Thomas Jefferson Rusk, (sculpture).

Thomas Jefferson Rusk, (sculpture).

Keck, Charles, 1875-1951, sculptor.

Nelson, Donald, 1907- , architect.

Roman Bronze Works, founder.

Thomas Jefferson Rusk, (sculpture).

Digital Reference:

Figure: bronze; Base: Texas pink granite from Marble Falls.

Figure: approx. 10 x 3 1/2 x 3 ft.; Base: approx. 16 x 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 ft.

(On proper left side of bronze plinth:) CHARLES KECK (On rear proper right bottom corner:) ROMAN BRONZE WORKS NY (On front of base:) THOMAS/JEFFERSON/RUSK/DECEMBER/FIFTH - 1803/JULY TWENTY-/NINTH - 1857/SOLDIER - PATRIOT/JURIST - STATESMAN (On right side of base:) BOLD INTREPID AND/DARING ON THE/FIELD OF BATTLE/HE IS YET MORE/HONORED FOR WISE/FORBEARANCE AND/SOUND JUDGMENT/HIS ABLE COUNSEL AS/SECRETARY OF WAR/MATERIALLY ASSISTED/IN THE WINNING/OF FREEDOM FOR/TEXAS (On back of base:) HE SIGNED THE/DECLARATION OF/INDEPENDENCE/HELPED DRAFT THE/CONSTITUTION TO/A LARGE DEGREE/HE DEVISED THE/COURT SYSTEM/AND SERVED AS/THE CHIEF JUSTICE/OF THE REPUBLIC/OF TEXAS (On left side of base:) STRONG ADVOCATE/FOR ANNEXATION/HE PRESIDED OVER/THE CONVENTION OF/1845 WHICH FRAMED/THE FIRST STATE/CONSTITUTION AND/AS UNITED STATES/SENATOR HE WAS/FOREMOST IN THE/SETTLEMENT OF/THE RIO GRANDE/AS THE BOUNDARY/OF TEXAS (On back of base:) ERECTED BY THE STATE OF TEXAS 1936/WITH FUNDS APPROPIATED BY THE FEDERAL/GOVERNMENT TO COMMEMORATE ONE/HUNDRED YEARS OF TEXAS INDEPENDENCE signed Founder's mark appears.

A full-length standing figure of Thomas Jefferson Rusk (1803-1857), atop a tall shaft made up of three blocks of granite. All four faces of the shaft include inscriptions. Rusk wears a dress suit, boots, and a long cape which hangs from his shoulders. His proper right leg is forward and his proper right hand rests on his knee. His proper left hand rests on a fluted column. The back of the sculpture is a solid flat surface with a low relief depiction of Liberty, an allegorical female figure shown from the shoulders up. Her raised proper right hand holds a symbolic lamp of liberty.

Portrait male -- Rusk, Thomas Jefferson -- Full length

Occupation -- Military -- Soldier

Occupation -- Political -- Statesman

Occupation -- Law -- Judge

Allegory -- Civic -- Liberty

Occupation -- Political -- Senator

Outdoor Sculpture -- Texas -- Henderson

Administered by Rusk County Commissioners Court, 302 Waskom, Henderson, Texas 75652

Located Rusk County Courthouse, 112 North Rusk, Lawn, Henderson, Texas

The Commission of Control for Texas Centennial Celebrations allocated $14,000 for this memorial, which was erected as part of the celebration of the centenary of Texas independence. IAS files contain a related article from Schoen, Harold, "Monuments Erected by the State of Texas to Commemorate the Centenary of Texas Independence," Austin, TX: Commission of Control for Texas Centennial Celebrations, 1933, pg. 70; and a brochure on the history of Rusk and Henderson counties.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Texas survey, 1993.

Schoen, Harold, "Monuments Erected by the State of Texas to Commemorate the Centenary of Texas Independence," Austin, TX: Commission of Control for Texas Centennial Celebrations, 1933, pg. 70.

Schoen, Harold, "Monuments Erected by the State of Texas to Commemorate the Centenary of Texas Independence," Austin, TX: Commission of Control for Texas Centennial Celebrations, 1933, pg. 70.

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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