SOURCE: The “Post and Courier” of Charleston carried this news update on tensions at the Confederate Defenders Monument at Battery Point, Charleston. Hermon A. MacNeil’s allegorical sculpture dedicated in 1932. – Dan Leininger ~ webmaster
- Man seen carrying unloaded rifle near
- Confederate Defenders of Charleston
- monument
A man was spotted carrying a rifle beside the Confederate Defenders of Charleston monument by the Battery on Saturday night, but police determined the gun was unloaded.
The incident occurred around 11:20 p.m. Saturday during a pop-up protest in White Point Garden, said Insp. Karen Nix, a spokeswoman for the Charleston Police Department.
It’s not illegal to display a rifle or shotgun, just to point and present it, which was not the case, Nix said.
When police inspected the firearm, they saw it was unloaded.
She said she wasn’t aware if the man gave a reason for displaying the weapon beside the monument.
Unconfirmed reports surfaced on social media on Sunday indicating a man was again carrying a rifle beside the monument about midday. The police had no knowledge of the man returning or of another man repeating the action.
By 5 p.m. on Sunday, the Battery was calm, with many people lounging around the park enjoying the weather.
Although many protests and contentious conversations have revolved around Charleston monuments to the Confederacy and pro-slavery individuals, Nix said this was the first time recently that a person has been seen with a gun near a monument.
MacNeil’s 1931 Photo of his work in his studio in College Point, NY, before being erected in Charleston, SC in 1932.
SOURCE: FIT News:
Dueling Armed Rallies
Headed For Charleston
South Carolina’s
Historic Battery
Another Confederate memorial
is in the cross hairs …
Dueling advocacy groups are set to converge on the historic Battery in Charleston, South Carolina over the next two weekends as racial tensions continue to escalate in (and around) the Holy City. And there is a good chance their members will be armed …
The focal point of the forthcoming demonstrations? A 25-foot tall Confederate memorial located at the southern tip of White Point Garden, a 5.7-acre public park located on the Charleston peninsula at the confluence of the Ashley and Cooper rivers. Erected in 1932 by the Fort Sumter Memorial Commission, this monument has been vandalized on numerous occasions in the past. Now it is drawing crowds of antagonists (and defenders) in the aftermath of rioting that rocked Charleston a little over a month ago following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota over Memorial Day.
Entitled “To The Confederate Defenders Of Charleston,” the monument features a 12-foot bronze statue on a 13-foot granite pedestal. It is the handiwork of the late sculptor Hermon Atkins MacNeil of Everett, Massachusetts.
Per the Smithsonian Art Inventories Catalog, the monument is “an allegorical depiction of the Confederate defense of Charleston during the Civil War.”
“The male figure is the defending warrior, with a sword in his proper right hand and a shield bearing the South Carolina state seal in his proper left hand,” the catalog noted.
The female figure (who stands for the city of Charleston) “holds in her proper right hand a garland of laurel, symbolizing immortality, and with her proper left hand points towards the sea to the enemy,” per the catalog.
“On the base are scenes in relief of figures repairing the shattered walls of Fort Sumter with sand bags,” the descriptor continues. “Eleven stars on the lower base represent the eleven Confederate states.”
Take a look …
(Click to view)
(Via: Getty Images)
Demonstrators affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement have made taking down this monument their top priority after successfully advocating for the removal of a 115-foot monument across town honoring the late U.S. vice president John C. Calhoun.
The removal of the Calhoun monument was pushed by liberal Charleston mayor John Tecklenburg – who recently convened a task force to recommend further historical sanitization in the Holy City (including the renaming of Calhoun Street).
Tecklenburg has been criticized for his advocacy – as well as his alleged failure to protect citizens and businesses during the riots that consumed the city on the evening of May 30, 2020.
“We sat for three-plus hours with no assistance to protect our businesses,” Jack Handegan III wrote on Facebook the day after the riots. “We watched them slowly and methodically smash and steal every single item out of (our) neighbors place while the police never came. Three-plus hours of chaos.”
