Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To Us: Henry Lee Higginson creates the Boston Symphony Or...
Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To Us: Henry Lee Higginson creates the Boston Symphony Or...: Henery Lee Higginson bust by Bela Lyon Pratt is just another tribute to great Boston leadership; this time in classical music. On Mar...
Henry Lee Higginson creates the Boston Symphony Orchestra May 23, 1889; Boston Monument; Merry Christmas to All!
Henery Lee Higginson bust by Bela Lyon Pratt is just another tribute to great Boston leadership; this time in classical music.
On March 30, 1881, Higginson published in Boston newspapers his plan for a Boston Symphony Orchestra that would perform as a "full and permanent orchestra, offering the best music at low prices, such as may be found in all the large European cities." He advised his first music director, George Henschel , to hire only local musicians for the first year so as to avoid creating bad blood in local musical circles. For the first season's series of 20 concerts, prices were set at $10 or $5 for the whole series. Single ticket prices were set at 75 and 25 cents. For the weekly afternoon public rehearsal, seats were unreserved and all priced at 25 cents. The concert venue was the Boston Music Hall and the orchestra would travel locally, offering concerts in such cities as Providence Portland, and Worcester, as well as several in Cambridge at Harvard University's Sanders Theathre.] Soon, to address concerns about the availability of tickets, 505 tickets for the afternoon rehearsal concerts were sold for 25 cents to those who joined the queue outside the hall in advance of the performance. Tours to more distant cities followed, starting with Philadelphia and then New York. Casual summer concerts began in 1885.
"The scheme, half-baked, no doubt, was simply this: to give concerts of good music, very well performed, in such style as we had all heard for years in Europe; to make fair prices for the tickets and then open wide the doors."
-Henry Lee Higginson
May 23, 1889[
May 23, 1889[
For many years, the organization accepted support from no one other than Higginson, who made up the annual deficit himself. The annual deficit he had to make up never exceeded $52,000.From the very beginning through at least the first 30 years of the BSO, through Julius Epstein, a Jewish friend in Vienna, Higginson had access to a continuous stream of the best conductors in the world, all European and German-speaking. In 1906, he sent instructions to those hiring on his behalf that the person they choose should understand that Higginson cared neither for modern music nor "the extreme modern style of conducting." He elaborated his tastes in another letter:
- If you see Walter or Mengelberg, you will have to say to them . . . that I do know something about music, and that I have very distinct ideas as to how music should be played; that I shall not meddle with modern music, but that I shall certainly ask them to play the classics as they were played. I was brought up in the Vienna school (as you know) and there were plenty of men living then who had heard Beethoven conduct, as well as Mendelssohn, and knew how he wished his music given. I have known Brahms myself and heard his music. You know well enough what I wish, and I shall not interfere unduly with any of these men, but I don't want crazy work (such as sometimes even Nikisch gave us, and Paur gave us too often), and perhaps you had better tell them that I hate noise.
- Happy Holidays to all! "Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To Us" can purchased at Old North Church Gift Store, Best Sellers Cafe Bookstore, Malden, Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble book stores.
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To Us: A visit with family to the 911 Memorial ; Remembra...
Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To Us: A visit with family to the 911 Memorial ; Remembra...: My wife Jeannine and I visted my daughter Carolyne, in New York City, this December 10th during the most festive time of the year as m...
A visit with family to the 911 Memorial ; Remembrance of the 2977 people kill on September 11, 2001
The Rocketts Christmas Spectacular, Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Center iceskating, the dancing Salvation Army bell ringers, the window shopping, comedy clubs and cozy foodie restaurants of Greenwich Village and SoHo were exciting and friendly. The spirit of kindness and generosity permeate the city this time of year.
Another day is honored in bronze and stone 365 days of the year. The rememberance of the tragic 2977 deaths of people, from all walks of life, on September 11, 2001. Their souls are not forgotten. These people from all states, nations, races and religious beliefs were robbed of their Freedom of Pursuit of Happiness.
Much thought and feelings have been incorporated in the construction of both the outside dark cavernous square waterfall fountains, where once the two World Towers once stood, housing thousands of people every work day.
Many hours of community effort from all parts of America went into the fabricating of the 911 Remembrance Quilt hanging in the downstairs 911 Memorial Museum. Artists of all types have helped express all of our grief connected to this heinous act of terrorism. Lastly, photos of all victums are hang on the inner wall of this monument.
Rising defiantly, above and next to this monument of bronze and stone, is the Freedom Tower, a beacon for all of us, for America, for Western freedoms and democracy.
The Spirit of the Season and The Spirit of Freedom lives with all of us who allow the freedom of others.
Happy Holidays From "Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To Us"
Our Monuments teach us, hopefully we will all learn from them.
Rising defiantly, above and next to this monument of bronze and stone, is the Freedom Tower, a beacon for all of us, for America, for Western freedoms and democracy.
The Spirit of the Season and The Spirit of Freedom lives with all of us who allow the freedom of others.
Happy Holidays From "Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To Us"
Our Monuments teach us, hopefully we will all learn from them.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
University of Mass at Boston Campus Talk: Leadership and Heros
Thank you Jerrilyn Quinlan at the OLLI Fall Semester Talk Program for Continuing Learning at the University of Mass Boston Campus for inviting me to give a talk about "Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To Us"with respect to leadership and our heroes.
Dozens of books were sold and many accolades were bestowed upon my lecture and content of my book.
This talk will conclude my 2014 lecture series of my book an its significance with respect to our future leaders both here in Boston and America.
