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55-424: Designed and sculpted by Thomas Ball and erected in 1876, the monument depicts Abraham Lincoln holding a copy of his Emancipation Proclamation freeing an enslaved African American man modeled on Archer Alexander . The formerly enslaved man is depicted on one knee, about to stand up, with one fist clenched, shirtless, with broken shackles at the president 's feet. The wages of formerly enslaved people funded

110-561: A liberty cap , the enslaved person in the revised monument is depicted bare-headed with tightly curled hair . The face was re-sculpted to look like Archer Alexander , a formerly enslaved man whose life story was popularized by a biography written by William Greenleaf Eliot . In the final design, as in Ball's original design, Lincoln holds a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation in his right hand. The document rests on

165-406: A plinth bearing patriotic symbols, including George Washington 's profile, the fasces of the U.S. republic , and a shield emblazoned with the stars and stripes . The plinth replaces the pile of books in Ball's original design. Behind the two figures is a whipping post draped with cloth . A vine grows around the pillory and around the ring where the chain was secured. The monument

220-399: A fighting style where each incoming blow is intercepted with the boss in order to deflect it. The Normans introduced the kite shield around the 10th century, which was rounded at the top and tapered at the bottom. This gave some protection to the user's legs, without adding too much to the total weight of the shield. The kite shield predominantly features enarmes , leather straps used to grip

275-701: A four-footed animal, but erect on his feet like a man. There is room in Lincoln park for another monument, and I throw out this suggestion to the end that it may be taken up and acted upon. Jonathan White and Scott Sandage, two historians who rediscovered the letter, detailed their findings in Smithsonian Magazine in June 2020. They saw in it "a solution to the current impasse" over the Emancipation Memorial. Since no one statue could provide

330-607: A gentle curve in cross section. The heater style inspired the shape of the symbolic heraldic shield that is still used today. Eventually, specialised shapes were developed such as the bouche , which had a lance rest cut into the upper corner of the lance side, to help guide it in combat or tournament. Free standing shields called pavises , which were propped up on stands, were used by medieval crossbowmen who needed protection while reloading. In time, some armoured foot knights gave up shields entirely in favour of mobility and two-handed weapons. Other knights and common soldiers adopted

385-619: A house and sign painter, and Elizabeth Wyer Hall. His father died when he was twelve. After several odd jobs to help support his family, he spent three years working at the New England Museum, the precursor to the Boston Museum . There, he entertained the visitors by drawing portraits , playing the violin, singing, and repairing mechanical toys. He then became an apprentice for the museum wood-carver Abel Brown. He taught himself oil painting by copying prints and casts in

440-543: A little more difficult. The scutum originally had an oval shape, but gradually the curved tops and sides were cut to produce the familiar rectangular shape most commonly seen in the early Imperial legions. Famously, the Romans used their shields to create a tortoise-like formation called a testudo in which entire groups of soldiers would be enclosed in an armoured box to provide protection against missiles. Many ancient shield designs featured incuts of one sort or another. This

495-447: A metal boss, rim or banding. They were carried by foot soldiers, knights and cavalry. Depending on time and place, shields could be round, oval, square, rectangular, triangular, bilabial or scalloped. Sometimes they took on the form of kites or flatirons, or had rounded tops on a rectangular base with perhaps an eye-hole, to look through when used with combat. The shield was held by a central grip or by straps with some going over or around

550-544: A monument to his memory Frederick Douglass spoke as the keynote speaker at the dedication service on April 14, 1876, the eleventh anniversary of Lincoln's death. President Ulysses S. Grant attended the service with members of his cabinet, Congress, and the Supreme Court. A procession preceded the service, where the Howard University law school dean, John Mercer Langston, was in attendance. The dedication

605-615: A practice never to attend the unveiling of his public works. In Boston, he managed to avoid receiving the invitation to the ceremonial dedication of his statue of Governor John Albion Andrew . Instead, he saw the work later, viewing it from different angles. He later wrote: "It was a mean thing to do. I am ashamed of it now, but I could not bring myself to stand on that platform and face the multitude." Dartmouth College awarded him an honorary Master of Arts degree. When he returned to America, he lived in Montclair, New Jersey , while keeping

