Governor Coles Monument, (sculpture).

Governor Coles Monument, (sculpture).

Hermant, Leon, 1866-1936, sculptor.

Lindstrom, William J. L., architect.

Schmidt, Garden & Erikson, architectural firm.

Charles B. Blake Company, fabricator.

American Bronze Company, founder.

Governor Coles Monument, (sculpture).

Edward E. Coles Monument, (sculpture).

Governor Coles State Memorial, (sculpture).

1922.; Cast 1929.; Erected 1928-1929.

(Proper left corner:) Leon Hermant, Scp (Proper left corner:) Cast by Am Art Bronze Fdy.Chicago, 1929 (Carved on front, below portrait relief:) COMMEMORATING THE CAREER OF/EDWARD COLES/WHO BY STEADFASTNESS AND COURAGE/IN 1823 KEPT SLAVERY/OUT OF THE CONSTITUTION OF ILLINOIS/A GRATEFUL STATE/MARKS THIS SPOT IN THE COMMUNITY/WHERE HIS NOBLE WORK WAS DONE (And below in smaller letters, is text related to life of Coles) (On back, center:) ERECTED BY THE/STATE OF ILLINOIS IN 1928./LEN SMALL, GOVERNOR./C.R. MILLER, DIRECTOR, PUBLIC WORKS AND BUILIDINGS./LESLIE SMALL, DIRECTOR/PURCHASES AND BUILDINGS./WILLIAM J. L. LINDSTROM,/SUPERVISING ARCHITECT/SCHMIDT, GARDEN AND ERIKSON, ARCHITECTS/L. HERMANT, SCULPTOR.

(Carved on back, proper left:) BELIEVING SLAVERY TO BE/BOTH INJURIOUS AND IMPOLITIC,/I BELIEVE MYSELF BOUND BOTH/AS A CITIZEN AND AN OFFICER TO/DO ALL IN MY POWER TO PREVENT/ITS INTRODUCTION INTO THE STATE/EDWARD COLE (Carved on back, proper right:) AS I WOULD NOT BE A SLAVE,/SO I WOULD NOT BE A MASTER/THIS EXPRESES MY IDEA OF/DEMOCRACY WHATEVER DIFFERS/FROM THIS, TO THE EXTENT OF THE/DIFFERENCE, IS NOT DEMOCRACY/ABRAHAM LINCOLN signed Founder's mark appears.

A square bas-relief portrait of Governor Coles from the chest up. He is turned slightly to the proper right. The bronze plaque is inset into a concrete exedra.

Homage -- Coles, Edward

Occupation -- Political -- Governor

History -- United States -- Black History

Outdoor Sculpture -- Illinois -- Edwardsville

Administered by State of Illinois, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, Historic Sites, Old State Capitol, Springfield, Illinois 62701

Located Valley View Cemetery, Illinois Route 57, Edwardsville, Illinois

Formerly located Lincoln School, Edwardsville, Illinois

IAS files contain excerpted page from "Historical Tour of Edwardsville" pamphlet and a sheet from an unidentified source which indicates the monument, erected in 1928-1929, honors Edward Coles (1785-1868(, the second governor of Illinois. He was a Virginian who is credited with helping keep Illinois from becoming a state for enslaved individuals. Coles is not buried here, but in Philadelphia.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Illinois survey, 1993.

Index of American Sculpture, University of Delaware, 1985

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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