Order of Exercises from the Pilgrim Statue Dedication – June 6, 1885

FROM THE ARCHIVES: ORDER OF EXERCISES FROM THE PILGRIM STATUE DEDICATION – JUNE 6, 1885

Since its founding in 1806, the New England Society has made many cultural contributions both in New York and in New England. The most recognizable locally is the statue of The Pilgrim located near the East 72nd Street entrance to Central Park.

In 1884, the New England Society commissioned prominent 19th century American sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward to create a statue in memory of the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock. The Pilgrim is a bronze sculpture and features the classical figure of a sturdy Pilgrim holding his trusted flintlock musket in his right hand, standing atop a granite pedestal designed by Richard Morris Hunt.

John Quincy Adams Ward (1830-1910), known as the “Dean of American Sculptors”, was a major contributor to the public spaces in New York. Ward’s sculptures include the George Washington statue on the steps of Federal Hall in lower Manhattan, the marble pediment sculptures for the New York Stock Exchange, and of course, The Pilgrim. The Pilgrim, situated at the foot of the eponymous Pilgrim Hill, is one of several well- known sculptures by Ward standing in Central Park, including Indian Hunter (1864), Seventh Regiment Memorial (1869) and William Shakespeare (1872). Indian Hunter was the first sculpture in Central Park by an American artist and is one of the oldest outdoor displays in the Park.

The statue’s pedestal was designed by Ward’s good friend and frequent collaborator, Richard Morris Hunt (1827-1895). Hunt, one of New York’s leading 19th century architects, designed many City landmarks such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty as well as many Fifth Avenue mansions. The base of The Pilgrim features four bas-reliefs depicting Crossbow and Arrows, the ship Mayflower, Commerce, and Bible and Sword. There are two inscriptions on the pedestal, the upper reads: To commemorate the Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers on Plymouth Rock: December 21, 1620, and the lower reads: Erected by the New England Society in the City of New York, 1885.

New England Society in the City of New York 20 West 44th Street ▪ Suite 409 ▪ New York, NY 10036 Phone: (212) 752-1938 ▪ Fax: (212) 752-1969 ▪ Email: [email protected] ▪ Website: www.nesnyc.org

New England Society in the City of New York From the Archives: Pilgrim Statue Dedication – June 6, 1885 Page 2 of 2

The Pilgrim was unveiled in 1885 amidst great fanfare in the presence of Ward and other New York luminaries. Henry R. Beekman, Esq., Commissioner of Public Parks, delivered the opening address. New York City Mayor William Russell Grace officially accepted the gift of the statue from Horace Russell, the New England Society President. The commemorative address was delivered by George William Curtis, a noted advocate of civil-service reform, was the Editor of Harper’s Weekly, an influential political magazine. Musical interludes rounded out the ceremonies; a copy of the program for the unveiling is on the following pages. A rededication ceremony celebrating the statue’s centennial was held on June 4, 1985; a copy of the press release is posted on the NES website on the Press page.

Curtis’s address at the Dedication ceremony was titled Oration, and is a long, ponderous reflection on the historical roots of Puritanism. Curtis concluded his remarks with descriptive lines about the statue which are reprinted below; the complete text is posted on the NES website on the Archives page.

Here in this sylvan seclusion, amid the sunshine and the singing of birds, we raise the statue of the Puritan Pilgrim, that in this changeless form the long procession of the generations which shall follow us may see what manner of man he was…who walked undismayed the solitary heights of duty and of everlasting service to mankind.

Here let him stand, the soldier of a free church calmly defying the hierarchy, the builder of a free state serenely confronting the continent which he shall settle and subdue. The unspeaking lips shall chide our unworthiness, the lofty mien shall exalt our littleness, the unblenching eye shall invigorate our weakness and the whole posed and firmly planted form shall reveal the unconquered moral energy – the master- force of American civilization…

And so mused the Pilgrim in the rapt sunset hour on the New England shore, his soul caught up into the dazzling vision of the future, beholding the glory of the nation that should be. And so may that nation stand forever and forever, the mighty guardian of human liberty, of God-like justice, of Christ-like brotherhood.

But the statue has done more than mark the birth of the United States, for over 125 years, The Pilgrim has served as a cherished Central Park landmark.

The New England Society provides access to its archival materials for scholarship and research purposes only. Reproduction and distribution of this document or any part thereof is prohibited without the written permission of the New England Society in the City of New York.