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660-516: A proper narrative for the trauma it represents. The future state of this statue has not been decided. Still, it was removed from the Boston park on December 29, 2020. Architect Edward Francis Searles purchased an early miniature demonstration version from Ball and brought it to Methuen, Massachusetts , where it rests in the Town Hall atrium. The Chazen Museum of Art , located on the campus of

715-412: A rectangular "tower" shield. These shields were made primarily from a wicker frame and then reinforced with leather. Covering the body from head to foot, the figure-of-eight and tower shield offered most of the warrior's body a good deal of protection in hand-to-hand combat. The Ancient Greek hoplites used a round, bowl-shaped wooden shield that was reinforced with bronze and called an aspis . The aspis

770-759: A single ox hide supported by a wooden spine. This was used in combination with a short spear ( iklwa ) and/or club . Other African shields include Glagwa from Cameroon or Nguba from Congo . Shields for protection from armed attack are still used by many police forces around the world. These modern shields are usually intended for two broadly distinct purposes. The first type, riot shields , are used for riot control and can be made from metal or polymers such as polycarbonate Lexan or Makrolon or boPET Mylar . These typically offer protection from relatively large and low velocity projectiles, such as rocks and bottles, as well as blows from fists or clubs. Synthetic riot shields are normally transparent, allowing full use of

825-548: A studio in New York City. In 1880, Ball published an autobiographical volume, My Threescore Years , which he updated in 1890 as My Three Score Years and Ten . He died at the Montclair home of his daughter, Eliza Chickering Ball, and son-in-law, sculptor William Couper . The monument was sold in 1958, disassembled, and moved to Forest Lawn Memorial Park , Hollywood Hills, California. Shield A shield

880-534: A weapon and so on. In prehistory and during the era of the earliest civilisations, shields were made of wood, animal hide, woven reeds or wicker . In classical antiquity, the Barbarian Invasions and the Middle Ages , they were normally constructed of poplar tree, lime or another split-resistant timber, covered in some instances with a material such as leather or rawhide and often reinforced with

935-473: Is a monument representing the negro, not couchant on his knees like a four-footed animal, but erect on his feet like a man." Rodney Young of American University wrote that: If there is one slavery monument whose origins are highly political, the Freedman's memorial is it. The development process for this memorial started immediately after Abraham Lincoln's assassination and ended, appropriately enough, near

990-471: Is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry like spears or long ranged projectiles such as arrows . They function as means of active blocks, as well as to provide passive protection by closing one or more lines of engagement during combat. Shields vary greatly in size and shape, ranging from large panels that protect

1045-421: Is the bullet-resistant ballistic shield , also called tactical shield. These shields are typically manufactured from advanced synthetics such as Kevlar and are designed to be bulletproof , or at least bullet resistant . Two types of shields are available: Tactical shields often have a firing port so that the officer holding the shield can fire a weapon while being protected by the shield, and they often have

1100-606: The Boston Evening Transcript . He then turned his attention back to sculpture. He stayed in Boston until 1865 when he returned to Florence to stay there until 1897 as a member of an artistic colony that included Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Hiram Powers . Notables he met in Europe included Franz Liszt , whom he met at the Vatican in 1865 and of whom he produced a portrait bust. He made it

1155-493: The National Republican five days after the dedication, he said that the monument did not tell the "whole truth of any subject which it might be designed to illustrate". Douglass also says that while Lincoln breaks the enslaved person's chains in the monument, the granting of his U.S. citizenship is not represented. What I want to see before I die is a monument representing the negro, not couchant on his knees like

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1210-493: The High Middle Ages for purposes of battlefield identification. Even after the introduction of gunpowder and firearms to the battlefield, shields continued to be used by certain groups. In the 18th century, for example, Scottish Highland fighters liked to wield small shields known as targes , and as late as the 19th century, some non-industrialized peoples (such as Zulu warriors) employed them when waging wars. In

