Abraham Lincoln Statue

Public Art : Abraham Lincoln Statue

Sculptor: © Henry Kirke Brown (1814-1886)

Description: A bronze larger than life statue of Abraham Lincoln (February 12th, 1809- April 15th, 1865) the 16th President of the United States of America.

Date Unveiled: The Lincoln statue was cast in 1868 and dedicated on the 16th of September, 1870.

Funded By : The Lincoln statue was funded by the Union League Club.

Location: Abe Lincoln can be found at the north end of Union Square Park, Manhattan, New York. The statue originally stood in the south west corner , where the statue of Gandi now stands. During that time a stone and bronze fence was erected to protect the statue and had the words "...with malice toward none; charity toward all" inscribed on it. However in 1930 during a reesign of the park thanks to a new subway the Abe (minus the fence) was moved to its present location.

So Who Was Abraham Lincoln? : Born in a log cabin in Kentucky in 1809, Abraham Lincoln would eventually become the 16th President of the United States of America and subsequently successsfully lead the country through the American Civil War. Self educated Lincoln worked as a store keeper, surveyor and postmaster before graduating as a lawyer.

In 1834 Lincoln was elected state legislature. After being elected to Congress (1847-1849) he quit to resume his legal practice, however the threat of the expansion of slavery in the West forced him to rejoin the political arena. After two failed bids for the Senate, Lincoln finally impressed the nation with his debates with Democratic opponent Stephen Douglas. In 1860 he successfully ran for President becoming the first Republican party president.

Abraham Lincoln became the first President of the United States to be assassinated. Lincoln was shot behind his left ear on Good Friday, 1865, during ACT II, SCENE III of the play "Our American Cousin" which he was watching with his wife Mary in the presidential box at the Ford's Theatre in Washington DC. The man who pulled the trigger was well known stage actor John Wilkes booth . Booth, who knew the play off by heart, waited until the funniest scene in the play to shoot the President in the hope the sound of the audience's laughter would muffle the gun shot. I don't think he took into account  Mrs Lincoln hysterical screams when her husband slumped forward. In the ensuing commotion and stabbing of Major Henry Rathbone, Booth jumped over the railing onto the stage below and held up his bloody knife and yelled "Sic semper tryannis" (Thus always to tyrants) the Virginia state motto. He then limped off stage, having fractured his fibula in his 12 ft leap from the Presidential box and jumped onto a horse which was waiting for him outside. During the dramatic unfolding the audience believed that Booth was part of the play . It was only after Mary and Clara Harris continued to scream and Rathbone shouted for someone to "stop that man" did the audience realize what they were witnessing was real. Lincoln was taken to a boarding house across the street from the theatre and placed horizontally on a bed as his tall frame would not fit on the small framed bed.  The following morning at 7.22am the 16th President of the United States was declared dead.

Abe Lincoln Statue Trivia: There are three statues of Abraham Lincoln in New York City and well over 200 throughout America.