World War I Memorial, (sculpture).

World War I Memorial, (sculpture).

Nicolosi, Joseph, 1893-1961, sculptor.

Brinley, John R., designer.

Holbrook, John S., designer.

Slavin, Abraham, engineer.

Brinley and Holbrook, landscape architect.

World War I Memorial, (sculpture).

Cenotaph, (sculpture).

Dedicated Nov. 12, 1928.

Digital Reference:

Relief: bronze; Base: granite or marble.

Monument: approx. 10 x 7 x 6 ft.; Base: approx. 2.5 x 18 x 15 ft.

Joseph Nicolosi (On front of bronze relief:) IN BOOKS ARE SEALED WHAT/HISTORY HAS PENNED/WHAT STATESMEN PLANNED WHAT/CAPTAINS TURNED THE TIDE/THE HUMBLEST HEART TO LIBERTY/A FRIEND/HERE SHARES THE FAITH FOR WHICH/HER SOLDIERS DIED./Edgar Lee Masters/ERECTED BY THE PEOPLE OF MORRISTOWN/NOVEMBER 11, 1928/JOSEPH NICOLOSI-SCULPTOR (Bronze plaque on back of base:) Dulce et Decorum/Est Pro Patria Mori/(list of twenty-six names of Morristown residents who died fighting in World War I) signed

A monument consisting of an oblong granite base adorned on the front with a bronze relief of a female representing Winged Victory. She stands with her proper left arm and wing extended over the heads of a group of marching World War I soldiers. She holds a palm frond in her raised proper right hand. She is barefoot and is dressed in a sleeveless, ankle-length robe with armor on her upper torso. The monument is mounted on a stepped base.

History -- United States -- World War I

Literature -- Horace -- Odes

Literature -- Masters, Edward Lee

Figure female -- Full length

Allegory -- Other -- Triumph

Figure group -- Male

Occupation -- Military -- Soldier

Dress -- Uniform -- Military Uniform

Outdoor Sculpture -- New Jersey -- Morristown

Administered by Town of Morristown, Department of Administration, 38 Dumont Place, Morristown, New Jersey 07960

Located Municipal Building, South Street, Morristown, New Jersey

The sculpture was installed by the city in honor of the Morristown men who died in World War I. The monument was dedicated on the tenth anniversary of the signing of the Armistice. The sculpture and its surroundings were designed by John R. Brinley and John S. Holbrook, civil engineers of Morristown, and partners in the firm Brinley and Holbrook, a prominent landscape company. The original design by Brinley and Holbrook was somewhat modified by consulting engineer Abraham Slavin. Joseph Nicolosi created the bronze relief. IAS files contain a transcription of the names appearing on the back of the monument. IAS files contain excerpts from Virginia L. Bostick's "The Public Monuments and Sculpture of Morristown, New Jersey," Morris County Free Library, 1978, pg. 15-18; and Cam Cavanaugh's "In Lights and Shadows: Morristown in Three Centuries," Morristown Library, 1986, pg. 263, 174. Cam Cavanaugh's publication notes that the base is made of marble, but the SOS! survey notes that the medium is granite.

The translation of the Latin inscription on the back of the monument is "Sweet and fitting is to die for one's country" and it is a quote from "The Odes" (3-2-13) by the Roman lyric poet and satirist, Horace (Quintus Horatius Flacas) 65-8 B.C.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, New Jersey survey, 1994.

Bostick, Virginia L., "The Public Monuments and Sculpture of Morristown, New Jersey," Morris County Free Library, 1978.

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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