Sculptural Commemorations of Abraham Lincoln by Avard T. Fairbanks

Illinois residents proclaim their state to be the Land of Lincoln. The 2003 commemorative quarter for Illinois features an image of a young Abraham Lincoln holding a law book in the right hand while laying aside an ax with the other hand. The image is based on a famous statue that stands outside the visitor center at Lincoln's New Salem State Historic Site near Petersburg, twenty miles northwest of the state capital. The statue is the creation of sculptor-historian Avard T. Fairbanks. It is one of a dozen important Lincoln-themed sculptures that Fairbanks completed during his productive career. Fairbanks had an affinity for Lincoln. Through his sculptures he created a commemorative Lincoln landscape that extends beyond the prairies of Illinois and the pillared buildings of the nation's capital.1In his youth, Fairbanks lived for two years on the frontier with his family in a one-room lean-to cabin while homesteading on the prairie of Alberta, Canada. He lost his mother in childhood, as did Lincoln, and missed her guiding influence. 'Because I am of pioneer descent and have experienced the frontier during my own childhood,' he wrote, 'the traditions of Lincoln have been very much a part of my early training.' He related to the youthful rough-hewn frontier Lincoln who dreamed of improving conditions for himself and others. As the years passed, Fairbanks became professionally preoccupied with heavy teaching schedules, demonstration lectures, and commissions for portraits and fantasy statuary.2 Still, the desire to create a Lincoln-themed sculpture lingered. Finally, after several decades, an opportunity unexpectedly arose.While teaching summer school at the University of Hawaii in 1939, this forty-two-year-old professor of fine arts came to the attention of a committee seeking a sculptor to create a Lincoln statue for the Ewa Plantation school pursuant to a bequest by a former teacher and principal, Katherine Burke. Burke's estate was small. Other sculptors had declined the project, as the pay was insufficient. But when an unsolicited invitation came to Fairbanks in spring 1940 after he had returned to his academic post at the University of Michigan, he was intrigued by the opportunity despite the tight budget. How, he wondered, could an appropriate statue of Lincoln be created for a tropical island paradise?One day in June, after university classes were over, he received a call that his ailing father was dying. He hurried to his father's home but was too late. While awaiting the funeral, he pondered the Lincoln statue. 'My first impression was to make a statue of Lincoln in his frock coat as the President of the United States,' he later recalled. 'The long lines of the trousers and the coat seemed rather appealing from just the standpoint of the lines.' Another thought was Lincoln with a shawl, but Fairbanks decided that would never do for the semitropical climate of Hawaii. Then he considered the hopes of the schoolteacher benefactor, Katherine Burke, and her desire to inspire students. 'To make him as a youth seemed to gain the attention of my thoughts,' he said.One day while still in mourning at his father's farm, Fairbanks took an ax and went into the field to clear some old trees and stumps. As he worked, he thought of the Lincoln statue. As a youth Lincoln had used an ax. He had experienced sorrows and hopes. He was strong and he could work well. He worked with a purpose, and he cleared the fields and forests for new growth and new developments. As he developed strong in body, he also was developing strength in character and mind. He had to cut his way through.... He was a frontiersman! 'It was there,' Fairbanks later said, 'that the inspiration of Lincoln as a youthful frontiersman, with an ax in hand, came to me.'Fairbanks returned to Ann Arbor, Michigan, and set about making sketches of the idea, first on paper and then in small bits of clay. He submitted the sketches to the committee in Hawaii. He also presented a demonstration lecture to the Detroit Lincoln Group, the nearest Lincoln association, to seek their input. During a discussion of sculpture details and historical background, he molded a two-foot-tall statuette. The concept of a young Lincoln, a figure in action, for a school in a relatively young territory in the Pacific, a frontier, was received with enthusiasm.3 There were many portrayals of Abraham Lincoln, but few if any depicted him as a frontiersman, a neglected period of his life.Fairbanks sent photographs and sketches of the proposed monument to the committee in Hawaii. They were pleased with the plans. He then made a four-foot-tall model cast. Again it met with committee enthusiasm. With that approval, he began the heroic, nine-foot-tall statue. He preferred the heroic size—one-and-a-half scale—because life-size figures on a pedestal appeared too small. Fairbanks began using an abandoned auditorium in one of the oldest campus buildings at the University of Michigan as a studio. The beams were calculated to be able