I am looking forward to more talks this coming Spring 2015.
Boston is America, America is Boston
Dozens of books were sold and many accolades were bestowed upon my lecture and content of my book.
This talk will conclude my 2014 lecture series of my book an its significance with respect to our future leaders both here in Boston and America.
I am looking forward to more talks this coming Spring 2015.
Monday, November 10, 2014
In Honor of our War Veterans Thank you
Honor of All Veterans
Inside Beacon Hill State House Emilius R. Ciampa, Sculptor Bronze Plaque
Inside Beacon Hill State House Emilius R. Ciampa, Sculptor Bronze Plaque
In honor off all veterans who served in the Armed Services of the United
States in the first world war to preserve democracy and freedom.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts erects this tribute and records the
peoples prayer for lasting liberty and peace.
Taken from the Bronze
Just one of many War Memorials within our Beacon Hill State House.
Joe Gallo will be presenting a talk on "Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To Us" on Thursday November 13, 2014 at the University of Mass Boston Campus beginning at 11:40 am to 1:00 pm in the McCormick Building , Rynn Lounge
Boston is America, America is Boston
Taken from the Bronze
Just one of many War Memorials within our Beacon Hill State House.
Joe Gallo will be presenting a talk on "Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To Us" on Thursday November 13, 2014 at the University of Mass Boston Campus beginning at 11:40 am to 1:00 pm in the McCormick Building , Rynn Lounge
Boston is America, America is Boston
Sunday, November 2, 2014
I dedicate this blog to the passing of our Mayor Thomas Menino of the City of Boston as I have dedicated my book when he was living.
Mayor Thomas Menino has been the longest serving Boston Mayor, the "urban mechanic". The Wall Street Journal yesterday praised Mayor Menino and his intense "Menino Schedule" that he followed in serving his 20 year term in office.
Thomas Menino ranks with the many great former City of Boston mayors such as, Mayor Kevin H. White, Mayor Raymond Flynn, Mayor James Michael Curley, John Quincy our second mayor as well as others.
Without a doubt Boston will remember Thomas Menino with a sensitive down to earth monument in bronze or stone immortizing him for all that he has accomplished for the people and City of Boston. Mayor Menino's leadership is why Boston and its artists will remember him with a monument.
Mayor Menino shall stand tall amongst his peers immortalized in Boston bronze and stone soon.
Thank you Mayor for all your dedicated years of service.
Boston is America, America is Boston
Mayors James Michael Curly, John Quincy and Kevin H. White
Thomas Menino ranks with the many great former City of Boston mayors such as, Mayor Kevin H. White, Mayor Raymond Flynn, Mayor James Michael Curley, John Quincy our second mayor as well as others.
Without a doubt Boston will remember Thomas Menino with a sensitive down to earth monument in bronze or stone immortizing him for all that he has accomplished for the people and City of Boston. Mayor Menino's leadership is why Boston and its artists will remember him with a monument.
Mayor Menino shall stand tall amongst his peers immortalized in Boston bronze and stone soon.
Thank you Mayor for all your dedicated years of service.
Boston is America, America is Boston
Monday, October 6, 2014
Edgar Allen Poe Returns To Boston, MA, an article by Katharine Q. Seelye
BOSTON — Edgar Allan Poe had a love-hate relationship with the city of Boston.
He was born here in 1809 and published some of his most famous works here. But he considered Boston writers self-important and preachy, and he said so. And Boston returned the sentiment. Ralph Waldo Emerson dismissed Poe as a “jingle man” for his simplistic style, as if the author of “The Raven” were writing television ads for toothpaste.
Not surprisingly, little trace of Poe remains in this region’s august annals of literary achievement, overstuffed as they are with the likes of Emerson and Thoreau, Longfellow and Hawthorne.
But Poe’s snarly past with Boston will be set aside on Sunday, when the city officially welcomes the master of the macabre into its fold with the unveiling of a statue in his honor.
“It’s time that Poe, whose hometown was Boston, be honored for his connection to the city,” Mayor Martin J. Walsh said.
Other cities have long claimed a piece of the itinerant Poe. Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Richmond, Va., all have Poe monuments or museums of one sort or another.
Boston never bothered. Not without reason. Poe sneered at the city’s luminaries. Riffing off the Frog Pond in the Boston Common, Poe called the local swells “Frogpondians,” their moralistic works sounding like the croaking of so many frogs. As for residents here, they “have no soul,” he said. “Bostonians are well bred — as very dull persons very generally are.”
Now the city is burying the hatchet, and not in Poe’s back. On Sunday, civic and literary folk, including Robert Pinsky, a former national poet laureate who teaches at Boston University, are to unveil a bronze statue of Poe near the Boston Common and, they hope, usher in an era of reconciliation.
The statue captures the writer in a purposeful stride, his cape billowing out to his left. On his right is an outsize raven, uncoiling for flight. Poe is toting a suitcase so overpacked that various manuscripts — “The Tell-Tale Heart” among them — are spilling out. Also popping out is a heart.
He is heading toward the house, two blocks away, where his parents lived around the time he was born, though it has since been razed.
“He’s home,” said the sculptor, Stefanie Rocknak, a philosophy professor at Hartwick College in Oneonta, N.Y. “He’s back, in triumphant gesture, respected as a literary figure.”
Boston has been preparing to welcome him back since the bicentennial of his birth in 2009. That year, Katherine Kim, a graduate student at Boston College, asked her English professor, Paul Lewis, why Boston was not part of the multicity celebration of one of America’s greatest writers.
