Lincoln Memorial, (sculpture).

Lincoln Memorial, (sculpture).

Cashwan, Samuel Adolph, 1900- , sculptor.

Lincoln Memorial, (sculpture).

Lincoln Statue, (sculpture).

President, (sculpture).

1938. Dedicated May 4, 1938.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: limestone; Base: concrete.

Sculpture: approx. 9 ft. 8 in. x 3 ft. 10 in. x 2 ft. 9 in.; Base: approx. 10 in. x 5 ft. x 3 ft.

S. CASHWAN/'38 (Front of base, incised lettering:) LET US BE FIRM IN THE RIGHT/AS GOD GIVES US TO SEE RIGHT. signed

A standing portrait of Abraham Lincoln looking pensive, with his hands resting on a low wall behind him. The wall is adorned at the base with two Art Deco style reliefs, one on each side of Lincoln's feet. The reliefs depicts a figures that symbolize Lincoln's service to humanity. On his proper left side the relief depicts a woman holding the hand of a kneeling boy. Around their wrists are broken shackles. On Lincoln's proper right side the relief depicts a woman embracing a young boy and girl with shackles on their feet. The sculpture is mounted on a rectangular base.

Portrait male -- Lincoln, Abraham -- Full length

Occupation -- Political -- President

Occupation -- Law -- Lawyer

State of Being -- Other -- Imprisonment

History -- United States -- Black History

Outdoor Sculpture -- Michigan -- Augusta Township

Administered by Lincoln Consolidated School District, Superintendent's Office, 7425 Willis Road, Ypsilanti, Michigan 48196

Located Lincoln School, Whittaker & Willis Roads, Augusta Township, Michigan

Formerly located Lincoln Consolidated School, Whittaker & Willis Roads, Augusta Township, Michigan

The idea for the monument originated with the teachers and students of the school about 1936. The school commissioned the artist, who was assisted by a staff of artists at the Works Progress Administration Federal Art Project in Detroit. The artist chose the site for the sculpture; the Junior High boys did the excavation; and the Senior High boys poured the concrete base. The monument was dedicated on May 4, 1938, the 73rd anniversary of Lincoln's burial. Lincoln School was known as Lincoln Consolidated School at the time of the dedication. The inscription on the base is a misquotation from Lincoln's second Inaugural Address. The sculpture has been vandalized over the years. The sculpture was moved to put in a sewer line, and then moved back. The 1993 SOS! survey reports that the sculpture was sandblasted five years ago. For related information see newspaper article in the Ypsilanti Press, May 5, 1938; and Weldon Petz' "Michigan's Monumental Tributes to Abraham Lincoln," Historical Society of Michigan, 1987, pg. 18-19. See also Sidney W. Seeley's "WPA Art in America: Regional Study of Michigan," pg. 83-86 available from the Bentley Library at the University of Michigan.

IAS files contain: an excerpt from Donald Durman's "He Belongs to the Ages: The Statues of Abraham Lincoln," Edward Brothers, 1951, pg. 240-241; excerpts from "Scrapbook History of Lincoln Consolidated," collected and assembled by David S. Flower, sect. V, pg. 16-17.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Michigan survey, 1993.

Durman, Donald, "He Belongs to the Ages; The Statues of Abraham Lincoln," Edwards Brothers, 1951, pg. 241.

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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