY LISTING AND YOUR OBSERVATIONS AND RESEARCH:
None
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Visit Instructions:
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