to support the weight of armature, clay, plaster of the cast, and of the mold. Work progressed after classes, evenings, and on weekends. The final model was completed in June 1941 and went on display during the week of university commencement exercises and alumni sessions. A visiting member of the Hawaiian committee gave final approval, and casting in plaster began within days. Newspaper publicity of the project brought national attention. A critic declared that Fairbanks had 'put America in Abraham Lincoln as few other artists have ever done.' Fairbanks made him 'powerful, alert, aggressive,' and with eyes through which Lincoln visualized far ahead to the blessings of 'a free and united nation.'The making of the mold and the cast took a large part of the summer. Finally, the cast was complete but in sections. It was boxed and sent to the Roman Bronze company, a foundry in Corona, New York. World War II was raging in Europe, and there was concern that restrictions on non-military uses of copper, a major ingredient of bronze, would stall the project. But late that year the statue was cast before restrictions were placed. Delivery of the statue to Hawaii was delayed by the Pearl Harbor attack, as only high-priority cargo was allowed to be shipped. It was not sent until 1943. The heroic bronze monument was erected on a base of rainbow granite, and the dedication was arranged for February 12, 1944, the 135th anniversary of Lincoln's birth (Figure 1). It was an important day for the Ewa school, the city of Ewa, and the island of Oahu.4The Ewa school is justly proud of its Lincoln statue. It has often received favorable public attention. A February 12 tradition at the school is a patriotic celebration during which fragrant, flowery leis are placed over the Lincoln monument's shoulders to express of the spirit of Aloha. The spirit of Lincoln the Frontiersman continues to permeate the school and islands.Following World War II the University of Utah was expanding, and officials invited Dr. Fairbanks to become the first dean of the College of Fine Arts. As dean he initiated a comprehensive program of art studies, including graphics, painting, sculpture, art anatomy, art history, music, dance, and industrial applications. He deferred his own creative endeavors for several years while attending to administrative duties. An opportunity developed when the Sons of the Utah Pioneers, a history-oriented association, chose to honor Abraham Lincoln by commissioning a sculpture befitting one of the nineteenth-century's greatest Americans. Although their Mormon ancestors had been driven from Illinois during Lincoln's lifetime, association members maintained a sense of respect for the principles and life of the sixteenth president.At New Salem, a young, relatively uneducated Abraham Lincoln had worked in several capacities—as a store clerk, postmaster, surveyor, and soldier. There he began his study of law, cast his first vote, and entered into politics. The State of Illinois acquired the old town site in 1919, and in the 1930s workers restored portions of it as a state historical park and as a memorial to Lincoln. But it had no Lincoln statue. When the Sons of the Utah Pioneers decided to sponsor an appropriate Lincoln sculpture for the site, they sought the help of one of its members, Avard Fairbanks. As a student of Lincoln's life and one who empathized with the future president's trials and capacity for growth and self-improvement, Fairbanks was delighted for another opportunity to interpret the man—'to bring to the people of America this phase of the determining years of his life.''To make a suitable statue of such a subject,' Fairbanks later wrote, 'one must first get in mind a basic concept of the character to be portrayed. The spirit of the times has to be sensed.' The statue's location was another defining factor. 'A memorial should be made in size commensurate with the personage who has achieved eminence and has performed heroic deeds,' Fairbanks believed. 'Therefore a statue that would look well in a public park or public building should be of heroic size, eight or nine feet high. A life size statue placed in the open gives the impression of a small man, and such a statue in no way would characterize Lincoln.'Fairbanks reported that he devoted much time to making different studies of the head of Lincoln as he appeared at the age of twenty-eight—the age when he left New Salem to practice law in Springfield. He obtained reproductions of Lincoln's life masks and his cast hands.5 In the New Salem sculpture, Fairbanks portrays Lincoln as tall, broad shouldered, and courageous. He gave him deep and far-seeing eyes. 'His whole attitude of mind is displayed by looks outward and forward, as if clearly foreseeing a significant destiny for himself and his fellow men,' Fairbanks explained. A Detroit writer found the 'New Salem Lincoln' to be similar to the 'Hawaiian Lincoln' of a decade earlier, but with some important differences. 