“There was no law enforcement on upper King Street,” one property owner in the area told us bluntly the same day. “Whatsoever.”
While a group of Charleston business interests is emerging to challenge Tecklenburg in the halls of power in the Holy City, the threat of violence on its streets is once again rising … and the monument in White Point Garden could very well be the spark that lights the fuse.
There was at least one scuffle at this monument on Sunday (July 5, 2020) – an incident which has prompted Black Lives Matter protesters and monument defenders to ramp up their rhetoric (and call for reinforcements at future protests).
Take a look …
(Click to view)
(Via: The Contemporary Conservative/ Facebook)
“Black Lives Matter has been at the battery every weekend since the riots,” one source tracking the situation told us. “It is just escalating drastically.”
According to a report from Kelly Golden of 94.3 WSC radio, one Black Lives Matter protester showed up at the monument on Sunday armed with an AR-15 assault rifle. Another reportedly carried an axe and a taser.
“The displays at the battery have gone on for five years now without an incident ever involving a weapon,” said James Bessenger, editor of The Contemporary Conservative. “On Sunday three BLM protestors confronted (monument defenders) with an AR-15, a taser, and an axe. At one point, a protestor bumped into an individual and snatched his flag. Another BLM protestor hit the flag bearer in the head from behind, knocking him down.”
According to Bessenger, the situation is poised to escalate …
A new group calling itself “Flags Across The South” announced that it was planning on bringing weapons – possibly loaded weapons – to future demonstrations. Meanwhile, Black Lives Matter protestors and Antifa activists from across Charleston have reportedly indicated they will stage a counter-protest “with weapons,” according to Bessenger.
“Additional groups from out of town are planning to attend and carry for at least the next two Sundays,” Bessenger added.
What could possibly go wrong, right?
Clearly, this is an increasingly volatile situation … one in which we hope cooler heads on all sides manage to prevail. Certainly we believe there are cooler heads on all sides of these various issues – people of all races and backgrounds eager for a real, respectful conversation on the underlying issues that must be addressed.
Will their voices be heard above the din?
We shall see …
UPDATE || An earlier version of this story indicated the memorial in question was first erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Further research has revealed it was the Fort Sumter Memorial Commission that erected it. We apologize for the error.
-FITSNews
Both George Washington statues on the Arch were defaced with red paint in Washington Square. [Credit: Stefan Jeremiah for New York Post]
We were saddened to hear that “red paint” was splattered over statues of George Washington in NYC yesterday.
CLICK HERE for the New York Post story of the defacing. By Kevin Sheehan and Tina Moore June 29, 2020 | 12:26pm | Updated ]
Vandalism on June 29, 2020 left MacNeil’s statue “bleeding” red paint of of the 104 year-old marble monument.
The news arrived this morning from Antonio Bueti, a New York native, MacNeil buff, and Friend of HermonAtkinsMacNeil.com/
Three weeks ago, I posted Photos and the story of BLM Protesters marching through the Arch during demonstrations over the death of George Floyd. CLICK HERE
“We had to work together on those statues, Calder and I,” said Mr. MacNeil, “and we had some hot arguments over them, though we are good friends. Of course, each of us had his own statue to do, but we had to treat them in the same restrained manner, to fit each other and the Arch itself” J. Walker McSpadden, Famous Sculptors of America: Books for Libraries Press, Freeport, NY, 1924, reprint 1968
CLICK HERE to see March for George Floyd as they pass
George Washington by Hermon A. MacNeil.
Above the rally, MacNeil’s likeness of General Washington guarded the rear flanks of the marchers.
Protesters marched at Washington Square Park in Manhattan on Monday. (June 9, 2020) [Credit…Demetrius Freeman for The New York Times]
The photo shows H. A. MacNeil‘s statue of George Washington looking down on 1000’s of Protesters as they remember George Floyd and march for Justice two weeks after his death at the hands of four Minneapolis Police officers.
