Great Bronze Column
"The Great Bronze Column of Staten Island"
On January 2nd, 1910 the NY Times heralded this monument with a story called "Peace Memorial for Staten Island"
A Staten Island couple from Port Richmond with American Indian family roots is seeking to revive what was supposed to be a tribute to a “vanishing race.”
But the National Park Service, which now controls the land at Fort Wadsworth, is not unboard with the memorial campaign waged
by Robert and Margie Boldeagle, Margie states that the couple has lined up donors and a sculptor for a $1-million, 25-foot-tall statue,
Please take some time and sign their petition. . . .
click here - http://monument.epetitions.net/
But the National Park Service, which now controls the land at Fort Wadsworth, is not unboard with the memorial campaign waged
by Robert and Margie Boldeagle, Margie states that the couple has lined up donors and a sculptor for a $1-million, 25-foot-tall statue,
Please take some time and sign their petition. . . .
click here - http://monument.epetitions.net/
Artist rendition of the monument
Had this grand vision been realized, the first view of the New World to greet arriving immigrants after 1913 would have been a 580 foot tall tribute to the American Indian.
At the entrance to New York Harbor, overlooking the Narrows from the heights of Staten Island and perched atop a seven-story pedestal, the mammoth figure of an Indian chief was to have been
erected, his hand uplifted and two fingers extended in the “universal peace sign of the red man.” Towering 165 feet above a sprawling complex of museums, libraries, and formal gardens, he would have been the nation’s ultimate memorial to the “vanishing” North American Indian.
It was to be known in the years to come as "The Great Bronze Column of Staten Island."
Between the volutes at the base of the capitol, running horizontally around the column, is the balustrade or viewing point of the Monument, 435 feet above the ground. This point can be reached by a circular
stairway or by the more modern elevator system.
It is interesting to note that this gigantic figure will be brought into human semblance through an entirely new method by the use of cement. In forming the huge sections, the metal instead of being
pounded into shape, according to the old, slow and exasperating process, will be pressed, bolted and anchored by an entirely new system of advanced ideas.
The figure according to present calculations is four feet higher than the Statue of Liberty ; the column will be the highest column ever erected in the history of the world and the entire monument, which
is a marvelous example of engineering, architecture and sculpture combined, will surpass in height any existing figure - monument ever erected.
The museum at the base of the shaft serves a dual purpose as a library and museum or hall of records for authentic Indian documents and historical data. An assembly room has also been planned on the
floor above.
The revenue from sight-seers and tourists will in time reach an amount sufficient to provide for the maintenance of the library and museum and the cost of operating expenses. It is a great undertaking but with the assistance of the men of prominence now interested in this project, the completion of the monument is assured (or so they thought) and the world will be inspired by awe at this symbol of greatness erected to so great a country.
The museum building which forms the base of the monument is 50 feet high and will be of granite, properly embellished, with Entrance and Exit, properly lighted. There will be sufficient stack-room
facilities for records and exhibits of the North American Indian and the collection will be under the supervision of men familiar with the subject and capable of overseeing this department.
The second story will be fitted as a place of assembly where conferences may be held relative to historical and Indian matters. This bronze column is 401 feet high from the top of the museum to the base of the figure and will be constructed of steel girders, anchored in cement below the surface of the earth, and encircled by 45 sections of copper plate, one for each State of the Union. Two elevators will
run to the base of the capital which is to be made in the form of a promenade.
The column will be surmounted by a beautiful ionic capital with leaded glass front, the two volutes acting as beacons for signaling ships or for transmitting signals to the surrounding country. The top or roof as it were, to the great capital will be gilded in order to separate the flowing color where the capital meets the figure.
This figure will be 129 feet high from the feet to the top of head (24 feet higher than the Colossus of Rhodes) and will be constructed of steel armatures covered with copper plates properly reinforced.
