The Lucy and Stanley Lopata Plaza, (sculpture).

The Lucy and Stanley Lopata Plaza, (sculpture).

Mose, Carl C., 1903-1973, sculptor.

St. Louis Contracting Company, contractor.

Millstone Construction Company, contractor.

Hellmuth, Obata, and Kassabaum, Inc., architectural firm.

BSI Constructors, contractor.

The Lucy and Stanley Lopata Plaza, (sculpture).

Tercentenary Monument, (sculpture).

Jewish First American Settlement Tercentenary Monument, (sculpture).

1956. Dedicated Nov. 22, 1956. Rededicated Oct. 1989.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: limestone with bronze medallions; Base: cement and granite.

Sculpture: approx. 7 ft. 8 1/2 in. x 14 ft. 5 in. x 8 ft.; Base: approx. 4 ft. 8 in. x 74 ft. 5 1/2 in. x 52 ft. 7 in.

(On limestone serpentine form, lines inscribed separately on various parts:) 1654 - 1954 / WHO SHALL ASCEND THE MOUNTAIN OF THE LORD? / PROCLAIM LIBERTY THROUGHOUT THE LAND / FOR THE WIDOW / FOR THE STRANGER / FOR THE FATHERLESS / AND NONE SHALL MAKE THEM AFRAID (On limestone slab:) COMMEMORATING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF/THE FIRST JEWISH SETTLEMENT IN AMERICA/AT NEW AMSTERDAM IN 1654/THANKSGIVING DAY 1954 (On bronze medallion, on proper left side of inscription on limestone slab, is a Hebrew language inscription over a figure group, a founder's mark consisting of the letters "N" and "D" superimposed on top of each other on proper right side of male figure's leg, and the following inscription circling the figures:) MAN'S OPPORTUNITIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES UNDER FREEDOM (On bronze medallion, on proper right side of inscription on limestone slab, circling a menorah:) AMERICAN JEWISH TERCENTENARY 1654-1954 unsigned Founder's mark appears.

A serpentine limestone structure rising from a low flagpole base in a wavelike spiral. The sides of the limestone structure are decorated with low relief carvings signifying the four great freedoms -- freedom from tyranny, freedom of religion, freedom from fear and war, and freedom from want. Freedom from tyranny (Leviticus 25:10) shows a man exercising the right of freedom of speech. Freedom of religion (24th Psalm) is illustrated with scenes of religious liberty, including a Jewish temple, a church and a mosque on a mountain, crowned by the moral law with tablets, symbolic of the Ten Commandments. Freedom from fear and war (Prophet Micah) shows a man sitting under a vine and fig tree, and a nearby dove of peace carrying an olive branch, symbolic of peace and security. Freedom from want (Deuteronomy 24:19) shows a woman, a man and two children standing in a field of bounty. On the stone base is a replica of the ship St. Catherine, on which the first Jews came to New Amsterdam in 16754. There are two circular cast bronze medallions at each end of this slab. The medallion to the proper right depicts a menorah in low relief; the medallion to the proper left shows a man, woman, and child superimposed over a map of America. The limestone sculpture stands on a larger plaza setting, with seven steps leading up to it; two triangular fountain pools, trees, and planting beds.

History -- United States -- Colonization

Religion -- Judaism

Allegory -- Civic -- Liberty

Allegory -- Civic -- Peace

Architecture -- Boat -- St. Catherine

Architecture -- Religious

Administered by City of St. Louis, Department of Parks, Recreation, and Forestry, 5600 Clayton Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63110

Located Forest Park, Northeast Section, Near Intersection of Kingshighway & Lindell Boulevard, St. Louis, Missouri

Original monument donated by the Jewish Tercentenary Committee to commemorate and celebrate the 300th anniversary of the arrival of North America's first Jewish settlers from the Dutch colony in Recife, Brazil. Estimated cost: $75,000. The original monument consisted of the flagpole set in the limestone serpentine sculpture, with no base. A limestone slab with bronze medallions was set close to the sculpture, in the ground. In 1989, the restoration project included adding a cement and granite base, into which both the serpentine sculpture and the slab were set. Restoration funded by Lucy and Stanley Lopata, matched by 45 additional subscriptions. Cost of restoration: $275,000. The individuals and firms responsible for the creation of the original monument included sculptor Carl Mose, architect Kurt Perlsee, landscape architect Harriet Bakewell, and contractors St. Louis Contracting Company and Millstone Construction Company. Firms responsible for restoring the monument in 1989 included the architectural firm of Hellmuth, Obata, and Kassabaum, and the general contractor for the new base, BSI Constructors.

IAS files contain copies of the program printed for the original dedication ceremonies, a booklet on The Tercentenary Monument by Mrs. F.M. Isserman, 1997, which discusses commissioning history, subject matter and dedication in detail; and excerpts from unpublished 1969 mayor's report, "Public Art - St. Louis." IAS files also contain transcription of nearby marker which dates from the 1989 rededication, copies of articles from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 14, 1989, which discusses the groundbreaking ceremony for the restoration project and includes a photograph of the ceremony; and St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Oct. 30, 1989, which discusses the restoration and rededication.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Missouri, St. Louis survey, 1993.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 14, 1989; Oct. 30, 1989.

McCue, George, "Sculpture City: St. Louis," New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1988, pg. 113.

McCue, George, "Sculpture City: St. Louis," New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1988, pg. 114.

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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