 Sidney Lanier Monument (2020) | |
 Interactive map of Sidney Lanier Monument | |
| Location | Piedmont Park,Atlanta,Georgia,United States |
|---|---|
| Designer | Carrère and Hastings Edward Clark Potter (bust) |
| Dedicated date | 1914 |
| Dedicated to | Sidney Lanier |
TheSidney Lanier Monument is a publicmonument inAtlanta,Georgia,United States. Located inPiedmont Park, the monument consists of abust ofSidney Lanier, a notablepoet from Georgia. The monument was dedicated in 1914.
Sidney Lanier was apoet fromGeorgia who was born inMacon in 1842. After graduating fromOglethorpe University in 1860, he served as a private in theConfederate States Army during theAmerican Civil War. Following the war, Lanier, an accomplishedflutist, played for thePeabody Symphony Orchestra inBaltimore and published some of his most famous poems, such as "The Marshes of Glynn". Lanier died at the ripe age of 39 due to tuberculosis he had contracted while he was aprisoner of war.[1] After his death, he was honored with numerous memorials, such as in the name ofLanier County, Georgia andLake Lanier.[2]
The monument was erected in 1914 by thePiedmont Park Association.[2] Sue Harper Mims, the wife ofAtlanta MayorLivingston Mims, funded the monument's creation and erection,[3] having sold some of herjewels to raise the money.[4] The monument was designed byCarrère and Hastings while thebust of Lanier was designed byEdward Clark Potter.[1] Following the monument's dedication, it became the subject of numerous acts of vandalism in the following years,[5] with a popularcollege prank among students in Atlanta being to remove the bust from the monument.[1] The bust was eventually removed and relocated to Oglethorpe University in 1985.[1]
In February 2012,[1] a replica of the original bust was installed on the monument.[2] The restoration, which took two years, was led by the Atlanta Preservation Center, with the newly restored monument debuted on February 4.[1] According toThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the committee behind the restoration decided that the monument was not aConfederate monument, and therefore recommended keeping it in place.[2] However, given his association with theConfederate States of America, numerous discussions of the monument are in the context of other Confederate monuments,[2][6] including in a report issued by theAtlanta History Center to thegovernment of Atlanta on Confederate monuments and memorials in the city.[7]
The monument is designed in the form of anEgyptianstele, with a recessed area in the front of the monument holding a bust of Lanier. The bust faces west.[3]
Media related toSidney Lanier Monument at Wikimedia Commons33°47′10″N84°22′30″W / 33.78605°N 84.37494°W /33.78605; -84.37494