Finland Monument, (sculpture).

Finland Monument, (sculpture).

Aaltonen, Vaino, 1894-1966, sculptor.

Finland Monument, (sculpture).

1938. Dedicated June 30, 1938.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: red Finnish granite; Upper base: diorite; Lower base: grey granite.

Sculpture: approx. 100 x 107 x 26 in.; Upper base: approx. 12 x 90 x 40 in.; Lower base: approx. 37 x 107 x 60 in.

Vaino Aaltonen (On the right side:) O/Y FORSMAN, FINLAND (On the left side:) O/Y FORSMAN, HELSINKI (Monogram appears on the plough and again on the back lower left of sculpture. See image files or IAS files for transcription of monogram.) (On the right side of sculpture:) Sons of Kaleva for sailing to this their strength applying on this shore a home established toiled their crops to sow & garner. Hewed their dwellings from the forest. Near this spot stood a settlement named Finland so called by the first Finnish settlers on this continent in remembrance of their homeland. This memorial erected in 1938 by the Finnish nation and the Finns in America in commemoration of the Finnish pioneers of the first permanent settlement in the Delaware River Valley in 1638. (On the left side of the sculpture is the same inscription in the Finnish language.) signed

A large rectangular block of red Finnish granite with a bas-relief on both the front and the back. On the back side, three men are depicted departing in a small boat for a larger boat in the background. Two women and a man are seeing them off. On the front, a man and a woman with a young child are standing across from a man with a plough.

Figure group -- Family

Ethnic -- Finnish

History -- United States -- Colonization

Allegory -- Quality -- Fortitude

Architecture -- Boat

Object -- Tool -- Plow

Animal -- Cattle

Outdoor Sculpture -- Pennsylvania -- Chester

Administered by City of Chester, Department of Parks & Public Property, City Hall, Chester, Pennsylvania 19013

Located Crozer Park, Concord Avenue & Finland Drive, Chester, Pennsylvania

Presented by the Finnish government. Total cost approximately 25,000 dollars. Funded by contributions of Finnish American groups throughout the United States and by the Finnish government. Inscription on nearby Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission marker reads: Finland/Name given to tract/along Delaware River/from Marcus Hook to/Chester River. Grant for/tract was given Captain/Hans Ammundson Besk,/a native of Finland, by/Queen Christina in 1653/site of first Finnish/settlement in America. IAS files contain related article from the Chester Times (Chester, Pennsylvania), June 29, 1938.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Survey, 1993.

Chester, Pennsylvania Times, June 21 & 29, 1938.

Chester Times (Chester, Pennsylvania), June 29, 1938.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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