1265-655: The University of Wisconsin-Madison , was gifted a version of the statue in white marble by Dr. Warren E. Gilson in 1976. Thomas Ball (artist) Thomas Ball (June 3, 1819 – December 11, 1911) was an American sculptor and musician. His work has had a marked influence on monumental art in the United States, especially in New England . He was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts , to Thomas Ball,

1320-475: The buckler , giving rise to the term " swashbuckler ". The buckler is a small round shield, typically between 8 and 16 inches (20–40 cm) in diameter. The buckler was one of very few types of shield that were usually made of metal. Small and light, the buckler was easily carried by being hung from a belt; it gave little protection from missiles and was reserved for hand-to-hand combat where it served both for protection and offence. The buckler's use began in

1375-781: The 20th and 21st century, shields have been used by military and police units that specialize in anti-terrorist actions, hostage rescue, riot control and siege-breaking. The first prototype of the shield was believed to be created in the Late Neolithic Age . However the oldest surviving shields date to sometime in the Bronze Age . The oldest form of shield was a protection device designed to block attacks by hand weapons, such as swords, axes and maces, or ranged weapons like sling-stones and arrows. Shields have varied greatly in construction over time and place. Sometimes shields were made of metal, but wood or animal hide construction

1430-695: The Emancipation Memorial statue. The statue initially faced west towards the United States Capitol until it was rotated east in 1974 to face the newly erected Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial . The statue is a contributing monument to the Civil War Monuments in Washington, D.C. , on the National Register of Historic Places . The funding drive for the monument began, according to much-publicized newspaper accounts from

1485-526: The Middle Ages and continued well into the 16th century. In Italy, the targa , parma , and rotella were used by common people, fencers and even knights. The development of plate armour made shields less and less common as it eliminated the need for a shield. Lightly armoured troops continued to use shields after men-at-arms and knights ceased to use them. Shields continued in use even after gunpowder powered weapons made them essentially obsolete on

1540-491: The White House, "But for your presence amongst us, there would be no war." Douglass had many complaints about Lincoln's treatment of African Americans willing to fight in the war. But in the end, he judged Lincoln on his accomplishment rather than his motivation, saying: "It was enough for us that Abraham Lincoln was at the head of a great movement, and was in living and earnest sympathy with that movement." After delivering

1595-582: The baritone role in Boston's first performance of Beethoven 's Ninth Symphony with the Germania Orchestra on April 2, 1853. As commissions started to come in, he moved from studio to studio until he settled in a studio in Tremont Row in Boston , where he remained for twelve years. There, he painted several religious pictures and a portrait of Cornelia Wells (Walter) Richards , editor of

1650-504: The battlefield. In the 18th century, the Scottish clans used a small, round targe that was partially effective against the firearms of the time, although it was arguably more often used against British infantry bayonets and cavalry swords in close-in fighting. During the 19th century, non-industrial cultures with little access to guns were still using war shields. Zulu warriors carried large lightweight shields called Ishlangu made from

1705-567: The body. Many had a strap called a guige that allowed them to be slung over the user's back when not in use or on horseback. During the 14th–13th century BC, the Sards or Shardana , working as mercenaries for the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II , utilized either large or small round shields against the Hittites . The Mycenaean Greeks used two types of shields: the "figure-of-eight" shield and

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1760-403: The end of Reconstruction in 1876. In many ways, it exemplified and reflected the hopes, dreams, striving, and ultimate failures of reconstruction. The monument has been criticized for its paternalistic character and for not doing justice to the role that African Americans played in their liberation. While the funds for the monument were raised from formerly enslaved people, a white artist conceived

1815-473: The era, with $ 5 given by former slave Charlotte Scott of Virginia , then residing with the family of her former master in Marietta, Ohio, to create a memorial honoring Lincoln. The Western Sanitary Commission , a St. Louis –based volunteer war-relief agency, joined the effort and raised some $ 20,000 before announcing a new $ 50,000 goal. Another group that attempted to raise funds for the monument in 1865