There will be an entrance at each foot. The sightseer will also be able to ascend inside the bronze figure to the head, some 580 feet from the level of the ground. Resting places will be installed, one at the waist, the other at the shoulders.
The elevation of this great monument, plus the height of the position where it may perhaps rest, will be in the neighborhood of 960 feet above sea -level. Which is the highest point on the Atlantic coast
between Maine and Mexico.
The site on which the monument will rest is to be chosen by the Commission
The cost of this work will reach approximately $650,000.
This flamboyant scheme was gotten up by Rodman Wanamaker, the son of John Wanamaker, who had built a Philadelphia men’s clothing store into one of America’s largest retail empires. Blessed with the bounty of this heritage, the younger Wanamaker acquired a formidable reputation as a patron of the arts, an aviation enthusiast, and an American Indian buff of considerable dimensions. Convinced, as was much of his generation, that the Indian was fast approaching extinction, he had financed expeditions to collect facts, artifacts, and movie film of the doomed people before they slipped into
oblivion. Then, at a dinner party in 1909 at New York City’s fashionable Sherry’s restaurant, with such notables as Buffalo Bill in attendance, he proposed the construction of a great monument to the Indian in New York Harbor.
The site finally selected was the front portion of Fort Tompkins, the highest rampart within the Fort Wadsworth complex on Staten Island (the same structure that today houses a military museum). And
so it was that on Washington’s birthday, 1913, President William Howard Taft, struggled up the steps of Fort Wadsworth for the dedication. On hand was an odd assortment of politicians, military officers, academicians, battle-garbed tribal chiefs, newspapermen, and movie cameramen hired by Wanamaker.
Wanamaker’s monument never got beyond the paper it was drawn on. The bronze tablet that had
been implanted in 1913 mysteriously vanished, never to be seen again. The concept was resurrected briefly in 1936 as a potential Work Projects Administration program, but died away, then arose again a decade later when a proposed memorial to World War II veterans from Staten Island had to be shifted
from Fort Tompkins because of the Indian monument’s previous claim; this brief surge of interest died also.
The planned locations were Pavilion Hill in St. George or Fort Wadsworth.
"It is truly a shame that this monument never happened"
At the entrance to New York Harbor, overlooking the Narrows from the heights of Staten Island and perched atop a seven-story pedestal, the mammoth figure of an Indian chief was to have been
erected, his hand uplifted and two fingers extended in the “universal peace sign of the red man.” Towering 165 feet above a sprawling complex of museums, libraries, and formal gardens, he would have been the nation’s ultimate memorial to the “vanishing” North American Indian.
It was to be known in the years to come as "The Great Bronze Column of Staten Island."
Between the volutes at the base of the capitol, running horizontally around the column, is the balustrade or viewing point of the Monument, 435 feet above the ground. This point can be reached by a circular
stairway or by the more modern elevator system.
It is interesting to note that this gigantic figure will be brought into human semblance through an entirely new method by the use of cement. In forming the huge sections, the metal instead of being
pounded into shape, according to the old, slow and exasperating process, will be pressed, bolted and anchored by an entirely new system of advanced ideas.
The figure according to present calculations is four feet higher than the Statue of Liberty ; the column will be the highest column ever erected in the history of the world and the entire monument, which
is a marvelous example of engineering, architecture and sculpture combined, will surpass in height any existing figure - monument ever erected.
The museum at the base of the shaft serves a dual purpose as a library and museum or hall of records for authentic Indian documents and historical data. An assembly room has also been planned on the
floor above.
The revenue from sight-seers and tourists will in time reach an amount sufficient to provide for the maintenance of the library and museum and the cost of operating expenses. It is a great undertaking but with the assistance of the men of prominence now interested in this project, the completion of the monument is assured (or so they thought) and the world will be inspired by awe at this symbol of greatness erected to so great a country.