Mr. Lewis explained that things between Poe and his birth city had gone seriously awry. He repeated the tale on a recent walking tour of Poe-related sites, as follows:
Poe’s mother had loved Boston. Her son Eddy, as she called him, was orphaned early and removed to Richmond, but he returned sporadically throughout his life. On his visits, Poe, who had become a literary reviewer so savage that he was called “tomahawk man,” came to loathe the city’s intelligentsia.
He even investigated his fellow writers, a laborious task in the pre-Google era, and accused the revered Longfellow, author of “Paul Revere’s Ride,” of plagiarism — a charge that a Longfellow biographer later acknowledged had some validity.
Fancying itself the Athens of America, Boston flayed Poe right back. Emerson derided “The Raven,” saying, “I see nothing in it.” Cornelia Wells Walter, editor of The Boston Evening Transcript, engaged in a long-distance smackdown with Poe after he gave a harried, poorly received reading at the Boston Lyceum. She ridiculed him for his “childish” effort. Poe wrote back that at least their spat had perked up the somnambulant citizenry.
“We never saw the Frogpondians so lively in our lives,” he wrote. “They seem absolutely to be upon the point of waking up.”
Poe predicted that Longfellow’s popularity would not endure, and Mr. Lewis said history had proved Poe correct. He said history had also shown that Boston played a crucial role in Poe’s development as a writer.
Poe’s chief complaint about Boston writers was that they were didactic. They used their poetry and fiction to argue their causes — abolition, women’s rights, social reform. To Poe, such writing should entertain and move. He believed in art for art’s sake.
“He who pleases is of more importance to his fellow man than he who instructs,” Poe wrote.
By defining himself in opposition to the Boston writers, Mr. Lewis said, Poe found his own narrative voice.
With these realizations, Mr. Lewis and others thought it time that Boston reconnect with Poe. The 2009 bicentennial set efforts in motion.
The city joined in, renaming the intersection of Boylston Street and Charles Street South, near Poe’s parents’ house, in his honor. There was no gnashing of teeth over whether to embrace the city’s erstwhile antagonist. “It just seemed like a sensible proposition,” said Karin Goodfellow, director of the Boston Art Commission. Poe’s complex feelings about the meaning of art and his sense of place, she said, were part of the fabric of life.
Thomas Menino, then the city’s mayor, also weighed in.
“Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most important figures in American literature,” he said at the time. “We are proud to call him a Bostonian.”
The Boston Public Library sponsored an elaborate Poe exhibit. Dan Currie, a local historian, founded the Edgar Allan Poe Foundation of Boston to raise money for a statue. Among those at Sunday’s unveiling will be Ms. Kim, the graduate student whose interest helped spark Boston’s reassessment.
Poe’s current popularity is evident in English classes here, which are brimming with enthusiasts. Accompanying Mr. Lewis on his recent walking tour were two dozen people, many of them Suffolk University students, who had given up a gorgeous fall Saturday to revel in Poe-mania. One of them was Anet Calisir, 18, who is majoring in marine biology but is enthralled by Poe.
She said her English professor, Peter Jeffreys, “always pushes us to the mental breaking point while discussing each of Poe’s short stories and poems, which makes us want to read more and more and analyze each piece as close as we can.”
Mr. Jeffreys, who also joined the tour, found poetic — if ominous — symbolism in Poe’s belated return to the city that so long kept him down.
“It illustrates the psychological principle that we find in so many of Poe’s stories,” he said. “When you repress something, it eventually returns to haunt you — and quite often with a vengeance.”
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Boston Monuments; September 11, 2001 by Victor Walker
Garden of Remembrance 9/11
Arlington and Boylston Streets Victor Walker, Sculptor Stone / Granite
In honor of those who have fallen.
Arlington and Boylston Streets Victor Walker, Sculptor Stone / Granite
In honor of those who have fallen.
Taken from the Stone
Most Bostonians and New Englanders are unaware of a September 11, 2001 memorial monument tucked in the well shaded and peaceful corner of our Boston Public Garden. Dozens of our local citizens of all races and religious beliefs died that day for Freedom.
Most Bostonians and New Englanders are unaware of a September 11, 2001 memorial monument tucked in the well shaded and peaceful corner of our Boston Public Garden. Dozens of our local citizens of all races and religious beliefs died that day for Freedom.
Since they first disembarked from
their ship The Arbella in 1630, Bostonians have honored the memory of Americans who gave their
lives defending our Freedom -- from the city of
Boston or from our state of Massachusetts.
"Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To Us" can be purchased on Amazon.com or www.bostonbronzeandstone.com
"Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To Us" can be purchased on Amazon.com or www.bostonbronzeandstone.com
Saturday, September 6, 2014
Back to School : Horace Mann Father of Secondary Education.
Horace Mann (1796-1859)
Outside Beacon Hill State House
Miss Emma Stebbins (1815 – 1882), Sculptor Bronze
Horace Mann was a lawyer, Massachusetts Legislator, Secretary of the State Board of Education, Congress man to the United States House of Representatives, President of Antioch College, and Promoter of Public Educational Reforms for Massachusetts.
My mentor, along with many other American public school teacher, I went to his teacher’s schools. I attended the teaching schools of Salem State and University of Massachusetts, both of which are descendants of the “Normal Schools” founded by Horace Mann.
Horace Mann once said: “In a republic, ignorance is a crime. If we do not prepare children to become good citizens - if we do not develop their capacities, if we do not enrich their minds with knowledge - then our republic must go down to destruction.”