'Both boots and the ax are the same, and the clothing is similar; but the countenance is more mature,' he noted. The ax that in the Hawaiian sculpture was held firmly in both hands in a working position, in the New Salem sculpture instead rested on the ground with the handle supported loosely in Lincoln's left hand, while the right arm firmly clutched a heavy law book. Fairbanks had succeeded in capturing in bronze a transitional moment that symbolized Lincoln at New Salem: 'the laying down of the ax and taking up the law books; the transition of the rail-splitting frontiersman into the young lawyer.'After many trials of one study and another, Fairbanks developed a preliminary one-third-life-size model. From this he constructed a two-thirds-life-size working model, and then finally the heroic nine-foot model. He sent a plaster cast of the final version in sections to the Roman Bronze foundry, which cast the bronze statue. At New Salem a base of rainbow granite was prepared. 'God gave to man the rainbow in the heavens as a symbol of hope and promise,' Fairbank's declared (Figure 2). 'A statue of Abraham Lincoln in bronze on a base of rainbow granite—the most imperishable materials of the earth—shall be symbolic, for the peoples of the world, of these enduring hopes and promises to be gained through adherence to those guiding principles given by Lincoln.' On the granite base was inscribed a quotation from Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address: 'With malice toward none, with charity for all.'In the dedicatory speech at New Salem on June 21, 1954, Bryant S. Hinkley stated: 'We unite with you and all America in honoring Illinois' great citizen and one of the greatest leaders of all times. Majestic in character and intellect, lofty in purpose, sublime in his faith and forgiveness, Abraham Lincoln stands as the tenderest memory of all the ages.' Avard Fairbanks would be proud if he could see his New Salem Lincoln featured on the Illinois commemorative quarter.The Lincoln monuments in Hawaii and New Salem resulted in considerable notoriety for Fairbanks. In his research efforts he had met and become friends with many Lincoln scholars. He was soon sought to create other masterpieces. There were many statues of Lincoln across the Illinois landscape. Yet, at Lincoln Square—a broad intersection of important thoroughfares on Chicago's North Side that had been named in honor of the president—there was no monument. Alderman John Hoellen of the 47th Ward deserves credit for conceiving the idea for a Lincoln statue at this site. He proposed it to the chamber of commerce and kept promoting it. Other community leaders joined in, and the editors of the Lerner Chicago Northside Newspapers actively the A memorial was The a and it. With from the state members for a They chose Avard time Fairbanks an Lincoln at the of an Illinois that had brought him to the of in the of the The statue would Lincoln's to the of the United his Fairbanks took from a speech Lincoln in Chicago in He also found inspiration in Lincoln's the famous speech at the in at the commencement of his in you sense both the of Lincoln and the in his Fairbanks 'To the of Lincoln's to the of one has to sense the and the Lincoln have and his whole have been to the the the as Fairbanks of and spirit to that it details had to be of the the the But it as Fairbanks 'the and of his that be and with of the Abraham Lincoln in Fairbanks that the he for Lincoln in the new sculpture had been used in a statue by another instead of Lincoln's arm in the as he placed a on Lincoln's right with his hand firmly the As the work progressed it became more and by the the heroic statue was cast first in plaster and then in bronze (Figure The spirit of Abraham Lincoln in bronze was placed on a rainbow granite pedestal inscribed with a quotation from the Chicago is not and not be a Fairbanks considered it 'a to the of his and his faith in It was in a on with and with community and many state and city officials Lincoln project a In of the of the officials in Fairbanks to create two to the of at the location of the of the on Lincoln was a the for these Fairbanks chose to Abraham Lincoln with his head on the in to the impression of his is They look as to two great had succeeded as national leaders by and heroic was to for a decade the College had in and the in which people including who had the The celebration began and for several days. It was the of a by the Illinois State and many other was in honor of who had College and went on to become a and of a Lincoln But it was the and dedication of the Lincoln and that made an to the commemorative of the day and The anniversary of the with the new a the War a Illinois the about Abraham Lincoln, while about College building stands much as it did a and a The commemorative cast in bronze, have been on the They not only the but also the the of the and the of the a new building for the Lincoln and of the to make it a He with of the Abraham Lincoln and arranged to Avard Fairbanks to create a of Abraham Lincoln for the He also a Lincoln statue to be placed in of the new the of the of and Fairbanks decided to Lincoln as a Fairbanks