The museum building which forms the base of the monument is 50 feet high and will be of granite, properly embellished, with Entrance and Exit, properly lighted. There will be sufficient stack-room
facilities for records and exhibits of the North American Indian and the collection will be under the supervision of men familiar with the subject and capable of overseeing this department.
The second story will be fitted as a place of assembly where conferences may be held relative to historical and Indian matters. This bronze column is 401 feet high from the top of the museum to the base of the figure and will be constructed of steel girders, anchored in cement below the surface of the earth, and encircled by 45 sections of copper plate, one for each State of the Union. Two elevators will
run to the base of the capital which is to be made in the form of a promenade.
The column will be surmounted by a beautiful ionic capital with leaded glass front, the two volutes acting as beacons for signaling ships or for transmitting signals to the surrounding country. The top or roof as it were, to the great capital will be gilded in order to separate the flowing color where the capital meets the figure.
This figure will be 129 feet high from the feet to the top of head (24 feet higher than the Colossus of Rhodes) and will be constructed of steel armatures covered with copper plates properly reinforced.
There will be an entrance at each foot. The sightseer will also be able to ascend inside the bronze figure to the head, some 580 feet from the level of the ground. Resting places will be installed, one at the waist, the other at the shoulders.
The elevation of this great monument, plus the height of the position where it may perhaps rest, will be in the neighborhood of 960 feet above sea -level. Which is the highest point on the Atlantic coast
between Maine and Mexico.
The site on which the monument will rest is to be chosen by the Commission
The cost of this work will reach approximately $650,000.
This flamboyant scheme was gotten up by Rodman Wanamaker, the son of John Wanamaker, who had built a Philadelphia men’s clothing store into one of America’s largest retail empires. Blessed with the bounty of this heritage, the younger Wanamaker acquired a formidable reputation as a patron of the arts, an aviation enthusiast, and an American Indian buff of considerable dimensions. Convinced, as was much of his generation, that the Indian was fast approaching extinction, he had financed expeditions to collect facts, artifacts, and movie film of the doomed people before they slipped into
oblivion. Then, at a dinner party in 1909 at New York City’s fashionable Sherry’s restaurant, with such notables as Buffalo Bill in attendance, he proposed the construction of a great monument to the Indian in New York Harbor.
The site finally selected was the front portion of Fort Tompkins, the highest rampart within the Fort Wadsworth complex on Staten Island (the same structure that today houses a military museum). And
so it was that on Washington’s birthday, 1913, President William Howard Taft, struggled up the steps of Fort Wadsworth for the dedication. On hand was an odd assortment of politicians, military officers, academicians, battle-garbed tribal chiefs, newspapermen, and movie cameramen hired by Wanamaker.
Wanamaker’s monument never got beyond the paper it was drawn on. The bronze tablet that had
been implanted in 1913 mysteriously vanished, never to be seen again. The concept was resurrected briefly in 1936 as a potential Work Projects Administration program, but died away, then arose again a decade later when a proposed memorial to World War II veterans from Staten Island had to be shifted
from Fort Tompkins because of the Indian monument’s previous claim; this brief surge of interest died also.
The planned locations were Pavilion Hill in St. George or Fort Wadsworth.
"It is truly a shame that this monument never happened"
President William Howard Taft and Rodman Wanamaker at groundbreaking ceremony, Fort Wadsworth Feb. 22, 1913
Crow chiefs at the groundbreaking ceremony for the National American Indian Memorial, Fort Wadsworth
Native American chiefs with Rodman Wanamaker (1863-1928) at the groundbreaking ceremony for the National American Indian Memorial
National American Indian Memorial (which was never built), Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island
President Taft opening the Ground for the Memorial with an ancient Native American tool at Fort Wadsworth.
INDIAN MEMORIALTO BE BUILT ON STATEN ISLAND
AN IDEA IS BORN
May 12, 1909 at New York City’s fashionable Sherry’s restaurant; Rodman Wanamaker hosts a dinner party to honor Colonel William Cody. Many prominent citizens and representatives of the press attend. At the dinner Mr. Wanamaker proposes that a monument be erected to a dying race, “the North American Indian”
June 26, 1909 Mr. Wanamaker sends a letter to the president William H , Taft, about building the memorial.
