Firemen's Monument, (sculpture).

Firemen's Monument, (sculpture).

Cottrell, W. Liance, sculptor. (attributed to)

Harrison Granite Company, fabricator.

Firemen's Monument, (sculpture).

Dedicated May 31, 1898.

Sculpture: bronze; Base: granite and bronze.

Sculpture: approx. H. 6 x W. 3 ft.; Base: approx. 12 x 16 x 3 1/2 ft.

(On cornice, front of base, raised lettering:) .1898. (On tablet, front of base, raised lettering:) IN MEMORIAM/ERECTED TO COMMEMORATE/THE BRAVERY OF THOSE WHO/HEROICALLY GAVE UP THEIR/LIVES IN THE PERFORMANCE/OF DUTY AT THE BURNING OF/YORE'S OPERA HOUSE./BENTON HARBOR, MICHIGAN,/SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1896./EDWARD H. GANGE/SILAS F. WATSON/FRANK M. SEAVER/ARTHUR C. HILL/ROBERT L. ROFE/"THEIRS, NOT TO MAKE REPLY./THEIRS, NOT TO REASON WHY./THEIRS, BUT TO DO AND DIE." (Below tablet, front of base:) ST. JOSEPH'S/FIREMEN. (On plaque, rear of base, raised lettering:) ERECTED/BY THE ST. JOSEPH/VOLUNTEER FIRE/DEPARTMENT, AIDED BY/CONTRIBUTIONS FROM/THE FIREMEN OF THE/UNITED STATES. (On each lantern post:) SJFD unsigned

A fireman carrying a young girl to safety. He is dressed in uniform, wearing a coat, boots and hat. He holds the young girl, dressed in a nightgown, in his arms. The sculpture is mounted atop a tiered base decorated with bronze wreaths and fire firefighting insignia, including a spoked wheel, a hook and ladder, and a hose. The base forms part of an exedra, made of rough-hewn rocks, topped by electric lanterns. The memorial is surrounded by a chain and post fence.

Portrait male -- Alden, Fred -- Full length

Portrait female -- Synder, Mabel -- Child

Portrait female -- Snyder, Mabel -- Full length

Disaster -- Fire

History -- United States -- Michigan

Occupation -- Service -- Fireman

Dress -- Uniform -- Fireman Uniform

Outdoor Sculpture -- Michigan -- St. Joseph

Administered by City of St. Joseph, St. Joseph, Michigan 49085

Located Lake Bluff Park, Corner of Port Street & Lake Boulevard, St. Joseph, Michigan

The sculpture cost $2,200 and was funded by the St. Joseph Volunteer Fire Department and contributions from firemen across the United States. The sculpture commemorates firemen who died in the Yore Opera House fire in Benton Harbor on September 5 and 6, 1896. Seven Benton Harbor and five St. Joseph firemen perished. Fireman Fred Alden and five-year-old Mabel Snyder posed for the sculpture. IAS files contain a related excerpt from Kathryn Zerler's "On the Banks of the Ole St. Joe," St. Joseph Today, 1990, pg. 150-151.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Michigan survey, 1993.

SOS Conservation Treatment Award, 1998.

SOS Conservation Notification Report, 2000.

Zerler, Kathryn, "On the Banks of the Ole St. Joe," St. Joseph Today, 1990, pg. 150.

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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