chose as a a from a Lincoln to an Illinois 'The part of life of his to Fairbanks a in the life of the the the Lincoln his great hand the of youth as if on young in in of and in Fairbanks (Figure symbolized in bronze, his guiding hand to in the field he for the the figure of the young up at Lincoln as his the sculptor must be to people in times of and is her of in this great countenance the the and the of took two years to complete the project. The was held in of the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's from Illinois the dedicatory A of other the and The Lincoln statue outside the was considered no and it was given to a new Lincoln constructed at and in The statue was in had not neglected the that had for the He had often the opportunity to create a large of Abraham Lincoln as this project he chose to Lincoln in in a moment of but seeking a to the many of his Fairbanks created a model that he The Lincoln. It was and a cast sent to cut a much in fine to an of within Fairbanks to to complete the and the the of the (Figure The times life size, was then and to It the day before the dedication of the statue on With some great it was in time for the It on display in the for several years When the and the was and was to a of the celebration of Abraham Lincoln's of New invited more fine and to to about Lincoln's on the The Lincoln was to be part of the The On the of and several other Lincoln the Avard Fairbanks to sketches of Lincoln as for the project. On the the him to create that Fairbanks named the of first in the the and a comprehensive study of and to Lincoln's (Figure The of Lincoln him at about years of and of in Fairbanks used Lincoln's features but his and were the were and were The of Lincoln's countenance many of the of his and the of youth is Lincoln, the the monument erected at Ewa Plantation school, Hawaii (Figure this Fairbanks much of the research and used during the creation of the first statue. that he could mold and of the into clay, Fairbanks to his with the background, and of Abraham creation of the Lincoln, the considerable research by the sculptor to an of Lincoln's character as he in of law (Figure Fairbanks many of Lincoln's in He considered by and He much Lincoln often it at the in the in to the and the Lincoln's into clay. of the the of or then sense the spirit of the tall, and often but as he would a study for the Lincoln, the Fairbanks considered of Lincoln. At he chose to model him in a moment of of deep of the for a or on the of the or the of an (Figure He was by the of and A and were to be molded into the The of the and in that he in was a of He as often as he his in the of of both North and and for the Lincoln was set in his Second Inaugural Address: do do that this of During these times with he said, I never be this the sculptor age to the of Abraham Lincoln by in a the he a sense of by a hope for presented the of The of Lincoln to the United at the Lincoln at the by the of Lincoln The of the national the portraits on of the of the portraits were placed in the at Lincoln had been years Lincoln, the was placed instead at the United it is on A heroic in of the Lincoln, the Frontiersman was placed in a of the in the of in in with the celebration in the life of his to his and to the of and his as an inspiration to young Abraham Lincoln and to all (Figure Fairbanks young Lincoln as by of heroic while the of The of before the of a on the of a frontier In the an image of in the and of the as and creation of the was by The location of the casting is not Avard Fairbanks was to create a of Abraham Lincoln for Lincoln in this project he chose to the while the (Figure An Dr. had been invited to the dedication at the in Lincoln with to only 'a few Fairbanks Lincoln in a moment of the with a in those days. He is with a sense of by as he his on the The sculpture was on February 12, The Lincoln has been but the still be at the in of Avard Fairbank's most of Abraham Lincoln is a in him as a (Figure Lincoln up a as if to an Lincoln as a member of the of in the Illinois and one in the United of as a from Illinois' Although there were administrative restrictions on new statues in the of the way for the to be placed in the of the to the chamber of the of It was on at a by Utah I look at this work of I see not only the life of Abraham Lincoln, but I also see in this the of its the Dr. Avard of Fairbank's Lincoln sculptures be at several across the A of Lincoln, the Frontiersman was erected at the Lincoln in in (Figure A of the of Lincoln, the President has been placed as a to a of at Utah State University in Another is at the in A of Abraham Lincoln and a model of Lincoln for New Salem are on display at the Lincoln at of the Chicago Lincoln and the of the are at the in his to Avard T. Fairbanks received honor and He was the Lincoln of by Lincoln University in an of Fine from Lincoln Lincoln, and the Lincoln of the of the of the United He in just two of his created many and commemorative Lincoln statues found in the United and

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