“Webster gained a companion on 4 July 1865 when a bronze statue of Horace Mann (1796-1859) was placed opposite him on the State House lawn. Beginning as a lawyer and Massachusetts legislator, Mann became Secretary of the State Board of Education upon its creation in 1837, serving until 1848, when he was elected to the seat in the United States House of Representatives vacated by the death of John Quincy Adams.
From 1852 to 1859 Horace Mann was president of Antioch College at Yellow Springs, Ohio. Funds for his memorial were collected from Massachusetts school children and teach- ers in 1860, the year following his death; the statue was modeled in Rome by Miss Emma Stebbins (1815-1882)
and cast in bronze in Munich. The sculptress veiled Mann’s clothing in a voluminous mantle, producing what was not unreasonably described as ‘a mass of bad drapery.’”
Outside Beacon Hill State House
Miss Emma Stebbins (1815 – 1882), Sculptor Bronze
Horace Mann was a lawyer, Massachusetts Legislator, Secretary of the State Board of Education, Congress man to the United States House of Representatives, President of Antioch College, and Promoter of Public Educational Reforms for Massachusetts.
My mentor, along with many other American public school teacher, I went to his teacher’s schools. I attended the teaching schools of Salem State and University of Massachusetts, both of which are descendants of the “Normal Schools” founded by Horace Mann.
Horace Mann once said: “In a republic, ignorance is a crime. If we do not prepare children to become good citizens - if we do not develop their capacities, if we do not enrich their minds with knowledge - then our republic must go down to destruction.”
“Webster gained a companion on 4 July 1865 when a bronze statue of Horace Mann (1796-1859) was placed opposite him on the State House lawn. Beginning as a lawyer and Massachusetts legislator, Mann became Secretary of the State Board of Education upon its creation in 1837, serving until 1848, when he was elected to the seat in the United States House of Representatives vacated by the death of John Quincy Adams.
From 1852 to 1859 Horace Mann was president of Antioch College at Yellow Springs, Ohio. Funds for his memorial were collected from Massachusetts school children and teach- ers in 1860, the year following his death; the statue was modeled in Rome by Miss Emma Stebbins (1815-1882)
and cast in bronze in Munich. The sculptress veiled Mann’s clothing in a voluminous mantle, producing what was not unreasonably described as ‘a mass of bad drapery.’”
During this period he served in the Massachusetts State Legislature as a member of the House from 1827 to 1833,
and then as a member of the Senate from 1833 to 1837. As President of the Senate during his final year in the legislature,
he signed a significant education bill, which became law on April 20, 1837.
During his years of service as the new Secretary of Education, Horace Mann transformed the moribund school system in Massachusetts.
Arguing that universal public education was the best way to turn the nation’s unruly children into disciplined, judicious republican citizens, Mann won widespread approval from modernizers, especially in his Whig Party, for building public schools. Most states adopted one version or another of the system he established in Massachusetts, especially the program for “normal schools” to train professional teachers. Mann has been credited by many education historians as the “Father of the Common School Movement”.
"Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To Us"sold on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble book stores.
During his years of service as the new Secretary of Education, Horace Mann transformed the moribund school system in Massachusetts.
Arguing that universal public education was the best way to turn the nation’s unruly children into disciplined, judicious republican citizens, Mann won widespread approval from modernizers, especially in his Whig Party, for building public schools. Most states adopted one version or another of the system he established in Massachusetts, especially the program for “normal schools” to train professional teachers. Mann has been credited by many education historians as the “Father of the Common School Movement”.
"Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To Us"sold on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble book stores.
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Commodore John Barry Monument; Boston Common, another great Irish American Honored.
Why did, Mayor of Boston, Michael Curley have a monument sculptured by John F. Paramino placed on Boston Common even though the commodore was born in Ireland and resided it Philadelphia?
James Michael Curley, as so many Irish Americans, were proud of their Irish heritage and proud of their part in the making of America's history. This monument is just one of many stones dedicated to such great leaders in our country.
Commodore John Barry (1949)
Tremont Street / Lafayette Mall John F. Paramino, Sculptor Granite
Father of the American Navy
Born in Wexford, Ireland 1745 - Died in Philadelphia 1803
Receive First Commission from the Continental Congress to Command the Lexington 1775
Sailed from Boston on the Raleich 1778
Acclaimed in Boston in 1780 for the Victories on the Alliance
Appointed in 1794 by President Washington to plan Construction of the later to be in Command of First U.S. Navy Launched 1798
Erected by the city of Boston James M. Curley Mayor 1949
Taken from the Stone
John Barry (March 25, 1745 – September 13, 1803) was an officer in the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War and later in the United States Navy. He is often credited as “The Father of the American Navy". Barry was born in Tacumshane, County Wexford, Ireland and appointed a Captain in the Continental Navy on December 7, 1775.
Few Americans are well-acquainted with the gallantry and heroic exploits of Philadelphia’s Irish-born naval commander, Commodore John Barry. Obscured by his contemporary, naval commander John Paul Jones, Barry remains to this day, an unsung hero of the young American Republic.
As most naval historians note, Barry can be classed on a par with Jones for nautical skill and daring, but he exceeds him in the length of service (17 years) to his adopted country and his fidelity to the nurturing of a permanent American Navy. Indeed, Barry deserves the proud epithet, “Father of the American Navy,” a title bestowed on him not by current generations of admirers, but by his contemporaries, who were in the best position to judge.
