Jerry Rescue - Syracuse, NY - Smithsonian Art Inventory Sculptures on Waymarking.com

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"A three part brick wall with bronze relief depicting the freeing of a fugitive slave William Henry, also known as "Jerry" McReynolds, from a Syracuse jail. Henry/McReynolds wears tattered clothes and broken shackles on his wrists. He is helped in his escape by two abolitionists - the Reverends Samuel J. May and Jermain W. Loguen. (They were instrumental in arranging the rescue, but were not actually present at the event and the figures representing them in the relief are not actual portraits). The central wall has two flanking walls encircling a bench of the same construction. All are installed on a star-shaped base, its points oriented to the actual points of the compass. Explanatory text plaques are found on the rear of the flanking walls."
"The sculpture is a project of the Syracuse Urban Arts Commission. The Jerry Rescue Committee was formed in 1987 to raise funds from corporate and individual donors. It tells the story of William Henry, an escaped slave from Missouri who was living in Syracuse as Jerry McReynolds and working as a cabinetmaker when he was arrested under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. On Oct. 1, 1851, a group of citizens helped "Jerry" escape from jail and go to Canada. Long the scene of abolitionist activity, this event helped establish Syracuse as a stop on the Underground Railroad.
IAS files contain the text of the monument's three plaques. The sculpture was controversial when erected because some citizens felt it glorified the abolitionists, rather than the slave, and they questioned the original motives of the abolitionists. There was also concern that no African-Americans were involved in the creation or erection of the memorial. For related reading, see "A History of the Black Community in Syracuse," by Barbara S. Davis (Onondaga Community College Press, 1980, pg. 5-10); the Syracuse Post-Standard, Aug. 4, 1988, pg. D1 & D4 and Aug. 4, 1990, pg. B1; and the Valley News (Syracuse, New York), April 30, 1985, pg. 22."

TITLE: Jerry Rescue ARTIST(S): BuMann, Sharon DATE: 8/10/1990 MEDIUM: Sculpture: Everdure bronze with patina; Base: concrete, granite, and brick. CONTROL NUMBER: IAS NY001261 Direct Link to the Individual Listing in the Smithsonian Art Inventory: [Web Link] PHYSICAL LOCATION: Clinton Square Syracuse DIFFERENCES NOTED BETWEEN THE INVENTORY LISTING AND YOUR OBSERVATIONS AND RESEARCH: The monument is by the ice rink which is also a fountain and is where the Erie Canal was.

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