Charles Sumner - Cambridge, MA - Smithsonian Art Inventory Sculptures on Waymarking.com

In Cambridge, in the section called Harvard Square, is a statue of Charles Sumner, seated in a chair, looking south toward the brick plaza.

The statue is a portrait of former U. S. Senator Charles Sumner. He is depicted sitting on a chair. On his right knee with fingers inserted, is a book. The face is serious. The hair is thick and has grand waves in it.

Charles Sumner is known for being a fierce abolitionist before and during the Civil War. He was the voice of the Radical Republican wing and worked closely with President Abraham Lincoln. One of his detractions, though, is his inability to compromise or at least to hold back in his verbal attacks on his opponents. One time, he attacked a fellow lawmaker, Andrew Butler, of South Carolina, over the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which allowed a territory to decide whether slavery was allowed there. Preston Brooks, a Congressional Representative and relative of Butler, came up to Senator Sumner at his desk and Brooks beat Sumner with a cane to unconciousness. It tooks several years for Sumner to fully recover, but he did return to serve. The episode further ratched up the debate concerning slavery in the country. Sumner lived from 1811 to 1874.

The bronze statue was modeled in 1875, but it took 27 years for it to be cast. According to the art inventory entry, Anne Whitney had won an anonymous contest with her design; however, when it was revealed that Anne was a woman, they revoked her commission and chose Thomas Ball's design for the statue in Boston's Public Garden.

Wikipedia (Charles Sumner):
(visit link)

TITLE: Charles Sumner ARTIST(S): Anne Whitney DATE: Modeled, 1875, cast 1902 MEDIUM: Bronze CONTROL NUMBER: 76008337 Direct Link to the Individual Listing in the Smithsonian Art Inventory: [Web Link] PHYSICAL LOCATION: Located between the north and south lanes of Massachusetts Avenue, near the intersection with Garden Street. The approximate address number is 1434. DIFFERENCES NOTED BETWEEN THE INVENTORY LISTING AND YOUR OBSERVATIONS AND RESEARCH: None noted.

Visit Instructions:
Please give the date of your visit, your impressions of the sculpture, and at least ONE ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPH. Add any additional information you may have, particularly any personal observations about the condition of the sculpture.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log   07/12/2018 lesden visited it 08/04/2014 Graham-Crunch visited it

View all visits/logs