In the space of 58 years, this son of a poor Irish farmer rose from humble cabin boy to senior commander of the entire United States fleet. Intrepid in battle, he was humane to his men as well as adversaries and prisoners. Barry’s war contributions are unparalleled: he was the first to capture a British war vessel on the high seas; he captured two British ships after being severely wounded in a ferocious sea battle; he quelled three mutinies; he fought on land at the Battles of Trenton and Princeton; he captured over 20 ships including an armed British schooner in the lower Delaware; he au- thored a Signal Book which established a set of signals used for effective communication between ships; and he fought the last naval battle of the American Revolution aboard the frigate Alliance in 1783.
Boston Bronze and Stone Talk schedule:
Langley Adams Library 184 Main Street, Groveland MA. at 6:30 PM
Wakefield Library 345 Main Street, Wakefield, MA at 7:00 PM
OLLI Group University of Massachucetts Boston Campus 11:30 am to 1:00 PM date TBA, pending Nov 5, 2015
Diamond School Lexington, MA May 2015 TBA
Monday, June 30, 2014
Happy 4th of July: Joe Gallo has been asked to speak at the Mensa Society of America!
Declaration of Independence
Monument
Tremont Street / Boston Common John Paramino, Sculptor Bronze Plaque / Stone
In Congress July 4,1776 the Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America After Trumballs Painting
Taken from the Bronze
The United States Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies, then at war with Great Britain, were now independent states, and thus no longer a part of the British Empire. Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration is a formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain, more than a year after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. The birthday of the United States of America, Independence Day is celebrated on July 4, the day the wording of the Declaration was approved by Congress.
The Declaration justified the independence of the United States by listing colonial grievances against King George III, and by asserting certain natural rights, including a right of revolution. Having served its original purpose in announcing independence, the text of the Declaration was initially ignored after the American Revolution. Its stature grew over the years, particularly the second sentence, a sweeping
statement of individual human rights:
“We hold these truths to be self- evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” This sentence has been called “one of the best-known sentences in the English language” and “the most po- tent and consequential words in American history.”
I am looking forward to Speaking about my book "Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To US". The Talk entitled "Genesis Ingenious and Creativity in Boston Past and Present" at the Sheraton Boston Hotel Boston this July 3, 2014 at 12:00 PM to The Mensa Society of America. Over 1500 members will be there attending dozens of presentations further enlightening Mensa Society members.
Boston Bronze and Stone Speaks To Us, can be purchsed at Amazon.com and Barns & Noble Bookstores,Old North Church Gift Shop, Bestsellers Cafe Bookstore, etc..
Tremont Street / Boston Common John Paramino, Sculptor Bronze Plaque / Stone
In Congress July 4,1776 the Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America After Trumballs Painting
Taken from the Bronze
The United States Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies, then at war with Great Britain, were now independent states, and thus no longer a part of the British Empire. Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration is a formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain, more than a year after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. The birthday of the United States of America, Independence Day is celebrated on July 4, the day the wording of the Declaration was approved by Congress.
The Declaration justified the independence of the United States by listing colonial grievances against King George III, and by asserting certain natural rights, including a right of revolution. Having served its original purpose in announcing independence, the text of the Declaration was initially ignored after the American Revolution. Its stature grew over the years, particularly the second sentence, a sweeping
statement of individual human rights:
“We hold these truths to be self- evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” This sentence has been called “one of the best-known sentences in the English language” and “the most po- tent and consequential words in American history.”
I am looking forward to Speaking about my book "Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To US". The Talk entitled "Genesis Ingenious and Creativity in Boston Past and Present" at the Sheraton Boston Hotel Boston this July 3, 2014 at 12:00 PM to The Mensa Society of America. Over 1500 members will be there attending dozens of presentations further enlightening Mensa Society members.
Boston Bronze and Stone Speaks To Us, can be purchsed at Amazon.com and Barns & Noble Bookstores,Old North Church Gift Shop, Bestsellers Cafe Bookstore, etc..
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
George S Patton Boston Monument, Veteran Remembered.
George S. Patton
Esplanade
James Earl Fraser (1885-1945), Sculptor Bronze
Majestically standing, George Smith Patton, Jr., a resident of Hamilton, Massachusetts and a distinguished and courageous soldier, is one of the many pillars of the WWII American Military on the Boston Esplanade.
On the Esplanade near the statues of Senator Walsh and the transplanted Civil War general, Charles Devens, stands the bronze statue of a more recent and infinitely more vivid figure, the dashing and profane General George Smith Patton, Jr. (1885-1945), the most dramatic officer on his rank in World War II. It is the work of James Earle Fraser (1876-1953), a pupil
of Augustus Saint-Gaudens,
whose buffalo nickel is familiar to every American.
Fraser, who also modeled
the ‘End of the Trail’ for the
Panama-Pacific Exposition,
as well as sculptures for the
Supreme Court and the National Archives buildings in
Washington, did the statue
of General Patton for the
U.S. Military Academy at
West Point. The Boston statue is a replica, commissioned
by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and erected in the mid-fifties, a decade after the general’s death.
Esplanade
James Earl Fraser (1885-1945), Sculptor Bronze
Majestically standing, George Smith Patton, Jr., a resident of Hamilton, Massachusetts and a distinguished and courageous soldier, is one of the many pillars of the WWII American Military on the Boston Esplanade.
On the Esplanade near the statues of Senator Walsh and the transplanted Civil War general, Charles Devens, stands the bronze statue of a more recent and infinitely more vivid figure, the dashing and profane General George Smith Patton, Jr. (1885-1945), the most dramatic officer on his rank in World War II. It is the work of James Earle Fraser (1876-1953), a pupil
of Augustus Saint-Gaudens,
whose buffalo nickel is familiar to every American.