1870-427: The masthead of William Lloyd Garrison 's abolitionist newspaper, The Liberator . On June 23, 2020, U.S. Delegate for D.C. Eleanor Holmes Norton announced plans to introduce legislation to remove the memorial. That same day, protesters on site vowed to dismantle the statue on Thursday, June 25, at 7:00 p.m. local time. A barrier fence was installed around the memorial to protect it from vandalism, which

1925-503: The monument to serve a didactic purpose as a school where freedmen could elevate themselves through learning. Frederick Douglass disagreed and thought the goal of education was incommensurate with that of remembering Lincoln. Harriet Hosmer proposed a grander monument than that suggested by Thomas Ball. Her design, which was ultimately deemed too expensive, posed Lincoln atop a tall central pillar flanked by smaller pillars topped with black Civil War soldiers and other figures. Mr. Ball

1980-468: The original design. An alternative design depicting Lincoln with uniformed black Union soldiers was rejected as too expensive. According to historian Kirk Savage, a witness to the memorial's dedication recorded Frederick Douglass as saying that the statue "showed the Negro on his knees when a more manly attitude would have been indicative of freedom". In a recently uncovered letter from Douglass that appeared in

2035-481: The shield tight to the arm. Used by foot and mounted troops alike, it gradually came to replace the round shield as the common choice until the end of the 12th century, when more efficient limb armour allowed the shields to grow shorter, and be entirely replaced by the 14th century. As body armour improved, knight 's shields became smaller, leading to the familiar heater shield style. Both kite and heater style shields were made of several layers of laminated wood, with

2090-421: The shield without obstructing vision. Similarly, metal riot shields often have a small window at eye level for this purpose. These riot shields are most commonly used to block and push back crowds when the users stand in a "wall" to block protesters, and to protect against shrapnel , projectiles like stones and bricks , molotov cocktails , and during hand-to-hand combat . The second type of modern police shield

2145-442: The speech, Frederick Douglass immediately wrote a letter to the editor of the National Republican newspaper in Washington, which was published five days later on April 19, 1876. In his letter, Douglass criticized the statue's design and suggested the park could be improved by more dignified monuments of free Black people. "The negro here, though rising, is still on his knees and nude", Douglass wrote. "What I want to see before I die

2200-572: The studio of the museum superintendent. His earliest work was a bust of Jenny Lind , whom he saw on her 1850 tour of the United States. Copies of his Lind work and his bust of Daniel Webster sold widely before being widely copied by others. His work includes many early cabinet busts of musicians. His first statue of a figure was a two-foot high statue of Daniel Webster, on which he worked from photographs and engravings until he managed to see him pass his studio shortly before his death. At thirty-five, in 1854, he travelled to Florence to study. Ball

2255-404: The user's arm and one or more being held by the hand. Often shields were decorated with a painted pattern or an animal representation to show their army or clan. It was common for Aristocratic officials such and knights , barons , dukes , and kings to have their shields painted with customary designs known as a coat of arms. These designs developed into systematized heraldic devices during

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2310-703: The user's whole body to small models (such as the buckler ) that were intended for hand-to-hand-combat use. Shields also vary a great deal in thickness; whereas some shields were made of relatively deep, absorbent, wooden planking to protect soldiers from the impact of spears and crossbow bolts, others were thinner and lighter and designed mainly for deflecting blade strikes (like the roromaraugi or qauata ). Finally, shields vary greatly in shape, ranging in roundness to angularity, proportional length and width, symmetry and edge pattern; different shapes provide more optimal protection for infantry or cavalry, enhance portability, provide secondary uses such as ship protection or as

2365-399: The whole truth, they suggested enriching the memorial group by adding statues of Charlotte Scott, whose contribution began the process, and Frederick Douglass, who dedicated the original monument, to create a new "Emancipation Group", as the monument was sometimes called. Lincoln biographer Sidney Blumenthal noted that the kneeling enslaved man was a widespread abolitionist motif, appearing on

2420-634: Was also the longest-lasting and most famous and influential of all of the ancient Greek shields. The Spartans used the aspis to create the Greek phalanx formation. Their shields offered protection not only for themselves but for their comrades to their left. Examples of Germanic wooden shields circa 350 BC – 500 AD survive from weapons sacrifices in Danish bogs. The heavily armored Roman legionaries carried large shields ( scuta ) that could provide far more protection, but made swift movement

