Lincoln Memorial at Waterfront Park is a statue ofAbraham Lincoln, depicted as he would have looked before he becamePresident of the United States. The sculpture of him is bareheaded, seated on a rock with an open law book in one hand and the other in an outstretched, welcoming gesture.[1] The statue is located atWaterfront Park inLouisville, Kentucky.[2] The Lincoln Memorial in Louisville is part of theLincoln Heritage Trail.[3] The statue and its accompanying bas-relief historical panels were created by American sculptorEd Hamilton. Landscape design for Waterfront Park was byHargreaves Associates. The 2006Kentucky General Assembly authorized $2 million for the memorial, which was supplemented by private donations.[4]
In 2009 Ed Hamilton completed work on his sculpture ofAbraham Lincoln, the16th President of the United States. The sculpture was dedicated as part of a two-year bicentennial celebration of Lincoln's birth to show the influence of Lincoln's early impressions of slavery witnessed in Louisville'sslave markets. The sculpture andbas relieftableaux reflect Lincoln's abhorrence of the institution ofslavery and the role of his presidency and the City of Louisville in the conflict of theCivil War, the war which preserved theUnion and abolished slavery.[5]
In December 2023, the bronze tophat resting next to Lincoln disappeared. The tophat is presumed to have been stolen. Hamilton remarked "They had to be strong and determined to pry bronze from a base, good grief!"[6]
The interpretative bas reliefs of the history of slavery created by Ed Hamilton are part of the Lincoln Memorial at Waterfront Park. The narrative panels were unveiled by Hamilton at the same 2009 dedication ceremony as the Lincoln Memorial sculpture.[7][5] The reliefs, placed side-by-side along a path to the statue, contain text and depict various times of Lincoln's life. The first panel describes Lincoln's childhood, and the second shows how slavery and the Civil War divided Lincoln's own family. The third panel's theme is Lincoln's growing political and social awareness, and the fourth and final relief shows seven slaves shackled together, with text quoting how Lincoln grew to hate slavery after witnessing slaves loaded onto a boat in Louisville. Words from Lincoln are written in the granite of the amphitheater, including "As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master."[8]
Ed Hamilton wasapprenticed to Louisville sculptorBarney Bright, well known for his work on theLouisville Clock. In May through December 2002 theSpeed Art Museum in Louisville mounted an exhibition of Hamilton's sculpture calledFrom the Other Side and published an illustrated exhibition catalog to accompany the show.[7] Hamilton also designed and created one of the African-American Civil War monuments in Washington, D.C.,[9] and a Lincoln statue atCentre College inDanville, Kentucky.[10] Sculptor Hamilton said of the Lincoln sculpture that he wanted to show him as a man of the people:
I didn't want to do another Lincoln like all the other Lincolns...I wanted (it) to be a Lincoln of the people...And so my vision was...I thought wouldn't it be interesting to have him, say a morning time walking to the office...And all of a sudden he came upon this big boulder, and he just took a notion to sit down. And he set his books and his top hat on the boulder, and he started reading one of his books. And all of a sudden, someone caught his attention and with a gesture of saying 'Hey! Come, sit down. Welcome...'[11]
The Lincoln Memorial sculpture is located within the Waterfront Park, a city park by theOhio River. Waterfront Park is part of theLouisville Riverwalk and theKentucky Lincoln Heritage Trail.Landscaping of theLouisville Waterfront Park included planting of trees which Lincoln favored.[12] The dedication of the park was celebrated June 3, 2009, with a public sunset event featuring a 50-piece orchestra performing works by American composerAaron Copland and Louisville native William Mapother narrating Copland'sLincoln Portrait.[13]
Lincoln will be depicted at about the age of 40, without the beard and stovepipe hat. He is seated on a rock-like monolith, with an open book in his right hand and his left hand extended in a welcoming gesture. Hamilton said his intent is to show Lincoln as approachable.
The $200,000 pledge was made recently by the family of the late Louisville business man Harry Frazier ....
Danville:Centre College Lincoln Statue, also by Ed Hamilton
