Peace, (sculpture).

Peace, (sculpture).

MacKay, Jean V., 1909-2002, sculptor.

White, Thomas Lyon, architect.

Georgia Marble Company, carver.

Peace, (sculpture).

Seated Figure, (sculpture).

Veterans Memorial Fountain, (sculpture).

Our Lady of Peace, (sculpture).

Commissioned May 1935. Dedicated May 30, 1939.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: white marble; Base: pink marble. Fountain: pink marble.

Sculpture: approx. 6 ft. x 21 in. x 10 in.; Base: approx. 18 x 36 x 26 in.

Full-length partially nude female figure kneeling with a dagger held in her proper right hand, the tip of the blade embedded in the base. The sculpture is installed in a fountain pool.

History -- United States -- Military history

Figure female -- Full length

Allegory -- Civic -- Peace

Object -- Weapon -- Dagger

Outdoor Sculpture -- New York -- Geneva

Administered by City of Geneva, Parks & Recreation, Main Street, Geneva, New York 144456

Located Pulteney Park, Main Street, Route 14 S., Geneva, New York

The sculpture, which cost $500, was erected by the Veterans Association of Geneva. According to an article in the Geneva Daily Times, June 16, 1939, the city spent an estimated $11,871 on the installation of the sculpture and fountain, and the Works Progress Administration provided $10,000 in funding. The Veterans Memorial Fountain was designed by architect Thomas Lyon White. An article in the Geneva Daily Times, Oct. 6, 1938, notes that the carving of the figure in pink marble was almost completed at the Georgia Marble Company when the sculptor discovered that dark veins in the marble marred the appearance of the face and upper body of the figure. The Georgia Marble Company agreed to carve the figure again in a new block of marble at no cost to the City of Geneva. As a result, the dedication ceremony originally scheduled for Armistice Day, Nov. 11, 1938, was postponed until the following year. The dedication took place on Memorial Day, May 30, 1939. The new sculpture of Peace was carved in white marble. The rejected pink marble sculpture, later renamed Pocahontas, was moved to West Jefferson, North Carolina, first sold to the Ashe Memorial Works in West Jefferson in 1939 according to the Geneva Times, Sept. 25, 1975 (see IAS record for pink marble figure 71501298). IAS files contain related articles from The Geneva Daily Times, June 3, 1937, pg. 17; May 26, 1938; Oct. 6, 1938, pg. 9; May 8, 1939, pg. 7; June 16th, 1939; and the Geneva Times, Sept. 25, 1975, pg. 8.

Plaque in front of fountain reads: JEAN McKAY(sic)/sculptress/THOMAS LYON WHITE/architect/May 30, 1939. The inscription on a plaque in front of fountain reads: Erected to the memory of Geneva Patriots who served our Nation in her wars that Freedom might remain our Most Cherished Heritage. Dedicated May 30, 1939.

Unpublished archival material is on file with the Geneva Historical Society, Prouty Chow House.

Index of American Sculpture, University of Delaware, 1985.

Geneva Historical Society and Museum, Prouty-Chew House, 1977.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, New York survey, 1994.

Geneva Daily Times (Geneva, NY), Oct. 6, 1938, pg. 9.

Orzell, Bill, 2012, 2016.

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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