MacNeil’s statue has seen many protests in its 104 years up on that pedestal of the arch, BUT nothing as moving as this. Alexander Sterling Calder‘s statue of President Washington looks on from the left at the crowd. (FOR Bernie Sanders Rally in 2016, CLICK HERE)
Protests continue nationwide, with signs of an ebb after dark.
Two weeks after George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis, demonstrations against police violence continued to fill the streets of cities and towns across the country on Monday.
About 1,000 protesters gathered in Los Angeles near a memorial for those killed by the police. Thousands more called for police reforms before a City Council meeting in Charlotte, N.C. And more than 1,000 made their way to a march that began in Washington Square Park in Manhattan.
“This is a young, young revolution,” said Vidal Guzman, 29, as he led marchers down Fifth Avenue in New York. “These are teenagers, people in their 20s, 30-year-olds. We have energy. We believe in what we’re doing, and we’re not going to let up.”
Still, there were signs in parts of the country that the demonstrations that have raged through cities after dark over the past two weeks appeared to be ramping down in many places.
PHILADELPHIA – Another BLM Protest march passes the March down the Ben Franklin Parkway from the Art Museum to City Hall.
The Rally-goers pass between the two 60 foot columns of MacNeil, Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Monument
PHILADELPHIA — Thousands of people demanding justice for George Floyd flooded the streets of downtown Philadelphia on Saturday, chanting “No justice, no peace!”
Demonstrators gathered near the Philadelphia Museum of Art and its famous “Rocky” steps before setting off for the City Hall area, with the line of marchers stretching for several city blocks along the tree-lined Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
The protesters circled City Hall, clapping and shouting, “Black Lives Matter!” as some residents of an apartment building held signs on their balconies reading “BLM” and “Keep Going, Philly,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
To police officers and National Guard members, they chanted: “What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!”
Qadir Sabur, 22, handing out water and snacks and holding a sign that read “Don’t just say Black Lives Matter, show us,” said that in addition to opposition to police brutality, African Americans in the city should benefit from the same opportunities in jobs and education.
SOLDIERS AND SAILORS MONUMENT Philadelphia
Philadelphia – Hermon MacNeil – “Soldiers And Sailors Monument” – South pylon or Sailors side – Being photographed by Dan Leininger, webmaster).
PHILADELPHIA —->>>
~ “Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Monument” ~ Soldiers side North Pylon
Photos: Solidarity on The Square protest in Carlisle PA on Saturday (June 6, 2020)
“I’m not just seeing blacks come together today as one,” he said, “I’m seeing everyone coming together as one,” he told the Inquirer.
By late afternoon, many protesters had left but others lingered around the Art Museum area or along the parkway. Smaller demonstrations were held in other areas, including one by the African American Museum in Philadelphia near Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.
City officials earlier announced street closures, saying much of the city center, from the Delaware River to the Schuylkill River, would be closed to vehicles. A curfew will be in effect again overnight, from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., during which time only people with essential duties are allowed out.
Smaller groups also marched in other cities around the state, including several hundred in Pittsburgh and the surrounding area.
Floyd, who was black, died on May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee into his neck even as he pleaded for air and stopped moving. His death has sparked protests over police treatment of African Americans and racial injustice nationwide
Pennsylvania Governor speaks on the Rally s and needed reforms for Pennsylvania: CLICK HERE:
Collecting the Standing Liberty Quarter – Part One
By · CommentsHermon A. MacNeil’s Standing Liberty Quarter is a rare Masterpiece. Issued by the U.S. Mint over a century ago, it no longer circulates in the market place.
“M” The modest signature allowed for designer MacNeil
As a child in the early 1950’s, my mother, Ollie Frances McNeil, showed me the image of Lady Liberty on MacNeil’s design. She pointed our the distinctive “M” on the base of the obverse.
“That stands for ‘McNeil'” she told me. “Hermon was your great uncle on my side of the family.” Mom was very proud of her McNeil lineage and she intentionally passed a good portion of that pride on to me as a child. Giving me the middle name of “Neil” remains a continual reminder of that fact.
