Amistad Memorial, (sculpture).

Amistad Memorial, (sculpture).

Hamilton, Ed, 1947- , sculptor.

Cavalier Renaissance Foundry, founder.

Amistad Memorial, (sculpture).

Sengbe Pieh, (sculpture).

Joseph Cinque, (sculpture).

Summer 1992. Dedicated Sept. 26, 1992. Rededicated May 15, 1994.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: bronze; Base: granite over concrete.

Sculpture: approx. H. 9 ft. x W. 4 ft.; Base: approx. H. 2 ft. x W. 6 ft. (3,000 lbs.).

(On relief of Pieh on dock, lower right:) Ed Hamilton (On base, south side:) "MAKE US FREE"/This monument is a memorial to the 1839 Amistad Revolt and its leader, Sengbe Pieh, also known as Joseph Cinque. Sengbe Pieh was one of the millions of Africans kidnapped from their homes and transported in bondage to the Americas. Sold into slavery in Cuba, he and forty-eight other men, and four children were bound aboard the schooner La Amistad. During a storm, Sengbe Pieh successfully freed himself and his fellows. The Africans seized the ship, but their offers to steer La Amistad homeward were thwarted. After futile weeks at sea, they were captured off Long Island by the U.S.S. Washington.

(On base, east side:) On this site, the Amistad Africans were jailed awaiting trial for piracy and murder. To aid their struggle for freedom, the Amistad Committee formed, counting in its number ministers Simeon Jocelyn, Joshua Leavitt, and James Pennington; merchant Lewis Tappan; professor Josiah Gibbs; and lawyer Roger Baldwin. The Africans were tried twice prior to their ultimate triumph before the United States Supreme Court, where former President John Quincy Adams courageously defended them. Sengbe Pieh and his fellows were declared Free Persons.

(On base, north side:) The Africans sought to return home. To raise funds for their voyage and to further the anti-slavery cause, they engaged in a series of speaking tours. In 1841, after a sojourn that profoundly influenced the abolitionist movement, they set sail, free at last. To commemorate the heroism of the Amistad Africans and those who shared in their quest for freedom, the 1989 Amistad Committee commissioned his sculpture by Ed Hamilton and dedicated it on September 26, 1992. signed

A triangular sculpture consisting of three bas-relief panels which commemorate the life of Sengbe Pieh, also known as Joseph Cinque, hero of the Amistad Revolt of 1839. Each panel depicts Pieh at a significant period in his life. The first panel shows him as a free African dressed in the garments of the Mende tribe. His proper right hand is raised to his shoulder and he points with his index finger. In his proper left hand he holds a tool over his proper left shoulder. Behind him are scenes of African tribal life. A bird flies above his proper right shoulder. The second panel shows him dressed in Western attire, awaiting trial before the United States Supreme Court. His arms are crossed in defiance. The earnest faces of his fellows are visible over his proper right shoulder and the scowling glares of his accusers are visible over his proper left shoulder. The third panel shows him standing on a dock, dressed in eighteenth-century dress, ready to return to Africa as a free man. He gestures with his raised proper left hand and holds a book in his proper right hand. A suitcase rests on the ground by his proper left leg. The sculpture rests on a triangular base that is inscribed on all sides.

Portrait male -- Pieh, Sengbe -- Full length

Portrait male -- Cinque, Joseph -- Full length

Ethnic -- African

History -- United States -- Amistad Revolt

History -- United States -- Black History

Occupation -- Other -- Reformer

Dress -- Ethnic -- African Dress

Dress -- Historic -- Nineteenth Century Dress

Object -- Written Matter -- Book

Architecture exterior -- Commercial -- Dock

Object -- Other -- Luggage

Outdoor Sculpture -- Connecticut -- New Haven

Administered by City of New Haven, Department of Public Works, 34 Middletown Avenue, New Haven, Connecticut 06513

Located City Hall, 165 Church Street, New Haven, Connecticut

The sculpture was erected under the auspices of The Amistad Committee. The $80,000 cost of the sculpture was partially funded through a grant by the Connecticut Tourism Council and the Department of Economic Development, Tourism Division. Additional funding came from public donations. The sculpture commemorates Sengbe Pieh, also known as Joseph Cinque, hero of the Amistad Revolt of 1839. Pieh was captured by traders from his home in Sierra Leone in June of 1839, and taken to Havana, Cuba, to be sold to be an enslaved individual with a group of other Africans. Under Pieh's leadership, the Africans seized the merchant ship, La Amistad, and ordered their Spanish captors to return to Africa. Attempting to foil the Africans, the traders altered the ship's course toward the United States and La Amistad was taken into custody in Long Island Sound. A civil rights battle ensued, and the case reached the Supreme Court, where President John Quincy Adams came out of retirement to plead for the freedom of the Africans. After a two-year ordeal, the High Court freed the Africans, and in the fall of 1841, they returned to their homeland.

The location of the sculpture is in front of the New Haven City Hall, across from the Green where the Amistad Africans were imprisoned in 1839. The sculpture was dedicated on September 26, 1992, after which it was encased in plywood while the New Haven City Hall building was renovated. The sculpture was rededicated on May 15, 1994. For related reading see Christopher P. Bickford's "Farmington in Connecticut," Farmington, CT: Farmington Historical Society, 1992; New Haven Preservation 10 (Fall 1993); American Visions (Aug.-Sept. 1992); New Haven Arts (Sept. 1992): pg. 3; the New Haven Register, Sept. 8, 1992; Sept. 20, 1992; and Sept. 27, 1992; and the Louisville Courier-Journal (Kentucky), June 28, 1992. IAS files contain a brochure from The Amistad Committee for the May 15, 1994 rededication. IAS image files contain views of only two sides of the sculpture.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Connecticut survey, 1994.

Office of Cultural Affairs, City of New Haven, 2007.

Dupre, Judith, "Monuments: America's History in Art and Memory," New York, NY: Random House, Inc., 2007, pg. 30.

Dupre, Judith, "Monuments: America's History in Art and Memory," New York, NY: Random House, Inc., 2007, pg. 30.

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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