Daniel Webster Memorial | |
 Daniel Webster Memorial in 2015 | |
| Location | Washington, D.C. |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 38°54′26″N77°2′14.2″W / 38.90722°N 77.037278°W /38.90722; -77.037278 |
| Built | 1900 |
| Architect | Gaetano Trentanove (sculptor) Unknown (architect) Fonderia Galli (founder) |
| Architectural style | Neoclassical |
| NRHP reference No. | 07001063[1] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 12, 2007 |
| Designated CP | August 25, 1978 (Sixteenth Street Historic District) April 24, 1997 (L'Enfant Plan) |
| Designated DCIHS | February 22, 2007 |
TheDaniel Webster Memorial is a monument inWashington, D.C., honoring U.S. statesman and lawyerDaniel Webster. It is located near Webster's former house, besideScott Circle, at the intersection ofMassachusetts Avenue, N Street, andRhode Island Avenue NW. The person who commissioned the memorial wasStilson Hutchins, founder ofThe Washington Post, who greatly admired Webster.Congress approved the memorial in 1898 and the dedication ceremony took place in January 1900. Amongst the attendees at the ceremony were PresidentWilliam McKinley and hiscabinet, members of Congress, and Supreme Court justices.
The 12-foot tall (3.7 m) bronze statue rests on an 18-foot (5.5 m) granite pedestal on the west side of Scott Circle. The statue depicts Webster as an orator. The pedestal features twobas-reliefs, one depicting theWebster–Hayne debate and the other Webster speaking at theBunker Hill Monument dedication ceremony. There are inscriptions describing Webster's life and the sculptor's name. The memorial was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and theDistrict of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites in 2007. It is also acontributing property to theSixteenth Street Historic District and theL'Enfant Plan, both of which are listed on the NRHP.
Daniel Webster (1782-1852) was a lawyer and politician who served in theHouse of Representatives andSenate, and served asSecretary of State twice. He was known as a great statesman and orator, which he often demonstrated in the Senate and in front of theSupreme Court. Some of the landmark cases Webster won in the Supreme Court includeDartmouth College v. Woodward,McCulloch v. Maryland, andGibbons v. Ogden. In total, Webster spent 23 years serving inCongress, and served as Secretary of State under PresidentsWilliam Henry Harrison,John Tyler, andMillard Fillmore.[2][3]
To honor Webster in the nation's capital, it was proposed to build a memorial to him somewhere in the city.Scott Circle, a traffic circle located a few block north of theWhite House, already had theequestrian statue of Winfield Scott. There were two small lots on each side of the circle, and it was here where the memorial to Webster and theSamuel Hahnemann Monument would be located.[3][4]
The person responsible for the idea of a memorial wasStilson Hutchins, founder ofThe Washington Post, who lived near Scott Circle and was a native ofNew Hampshire like Webster. Hutchins greatly admired Webster and told members of Congress he would pay for a statue to honor the man. Congress approved the commission on July 1, 1898, and allocated $4,000 to build the pedestal.[5] The architect chosen for the memorial is unknown, but the sculptor was Italian-AmericanGaetano Trentanove, whose other works in the city include thestatue of Jacques Marquette in theNational Statuary Hall Collection and theAlbert Pike Memorial. He attended academies inFlorence andParma, before moving to the U.S. and later becoming a U.S. citizen.[3] Thefounder for the project was Fonderia Galli, who also worked on the Pike memorial.[5]
The date chosen for the memorial dedication ceremony was January 18, 1900, exactly 118 years since Webster was born.[3] The dedication took place at theLafayette Square Opera House whilst the unveiling took place at the memorial site. Amongst the dignitaries in attendance were PresidentWilliam McKinley and hiscabinet, members of Congress, and Supreme Court justices. The event began with a prayer fromWilliam Henry Milburn, a blind clergyman who wasChaplain of the United States Senate at the time. New Hampshire SenatorWilliam E. Chandler spoke on behalf of Congress, officially accepting the memorial. Secretary of the NavyJohn Davis Long accepted the memorial on behalf of the American people.Henry N. Couden, who was serving asChaplain of the United States House of Representatives, delivered a benediction before the memorial was unveiled by Webster's great-grandon, Jerome Bonaparte, along with Hutchins' wife and a young lady, Katherine Deering.[6]
On February 22, 2007, the memorial was added to theDistrict of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites. It was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on October 12, 2007. The memorial is also designated acontributing property to theSixteenth Street Historic District, listed on the NRHP on August 25, 1978, and theL'Enfant Plan, listed on April 24, 1997.[7][8]
The Daniel Webster statue is located on Reservation 62, a small parcel of land on the west side of Scott Circle. On the opposite side of the circle in Reservation 64 is theSamuel Hahnemann Monument. Theequestrian statue of Winfield Scott, in Reservation 63, stands in the middle of the circle.[3][9] The three monuments create a bowtie effect with the layout of Scott Circle.[7] Reservation 62 is at the intersection of N Street,Massachusetts Avenue, andRhode Island Avenue NW. The statue is facing east towards Scott Circle.[3] The location of the statue is near Webster's former residence at 1603 Massachusetts Avenue NW.[4]
The bronze statue is approximately 12 feet tall (3.7 m), 4 feet wide (1.2 m), and 3 foot deep (0.9 m).[5][9] It depicts Webster as an orator and, according to historianJames Moore Goode, "The shoulders are thrown back in a defiant manner as if in answer to a challenge."[2] Historian Eve L. Barsoum said his face "portrays an intensity and sternness, indicative of his litigious and oratory skills.[3] Webster's right hand is holding a book, which rests on a stand. His clothing includes a long cape draped around his shoulders featuringepaulets.[3]
The rose granite pedestal is approximately 18 feet tall (5.5 m) and 14 feet (4.3 m) on each side.[5] The memorial's total height is 30 feet and reflectsneoclassical architecture.[2][3] On the pedestal are two bronzebas-reliefs, one on the west side and one on the east side, that portray pivotal moments of Webster's life. The bas-relief on the east side depicts the 1830Webster–Hayne debate, a debate in theU.S. Senate between Webster andRobert Y. Hayne, and includes over 100 additional people in relief. The second bas-relief depicts Webster delivering a dedication speech from a flag-draped balcony at theBunker Hill Monument in 1843.[2][5] There is a quote from the illustrated speeches above each bas-relief.[5]
The inscription reads:[10]
G. Trentanove F. Galli Fuseri, Firenze 1898 Italia
(Front of base:)
DANIEL WEBSTER
LIBERTY AND UNION
NOW AND FOREVER
ONE AND INSEPARABLE
(Proper left bottom:)
BORN AT
SALISBURY, N.H.
JAN 18, 1782
DIED AT
MARSHFIELD MASS
OCT. 24, 1852
(Bottom rear:)
GIVEN BY STILLSON HUTCHINS
A NATIVE OF N.H.
DEDICATED JAN. 18, 1900
(Rear top:)
OUR COUNTRY
OUR WHOLE COUNTRY
AND NOTHING BUT
OUR COUNTRY
(Proper right, bottom:)
EXPOUNDER
AND DEFENDER
OF THE CONSTITUTION
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
14th and 19thUS Secretary of State (1841-1843, 1850–1852) •U.S. Senator from Massachusetts (1827–1841, 1845–1850) | |||||
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