THE MONUMENT IDEA TAKES ON A LIFE OF ITS OWN
Mr. Wanamaker then turned to Congress enlisting the aid of West Virginia’s Senator Nathan Scott. The
Senator convinced Congress to place the monument on federal land. This land is now known as Fort
Wadsworth
Mr. Wanamaker, joined the American Indian policy reform movement and worked in earnest towards the
building of a National Indian Memorial.
Mr. Wanamaker, was also convinced, as was much of his generation, that the Indian was fast approaching extinction. So he financed expeditions to collect fact, artifacts and movie film of doomed people before they slipped into oblivion
THE INDIAN MONUMENT LAW IS ENACTED
On December8,1911, Congress brought forth an act: Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled. That there be erected, without expense the to “United States
Government” by Mr. Wanamaker of New York and others on a United States reservation a suitable memorial to the
memory of the North American Indian.
The Bill was then signed into law by President William H. Taft
PLACEMENT AND DESIGN
The team of Thomas Hastings architect and Daniel Chester French sculpture come up with a plan for the
monument.
On March10, 1910 General Leonard Wood finally selected the front portion of Fort Tompkins. The highest rampart within the Fort Wadsworth complex on Staten Island (the same structure that today houses a military museum) at
the mouth of the New York Harbor.
On April 27, 1912, the Federal Commission of Fine Arts approved both the structure and location.
THE SIZE OF THE MONUMENT
The monuments dimensions were impressively set. The bronze Indian figure stood at sixty feet. The
dominant feature of the sculpture indicates the abandonment of war and the acceptance of peace. This was shown by
the left hand hanging at full length with a bow and arrow in it. While the right hand was up lifted palm facing
forward with two fingers extended to the sky. Signifying the Indians universal sign for peace. The statue stood on top
of a seventy foot hi edestal. The pedestal stood on top of the thirty five foot tall museumocated at the upper most rampart of FortWadsworth. Thus rising over 300 feet from the water. This would have been higher than the Statue of Liberty.
HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS, EVENTS AND ARTIFACTS
Wanamaker along with photographer Joseph K. Dixon set out on three expeditions to reach out to all the tribes.
During the first two expeditions there were many photos taken of the tribes and their lives. There were also
two motion pictures filmed Hiawatha and Battle of the Little Big Horn. A book “The Vanishing Race” was published chronicling the event. On third expedition the “Expedition of Citizenship” an American flag and The Declaration of
Allegiance was carried to all tribes. The document was the only one in history to be signed by all tribes and lead to the Native Americans gaining citizenship. The Buffalo nickel was also minted for the ground breaking event and was given out to the 32 to chiefs and other dignitaries that attended. On February 22nd 1913 President Taft, 32 Chiefs
from many tribes and other dignitaries broke ground at Fort Wadsworth in Staten Island NY where the monument was to placed.
PROBLEMS THAT PLAGUED THE MONUMENT
Daniel Chester French departed to work on the Panama Canal . Charles Moore’s poignant criticism
of the monument by a member of the Commission of Fine Arts “Ungainly Indian on the roof of a
GreekTemple” Rodman Wanamaker diverted most of his finances to the war. Then age and sickness
took its effect on him. There were several other attempts through the years but the Statue has not yet to
be built.
HISTORY COMING FULL CIRCLE
The purpose and meaning of the monument would be much different now than it was in the early 1900’s, and
even more important. The race of proud people that the statue was attended for has not vanished and is still here. There are many statues and monuments honoring many different races and people through history but none
to honor the first people of this great land. The American Indian’s have endured many broken promises and treaties. The “Declaration of Allegiance” can still be honored and the Statue built; therefore completing the circle of history.
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