Login
My List - 0
Help
Search
Search Images
About
Keyword
Browse
Combined
Highlights
Search History
All Catalogs
Search:
Artist Browse
Title Browse
Subject Browse
Object Type Browse
Owner Browse
Refine Search
> You are only searching:
Art Inventories
More Smithsonian Searches
Who else has...
Granite Cutters' Union,
Heynen, Charles,
Homage -- Irons, Martin
Occupation -- Other
Outdoor Sculpture -- Texas -- Bruceville
Gravestone
Sculpture
Martin Irons Monument, (sculpture).
Artist:
Granite Cutters' Union, fabricator.
Heynen, Charles, contractor.
Title:
Martin Irons Monument, (sculpture).
Dates:
Dedicated May 17, 1911.
Digital Reference:
Medium:
Sculpture: Barre granite or Vermont marble; Base: Barre granite or Vermont marble.
Dimensions:
Sculpture: approx. 5 x 3 x 1 ft.; Base: approx. 1 x 3 x 1 ft.
Inscription:
(Front of marker, incised lettering:) MARTIN IRONS/OCTOBER 7, 1827-NOVEMBER 17, 1900/LEADER GOULD SOUTHWEST/RAILROAD STRIKE 1886/FEARLESS CHAMPION OF/INDUSTRIAL FREEDOM/ERECTED BY THE/MISSOURI STATE FEDERATION OF/LABOR AND AFFILIATED UNIONS/LABOR DAY SEPTEMBER 5, 1910/(Raised lettering:) IRONS (Right side of base: insignia of Granite Cutters Union) unsigned Founder's mark appears.
Description:
Grave marker for labor leader Martin Irons, with one side rough-hewn and the other side with a column and leaf border. Marker is mounted upon a short, rectangular base .
Subject:
Homage -- Irons, Martin
Occupation -- Other -- Reformer
Object Type:
Outdoor Sculpture -- Texas -- Bruceville
Gravestone
Sculpture
Owner:
Bruceville Cemetery, Highway I-35, east side, Bruceville, Texas
Remarks:
Martin Irons was a renown Scottish-born labor leader who played an influential role in the "Great Southwest or Gould Strike of 1885-1886." He died in Bruceville (Texas) almost penniless and away from the region where he had achieved fame in the labor movement. The memorial was erected by the Martin Irons Memorial Fund Committee and the Missouri State Federation of Labor and Affiliated Unions. $252 was raised for the monument, with each of the local labor unions in Missouri donating one dollar. Several local unions of the Mine Workers in Arkansas, where Irons spent several years, also contributed.
The monument was quarried and cut by the Granite Cutters' Union at Barre, Vermont. It was purchased through Charles Heynen of Sedalia, Missouri. The inscription on the monument incorrectly states that it was dedicated on September 5, 1910, which was Labor Day. The dedication was delayed until May 17, 1911.
IAS files contain a photocopy of a pamphlet entitled "Dedication Martin Irons Monument, Bruceville, Texas, Wednesday May 17, 1911," from the Labor Movement in Texas Collection, Center for American History, University of Texas-Austin (Box 2E302, folder 13). Pamphlet includes a list of unions contributing to the monument. IAS files also contain excerpt from Ruth A. Allen's "The Great Southwest Strike," Austin, TX: University of Texas, 1942, pg. 5-6, 148-153 (The University of Texas Publication No. 4214, April 8, 1942).
References:
Save Outdoor Sculpture, Texas survey, 1993.
Illustration:
Image on file.
Allen, Ruth A., "The Great Southwest Strike," Austin, TX: The University of Texas, 1942, pg. 150 (The University of Texas Publication No. 4214, April 8, 1942).
Note:
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.
Repository:
Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012
Control Number:
IAS TX000800
Copy/Holding information
Smithsonian AmericanArt Museum
Control Number
Inventory of American Sculpture
TX000800
Add Copy to MyList
Format:
HTML
Plain text
Delimited
Subject:
Email to:
Horizon Information Portal 3.25_9382
About
| © 2020 Smithsonian |
Terms of Use
|
Privacy
|
Contact