A yellowed copy of a 1916 newspaper clipping declares: “Herman Atkins MacNeil, Designer of the New Quarter”
Hermon died on October 2, 1947 at his home in College Point, Queens, NY after a long illness. I have no memory of that as an event or of that time in our family. (I was just a child — 2 years, 3 months and 2 days old.)
In the early 1950’s, I remember handling “Standing Liberty Quarters” in the change we received from my brother’s Saturday night newspaper corner in East Saint Louis. (We hawked three papers at 38th and St. Clair Avenue, yelling “Pap-er-ers! Post, Globe, and Journal.)
The yellowed news clipping at the right is from the estate of Walter Pratt, Hermon’s first cousin from Massachusetts. The Pratt’s saved this clipping of Hermon from the newspaper.
The photo shows Hermon sculpting the enlarged design for the “Standing Liberty Quarter” I purchased this clipping with other MacNeil memorabilia from the family estate sale in 2018. (See posting of Dec 26, 2018 https://hermonatkinsmacneil.com/2018/12/26/etching-of-carol-louise-brooke-macneil/ )
The Liberty Standing Quarter was no longer minted after 1930, but it remained in circulation for many years. Until the hoarding of silver coins in the 1960 and the minting of silver clad quarters in 1965
Advent of Copper Clad coinage:
“The United States first began minting copper-nickel clad coins in 1965. That was after several years of rising silver prices and a severe coin shortage that the U.S. Mint partly blamed on people hoarding silver coins from circulation. The dime and quarter were first struck in copper-nickel clad in 1965.” [From https://coins.thefuntimesguide.com/clad_coins/ accessed on 3-4-2020]
Edward A. Van Orden
Edward Van Orden’s recent article on Collecting the SLQ has been referenced in a previous posting on March 5, 2020. I posted the first part of his article in that post. He has a excellent suggestions for collecting SLQs on a sensible budget. Read the last part of his article at this link:
SLQ Article: The Numismatist Sept ‘19
Bibliography from Edward A. Van Orden’s article:
SOURCES
Benford, Timothy B., Jr. “MacNeil’s Liberty: Art or Obscenity?” The Numismatist (December 2003).
Brothers, Eric. “New York City: Mecca of Numis- matic Artistry.” The Numismatist (November 2013). Cline, J.H. Standing Liberty Quarters, 3rd edition.
Palm Harbour, FL: author, 1997.
Dolnick, Michael M. “Design Changes on the Lib-erty Standing Quarter.” The Numismatist (Septem- ber 1954).
Doyle, Al. “Class of 1916, Part 2.” The Numismatist (October 2016).
____. “MacNeil’s Standing Liberty Quarter among Most Artistic.” Coin World’s Coin Values (November 2004).
Duffield, Frank G. “Slight Change in the Die of Quarter Dollars.” The Numismatist (June 1926).
Kelman, Keith N. Standing Liberty Quarters. Nashua, NH: International Numismatica Corporation, 1976. (ANA Library Catalog No. GB24.K4) .
LaMarre, Tom. “MacNeil’s Standing Liberty Remains a Favorite.” Coins magazine (September 30, 2009).
Lange, David W. “The Coinage of 1921.” The Numismatist (December 2003).
____. “Collecting Standing Liberty Quarters.” The Numismatist (December 2003).
____. “The Impossible Dream.” The Numismatist (October 2005).
____. “1923-S Coinage, Part 2.” The Numismatist (September 2011).
____. “The Standing Liberty Quarter.” The Nu- mismatist (July 2016).
Moran, Michael F. Striking Change: The Great Artistic Collaboration of Theodore Roosevelt Augus- tus Saint-Gaudens. Atlanta: Whitman Publishing, 2008. (GB40.M6s)
Sieber, Arlyn G. “Images of Liberty.” The Numis- matist (July 2016).
Woolley, Robert W. “Symbolism of the New Coins of 1916.” Report of the Director of the Mint (July 15, 1916).
