The Chicago Lincoln - Chicago, IL
Posted by: 
adgorn
N 41° 58.128 W 087° 41.340
16T E 442910 N 4646541
Standing, holding books and his stovepipe hat in his proper left hand and resting his proper right hand on a podium. He is youthful and beardless, and portrayed here as a symbol of liberty.
Waymark Code: WM9XHG
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 10/11/2010
Views: 4
From the Smithsonian database:
Dimensions: Sculpture: approx. H. 7 1/2 ft.; Granite base: approx. 58 x 68 x 80 in.; Concrete stepped base: approx. 5 1/2 ft.
Inscription: (On sculpture, lower right side:) AVARD FAIRBANKS/SCULPTOR/1956 / American Foundry (On concrete base plaque:) ERECTED 1956 BY THE /STATE OF ILLINOIS/WILLIAM G. STRATTON, GOVERNOR/ABRAHAM LINCOLN/MEMORIAL COMMISSION LEO A. LERNER CHAIRMAN/WILLIAM E. POLLACK VICE CHAIRMAN/PETER J. MILLER SECRETARY/ DEPARTMENT OF PVBLIC WORKS AND BUILDINGS/E.A. ROSENSTONE, DIRECTOR/DIVISION OF ARCHITECTURE/AN ENGINEERING LOUIS H. GERDING, SUPERVISING ARCHITECT (On front of granite base:) Free Society is not,/and shall not be, a failure/Abraham Lincoln/Chicago Dec. 10, 1856 signed Founder's mark appears.
Erected Oct 16, 1956, sculpted by Dr. Avard Fairbanks, located at the confluence of Lincoln, Lawrence and Western Avenues on Chicago's north side.
The inscription is quoted from one of Lincoln's Chicago speeches at a Republican banquet on December 10, 1856 - "A free society is not and shall not be a failure."
From ("http://www.goethe.de/ins/us/chi/pro/vtour/lsquare/lstatue.htm" target="_blank">visit link)
"In 1951, 47th Ward Alderman John Hoellen suggested placing a memorial to President Lincoln at the Lincoln, Lawrence and Western intersection. The Illinois General Assembly and Governor William Stratton then signed a bill creating the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Commission to plan it. The commission agreed on a nationwide contest to find a suitable concept for the memorial. Lloyd Ostendorf, an Ohio collector of Lincoln images, proposed the winning statue portraying a beardless Lincoln. Utah sculptor Avard Fairbanks, a protégé of the artist who had created Mt. Rushmore, completed the statue.
Governor Stratton unveiled the statue at a celebration in the fall of 1956. He and Dean Adinamis rode in a Lincoln convertible at the head of a parade that began in Lincoln Park. The statue bears an inscription of Lincoln's own words: "Free society is not, and shall not be a failure. Abraham Lincoln, Chicago, December 10, 1856."
In 1996 the statue was restored for its 40th anniversary."
TITLE: The Chicago Lincoln
ARTIST(S): Fairbanks, Avard, 1897-1987, sculptor.
DATE: Dedicated October 20, 1956.
MEDIUM: Sculpture: bronze; Base: polished pink granite on concrete.
CONTROL NUMBER: IAS 77003000
Direct Link to the Individual Listing in the Smithsonian Art Inventory: [Web Link]
PHYSICAL LOCATION:
Located Lincoln Square, Intersection of Lincoln, Lawrence and Western avenues, Chicago, Illinois
DIFFERENCES NOTED BETWEEN THE INVENTORY LISTING AND YOUR OBSERVATIONS AND RESEARCH:
Treatment is no longer urgent, since it was restored since the inventory was done.
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