Fraser, who also modeled
the ‘End of the Trail’ for the
Panama-Pacific Exposition,
as well as sculptures for the
Supreme Court and the National Archives buildings in
Washington, did the statue
of General Patton for the
U.S. Military Academy at
West Point. The Boston statue is a replica, commissioned
by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and erected in the mid-fifties, a decade after the general’s death.
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
The Soldiers and Sailors Monument revisited.
The Soldiers and Sailors monument on Flagstaff Hill Boston Common has finally been complete once again since its creation in 1877 commemorating the service men and women fallen in our American Civil War.
The four ten foot bronze statues representing the Army, Navy, History and Peace are once again united to Martin Millmores' master piece on Boston Common. A mammoth $132,500 to restore this work of art and histoy negated the vandalism set upon this Boston bronze and stone decades ago. Boston has once again shown its strength and love for its' bronze and stones ( based on Jacqueline Tempera May 30, 2014 Globe article).
Boston is America, America is Boston.
Friday, May 23, 2014
Memorial Day has its beginnings at the end of our American Civil War.
Soldiers and Sailors, 1877
Boston Common / Lafayette Mall On Flagstaff Hill Martin Milmore, Sculptor
Bronze / Granite
Soaring and traditionally monumental for a war memorial, Martin Milmore’s monument marks the center of historic Boston Common.
Martin Milmore’s success with the Roxbury monument led to his doing the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument atop Flagstaff Hill on Boston Common, begun in 1871 and completed in 1877. Four statues representing Peace, the Sailor, The Muse of History, and the Soldier, stand at the base of a tall column surmounted by a figure of Liberty. Between the projections on which the statues stand are four bronze reliefs depicting the departure of forces for the war, the Battle of Fort Sumter, the work of the Boston Sanitary Commission, and the return from the war. At the foot of the column stand allegorical figures in high relief representing the
sections of the country, the North, South, East, and West. The
architectural sense of the design is admirable. The presence of
this collective monument did not, however, spare Boston a num-
ber of individual memorials of the Civil War.
"Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To Us" can be purchased at the following locations: Faneuil Hall Book Store, Old North Church Gift Store, Bestsellers Bookstore Cafe, USS Constitution Museum Gift Sore, Museum Of Science Gift Store, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble Book Stores.
Boston Common / Lafayette Mall On Flagstaff Hill Martin Milmore, Sculptor
Bronze / Granite
Soaring and traditionally monumental for a war memorial, Martin Milmore’s monument marks the center of historic Boston Common.
Martin Milmore’s success with the Roxbury monument led to his doing the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument atop Flagstaff Hill on Boston Common, begun in 1871 and completed in 1877. Four statues representing Peace, the Sailor, The Muse of History, and the Soldier, stand at the base of a tall column surmounted by a figure of Liberty. Between the projections on which the statues stand are four bronze reliefs depicting the departure of forces for the war, the Battle of Fort Sumter, the work of the Boston Sanitary Commission, and the return from the war. At the foot of the column stand allegorical figures in high relief representing the
sections of the country, the North, South, East, and West. The
architectural sense of the design is admirable. The presence of
this collective monument did not, however, spare Boston a num-
ber of individual memorials of the Civil War.
"Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To Us" can be purchased at the following locations: Faneuil Hall Book Store, Old North Church Gift Store, Bestsellers Bookstore Cafe, USS Constitution Museum Gift Sore, Museum Of Science Gift Store, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble Book Stores.
Sunday, May 4, 2014
I want to share with you, this most kind letter received from Diane Gallagher ; teacher at the Diamond Middle School.
What never ceases to amaze me is the broad spectrum of Americans who can relate to"Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To Us"both young and old alike.
Hello Joe!
Yesterday was such a perfect presentation to our students on Boston's sculptures. You had the attention of over 90 seventh graders
who learned more in that hour than we could have taught them in a week. Your power point and accompanying stories behind each
sculpture brought the bronze and stone to life. Thank you, Joe, from all of us here at Diamond Middle School, for your passion in helping us
see our fair city and her public art with new eyes. Now when we venture into Boston on our walking field trip next week with your wonderful book to guide us and our sketch books in hand, we are sure to have a most memorable day!
It is no small feat, Joe, that you could keep rapt attention of almost 100 thirteen year old children on a warm Friday afternoon. It was the end of a long week yet they held onto your every word and answered all of your questions thoughtfully. You complimented their answers and made them all feel so good about their knowledge and the inferences they drew about the art.
Again, thank you for coming to Lexington to teach our children and inspire us all.
Most sincerely --
Diane Gallagher
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Go Bruins from "Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To Us"
Make Way for Ducklings ( 1987 )
Boston Public Gardens Nancy Schön, Sculptor Bronze / Stone
This Sculpture has been placed here as a tribute to Robert McCloskey whose story “Make Way for Ducklings” has made the Boston Public Garden familiar to children through out the world. (1987)
Taken from the Bronze
Make Way for Ducklings, a children’s book written by Robert McCloskey in 1941, won the Caldecott Medal (an award given annually for outstanding juvenile literature) in 1942. It quickly became a classic, going through seventeen printings and selling more than 700,000 copies. With his own drawings, McCloskey relates the tale of a pair of mallard ducks looking for a nesting site in Boston. They find the perfect place on an island in the Charles River Basin, but they remember the peanuts fed them by visitors to the Public Garden. When the ducklings are old enough, Mrs. Mallard and her progeny take a stroll up sidewalks and through traffic. One of Boston’s newer traditions is a children’s parade retracing the ducklings’ route on Duckling Day (Mothers Day).
