Ellen Phillips Samuel Memorial: The Birth of a Nation, (sculpture).

Ellen Phillips Samuel Memorial: The Birth of a Nation, (sculpture).

Kreis, Henry, 1899-1963, sculptor.

Ellen Phillips Samuel Memorial: The Birth of a Nation, (sculpture).

Birth of a Nation, (sculpture).

Digital Reference:

Relief: limestone; Base: granite.

Relief: approx. 12 ft. 1 in. x 12 ft. 1 in. x 3 ft.; Base: approx. H. 3 ft. W. 11 ft.

(Relief, on rock on top of right side of base:) Henry Kreis (Base, below the figures:) THE BIRTH OF A NATION (Relief, to proper right of figures:) 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 (Relief, to proper left of figures:) AND FOR THE SUPPORT/OF THIS DECLARATION/WITH A FIRM/RELIANCE/ON THE PROTECTION OF/DIVINE PROVIDENCE WE/MUTUALLY PLEDGE TO/EACH OTHER OUR LIVES/OUR FORTUNES AND/OUR SACRED HONOR/DECLARATION/OF INDEPENDENCE signed

This relief is part of a six-piece group (two reliefs and six free-standing figures installed on the South Terrace) that depict the theme of the U.S. emerging as an independent nation and settling the eastern coast. The Birth of a Nation illustrates the American decision to make and abide by their own laws. In high relief, three male figures dressed in pioneer attire stand beside a cannon against a rectangular wall inscribed with a quotation from the Declaration of Independence. In the center of the group, a tall male figure dressed in a long belted animal skin stands on the end of the cannon. Facing him to his proper right is a male figure standing in front of the cannon. The center male raises his proper right hand to grasp the proper right hand of the man facing him. Another male figure stands on top of a small rock on the proper left side of the center male. The center male looks down to his proper left and places his proper left arm around this figure's shoulders.

Figure group -- Male

History -- United States -- Declaration of Independence

Dress -- Historic -- Pioneer Dress

Object -- Weapon -- Cannon

Outdoor Sculpture -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia

Coadministered by City of Philadelphia, Fairmount Park Commission, Memorial Hall, West Park, P. O. Box 21601, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19131

Coadministered by Fairmount Park Art Association, 1616 Walnut Street, Suite 2012, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103

Located Fairmount Park, South Terrace, Kelly Drive below Girard Avenue Bridge, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Kreis and the other sculptors on the South Terrace were chosen for this commission after the second International Exhibition of Sculpture held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1940.

Fairmount Park Art Assoc., "Sculpture of a City: Philadelphia's Treasures in Bronze & Stone," NY: Walker Publ., 1974, pg. 250-257.

Bach, Penny Balkin, "Public Art in Philadelphia," Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1992, pg. 224.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia survey, 1993.

Fairmount Park Art Assoc., "Sculpture of a City: Philadelphia's Treasures in Bronze & Stone," NY: Walker Publ., 1974, pg. 257.

Companion to: 88320076.

Companion to: 88320075.

Companion to: 88320073.

Companion to: 88320072.

Companion to: 88320071.

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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