2475-564: Was an accomplished musician from his teenage years, working as a paid singer in Boston churches. He performed as an unpaid soloist with the Handel and Haydn Society beginning in 1846 and with that organization, sang the title role in the first United States performance of Mendelssohn's Elijah , and the baritone solos in Rossini's Moses in Egypt . On a visit to Boston years later, he performed

2530-528: Was cast in Munich in 1875 and shipped to Washington the following year. Congress accepted the statue as a gift from the "colored citizens of the United States" and appropriated $ 3,000 for a pedestal upon which it would rest. The statue was erected in Lincoln Park, where it still stands. A plaque on the monument names it as "Freedom's Memorial in grateful memory of Abraham Lincoln" and reads: This monument

2585-413: Was declared a federal holiday. Douglass explained that Lincoln's legacy was complex. "Truth compels me to admit, even here in the presence of the monument we have erected to his memory. Abraham Lincoln was not, in the fullest sense of the word, either our man or our model. In his interests, in his associations, in his habits of thought, and in his prejudices, he was a white man." He pointed out that Lincoln

2640-440: Was done to accommodate the shaft of a spear, thus facilitating tactics requiring the soldiers to stand close together forming a wall of shields . Typical in the early European Middle Ages were round shields with light, non-splitting wood like linden , fir , alder , or poplar , usually reinforced with leather cover on one or both sides and occasionally metal rims, encircling a metal shield boss . These light shields suited

2695-510: Was erected by the Western Sanitary Commission of Saint Louis Mo: With funds contributed solely by emancipated citizens of the United States declared free by his proclamation January 1 A.D. 1863. The first contribution of five dollars was made by Charlotte Scott. A freedwoman of Virginia being her first earnings in freedom and consecrated by her suggestion and request on the day she heard of President Lincoln's death to build

2750-544: Was later removed. Norton reintroduced her bill on February 18, 2021. In 1879, Moses Kimball , for whom Ball had once worked at the Boston Museum , donated a copy of the statue to Boston . It was located in Park Square . In July 2020, the Boston Art Commission voted to remove the statue after conducting a public debate on the statue's meaning. The statue made many feel uncomfortable; many felt it lacked

2805-528: Was more motivated to save the union than to free enslaved people, telling the New York Tribune : "If I could save the union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that." Douglass said that Lincoln "strangely told us that we were the cause of the war"—in 1862, Lincoln had told African-American leaders visiting

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2860-643: Was much more common; wicker and even turtle shells have been used. Many surviving examples of metal shields are generally felt to be ceremonial rather than practical, for example the Yetholm-type shields of the Bronze Age , or the Iron Age Battersea shield . Size and weight varied greatly. Lightly armored warriors relying on speed and surprise would generally carry light shields ( pelte ) that were either small or thin. Heavy troops might be equipped with robust shields that could cover most of

2915-535: Was not the only effort of the time to build a monument to Lincoln; however, as the only one soliciting contributions exclusively from those who had most directly benefited from Lincoln's act of emancipation it had a special appeal ... The funds were collected solely from freed slaves (primarily from African American Union veterans) ... The turbulent politics of the reconstruction era affected the fundraising campaign on many levels. The Colored People's Educational Monument Association, headed by Henry Highland Garnet , wanted

2970-629: Was the National Lincoln Memorial Association. It was briefly considered merging the original funds with the National Lincoln Memorial Association, but that mission soon failed due to conflicting visions. According to the National Park Service, the monument was paid for solely by formerly enslaved people: The campaign for the Freedmen's Memorial Monument to Abraham Lincoln, as it was to be known,

3025-518: Was well known through several works when, in 1865, under his first influence of the news of Lincoln's assassination, he'd individually conceived and completed an original half-life-size work in Italian marble. When Ball's design was finally chosen, on the order of the Freedman's Memorial Association, this design, with certain changes, was to be "expanded" to about nine feet high, as the final "Emancipation" group in Lincoln Park in 1876. Instead of wearing

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