Requests for replicas in other cities have been turned down by the sculptor because ‘it’s a Boston story.’ She made exception when Russian First Lady Raisa Gorbachev asked her American counterpart Barbara Bush for a duplicate for Moscow; in 1991 a duck family was installed in Gorky Park.
Dedicated in the 150th anniversary year of the Public Garden, the sculpture is considered a tribute to McCloskey, whose drawings the sculptor followed closely. Given to the City of Boston by Friends of the Public Garden.
Boston Public Gardens Nancy Schön, Sculptor Bronze / Stone
This Sculpture has been placed here as a tribute to Robert McCloskey whose story “Make Way for Ducklings” has made the Boston Public Garden familiar to children through out the world. (1987)
Taken from the Bronze
Make Way for Ducklings, a children’s book written by Robert McCloskey in 1941, won the Caldecott Medal (an award given annually for outstanding juvenile literature) in 1942. It quickly became a classic, going through seventeen printings and selling more than 700,000 copies. With his own drawings, McCloskey relates the tale of a pair of mallard ducks looking for a nesting site in Boston. They find the perfect place on an island in the Charles River Basin, but they remember the peanuts fed them by visitors to the Public Garden. When the ducklings are old enough, Mrs. Mallard and her progeny take a stroll up sidewalks and through traffic. One of Boston’s newer traditions is a children’s parade retracing the ducklings’ route on Duckling Day (Mothers Day).
Requests for replicas in other cities have been turned down by the sculptor because ‘it’s a Boston story.’ She made exception when Russian First Lady Raisa Gorbachev asked her American counterpart Barbara Bush for a duplicate for Moscow; in 1991 a duck family was installed in Gorky Park.
Dedicated in the 150th anniversary year of the Public Garden, the sculpture is considered a tribute to McCloskey, whose drawings the sculptor followed closely. Given to the City of Boston by Friends of the Public Garden.
Nancy Schön (born 1928) is a renowned sculptor of public art displayed internationally. Nancy prides herself in
having work that is totally interactive. Her sculptures are available for people to touch, sit on, hug and interact with every
day of the year, day or night.
Another major work by Nancy Schön’s besides Make Way for Ducklings is The Tortoise and Hare, which is a meta- phor for the Boston Marathon and is located at the finish line in Copley Square.
As Nancy creates a work of art, her research is a quest for knowledge and of understanding issues and of learning, including her philosophy of “reflection in action”. “We learn so much from our inquiry but as my husband said, ‘we know more than we can say’ and I would always say back to him that I think our unconscious is brilliant!”
"Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To Us" can be purchased at the following locations: Faneuil Hall Book Store, Old North Church Gift Store, Bestsellers Bookstore Cafe, USS Constitution Museum Gift Sore, Museum Of Science Gift Store, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble Book Stores.
Another major work by Nancy Schön’s besides Make Way for Ducklings is The Tortoise and Hare, which is a meta- phor for the Boston Marathon and is located at the finish line in Copley Square.
As Nancy creates a work of art, her research is a quest for knowledge and of understanding issues and of learning, including her philosophy of “reflection in action”. “We learn so much from our inquiry but as my husband said, ‘we know more than we can say’ and I would always say back to him that I think our unconscious is brilliant!”
"Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To Us" can be purchased at the following locations: Faneuil Hall Book Store, Old North Church Gift Store, Bestsellers Bookstore Cafe, USS Constitution Museum Gift Sore, Museum Of Science Gift Store, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble Book Stores.
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Thank you to the women of The Most Blessed Sacrament Church for allowing me the opportunity to speak.
Inside Beacon Hill State House
Bela Pratt / Sculptor
Bronze / Granite
With its tender caress, the sculptured War Nurses rightfully represent all nurses, in all wars, a moving masterpiece.
Built largely of Pavonazzo marble this room houses Nurses’ Hall because of the statue of an Army war nurse located here. Sculpted in 1914 by Bela Pratt, it was the first statue erected in honor of the women of the North after the Civil War.
Pratt traveled to Paris, where he trained with sculptors Henri- Michel-Antoine Chapu(1833-1891) and Alexandre Falguière .
In 1892, he returned to the United States to create two large sculptural groups representing The Genius of Navigation for the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. He also produced sculptures for the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo in 1901. In 1893, he began a 25-year career as an influential teacher of modeling in the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
During this time, Pratt sculpted a series of busts of Boston’s intellectual community, including Episcopal priest Phillips Brooks (1899, Brooks House, Harvard University), Colonel Henry Lee (1902, Memorial Hall, Harvard University), and Boston Symphony Orchestra founder Henry Lee Higginson (1909, Symphony Hall, Boston).
He became an associate of the National Academy in 1900.
When Saint-Gaudens’ uncompleted group for the entrance to the Boston Public Library was rejected, Pratt was awarded a commission for personifications of Art and Science. Pratt continued Saint-Gaudens’ influence in coin design after 1907. His gold Indian Head half ($5) and quarter ($2.50) eagles are known as the “Pratt coins” and feature an unusual intaglio Indian head, the U.S. mint’s only recessed design in circula- tion. A retrospective exhibition of 125 of his sculptures was held at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in the spring of 1918.
"Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To Us" can be purchased at the following locations: Faneuil Hall Book Store, Old North Church Gift Store, Bestsellers Bookstore Cafe, USS Constitution Museum Gift Sore, Museum Of Science Gift Store, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble Book Stores.
With its tender caress, the sculptured War Nurses rightfully represent all nurses, in all wars, a moving masterpiece.
Built largely of Pavonazzo marble this room houses Nurses’ Hall because of the statue of an Army war nurse located here. Sculpted in 1914 by Bela Pratt, it was the first statue erected in honor of the women of the North after the Civil War.
Pratt traveled to Paris, where he trained with sculptors Henri- Michel-Antoine Chapu(1833-1891) and Alexandre Falguière .
In 1892, he returned to the United States to create two large sculptural groups representing The Genius of Navigation for the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. He also produced sculptures for the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo in 1901. In 1893, he began a 25-year career as an influential teacher of modeling in the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
During this time, Pratt sculpted a series of busts of Boston’s intellectual community, including Episcopal priest Phillips Brooks (1899, Brooks House, Harvard University), Colonel Henry Lee (1902, Memorial Hall, Harvard University), and Boston Symphony Orchestra founder Henry Lee Higginson (1909, Symphony Hall, Boston).
He became an associate of the National Academy in 1900.
When Saint-Gaudens’ uncompleted group for the entrance to the Boston Public Library was rejected, Pratt was awarded a commission for personifications of Art and Science. Pratt continued Saint-Gaudens’ influence in coin design after 1907. His gold Indian Head half ($5) and quarter ($2.50) eagles are known as the “Pratt coins” and feature an unusual intaglio Indian head, the U.S. mint’s only recessed design in circula- tion. A retrospective exhibition of 125 of his sculptures was held at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in the spring of 1918.
"Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To Us" can be purchased at the following locations: Faneuil Hall Book Store, Old North Church Gift Store, Bestsellers Bookstore Cafe, USS Constitution Museum Gift Sore, Museum Of Science Gift Store, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble Book Stores.
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Spring / Summer Talk Schedule 2014 for "Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To Us" Book
April 29 2014 at 7:30 PM IN THE MOST BLESSED SACREMENT CHURCH HALL LOCATED ON 1155 MAIN STREET, WAKEFIELD MA.
MAY 2, 2014 AT THE DIAMOND SCHOOL LEXINGTON, MA AT 1:00 PM
JULY 3, 2014 AT THE SHERATON BOSTON HOTEL BACK BAY BOSTON, MA. AT THE ANNUAL MENSA SOCIETY GATHERING 12;00 PM
MAY 2, 2014 AT THE DIAMOND SCHOOL LEXINGTON, MA AT 1:00 PM
JULY 3, 2014 AT THE SHERATON BOSTON HOTEL BACK BAY BOSTON, MA. AT THE ANNUAL MENSA SOCIETY GATHERING 12;00 PM
"Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To Us" can be purchased at the following locations: Faneuil Hall Book Store, Old North Church Gift Store, Bestsellers Bookstore Cafe, USS Constitution Museum Gift Sore, Museum Of Science Gift Store, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble Book Stores.
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Poe is Back In Boston This October 4, 2014. (Reprinted news article)
The tale has been years in the making, but it appears the fate is set for a public sculpture in Boston of native son Edgar Allan Poe.
The horror master who conjured creepy classics such as “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Raven” criticized Boston writers during his time here in the 1800s. And they reciprocated in earnest.
A sculpture of Edgar Allan Poe, the horror master who conjured creepy classics such as “The Tell Tale Heart” and “The Raven.” It will be unveiled on Oct. 4. at at the intersection of Charles and Boylston Streets. (Courtesy Stefanie Rocknak)
Even so, a lot of people, including Boston College literature professor Paul Lewis, have spent years ardently defending Poe’s roots.
Lewis chairs the Poe Foundation of Boston, which has been orchestrating fundraising efforts for the $225,000 project. The campaign to memorialize the Victorian author’s connections to Boston with a public artwork began in 2009. Now Lewis says it’s great to have arrived at this point in the notoriously long process.
“The level of support we’ve received from the city, from donors large and small, demonstrates that Bostonians are ready — finally — to embrace Poe,” Lewis remarked, making sure to point out Poe was born in Boston in 1809*.
A $10,000 grant from the Lynch Foundation cemented the project’s destiny. It also received money from the city of Boston through the Edward Ingersoll Browne Trust Fund. Modern horror writer Stephen King and his wife Tabitha contributed to the project as well, along with local businesses and private citizens/fans of the macabre.
Artist Stefanie Rocknak’s bronze sculpture titled, ‘Poe Returning to Boston,’ was chosen from a pool of 265 proposals. (Courtesy Paul Lewis/Poe Foundation of Boston)
Artist Stefanie Rocknak’s bronze sculpture, titled “Poe Returning to Boston,” is being fabricated at New England Sculpture Services in Chelsea. Her design was chosen from a pool of 265 proposals.
“I hope that Boston will enjoy this tribute to Poe for years to come,” Rocknak wrote in an email. She also added an update on the process. “The sculpture is now being cast (in pieces). After all these pieces are cast, the foundry will start to reassemble them–this should happen in a couple of months. After it is completely assembled, the patina will be applied.”
Rocknak looks forward to the day her striding figure will be secured in its final resting place at the intersection of Charles and Boylston streets. The unveiling is set for Oct. 4, just three days before the 165th anniversary of the writer’s death.
"Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To Us" can be purchased at the following locations: Old North Church Gift Store, Bestsellers Bookstore Cafe, USS Constitution Museum Gift Sore, Museum Of Science Gift Store, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble Book Stores.
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