Connecticut's Civil War Monuments
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| Danbury | SOLDIERS AND SAILORS MEMORIAL West Street Green Dedicated: November 11, 1931 Historical Significance SOLDIERS AND SAILORS MEMORIAL, West Street Green, Danbury, is significant historically because it honors the Danbury soldiers and sailors who served their country in four wars. The work occupies a prominent spot at the west end of the West Street Green, a neighborhood park. The artist, Donald A. Curran of Darien, Connecticut, was selected by a municipal committee, which had solicited models from several sculptors. Curran's model was described in the Danbury Evening News of December 13, 1930, as being "full of life and action." The original model, showing militiamen from four wars, was revised at the suggestion of the committee to include a figure symbolic of the men of the United States Navy. The park in which the memorial stands is one of two small triangular parks created at the western end of the Borough of Danbury after it was expanded in 1846. The West Street site evolved into a significant commemorative green, appearing on an 1867 city map and in an 1875 lithograph bird's-eye view. Its first sculpture was an 1880 eagle, which was replaced by SOLDIERS AND SAILORS MEMORIAL. A memorial to President James A. Garfield was moved here in 1929. The November 11, 1931, dedication ceremony was attended by Governor Wilbur Cross and United States Senators Hiram Bingham and Frederick C. Walcott. The event drew a larger crowd than any other Danbury public celebration since the signing of the Armistice ending World War I in 1918. Artistic Significance SOLDIERS AND SAILORS MEMORIAL, West Street Green, is significant artistically because it is a group of vigorously modeled figures taut with action and tension. The sculpture shows the influence of the American Modern movement, which marked a return to recognizable realistic human forms after the popularity of abstraction during the early 20th century. Description SOLDIERS AND SAILORS MEMORIAL, West Street Green, is a grouping of four soldiers and a sailor, in bronze, representing the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, and World War I. It is set on a mound of earth approached by steps from a circular walk. The figures are supported by a smooth-faced cylindrical granite pedestal on a square granite base of quarry-faced sides and a smooth top. Three grooves encircle the top of the cylindrical pedestal. The color contrast between the white granite pedestal and the dark brown waxed bronze figures is striking. The World War I soldier is standing, with his right leg bent and slightly extended. His left arm is bent at the elbow and raised to the waist. The right arm is slightly bent and hangs to the side. The soldier looks to his left. To the left of this figure is the Spanish-American War soldier, crouched with his left leg bent at the knee and extended. He holds a rifle in his hands. The next figure is a Civil War soldier who is kneeling on his right knee. His right leg is bent at the knee and extends in front of the body. Both hands grasp a sword at the left side of the body. The soldier looks straight ahead. Next is a Revolutionary War soldier who is standing with his left leg brought forward. His left arm is bent at the elbow, brought up to the chest, and holding a bugle. The left hand is to the side of and slightly behind the body, holding a flagstaff with an American flag. A sword hangs from the left side. A backpack and bedroll are part of his accoutrements. To the left of the Revolutionary War soldier is a sailor, who is kneeling on his right knee. Both of his hands rest on the left leg. His left hand holds two signal flags. A pistol hangs from his belt on the right side. The sailor's uniform includes scarf and hat. Lettering Top of bronze base, left side, incised caps: Bronze base, front: Top of bronze base, left side: Sources W. Philips Barlow. SOS! Survey Questionnaire Soldiers and Sailors Memorial (Washington, D.C.: National Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Property, 1993). Town Green Survey, Statewide Historic Resource Inventory, Hartford: Connecticut Historical Commission, 1991. "War Memorial Design Chosen," [Danbury] Evening News, December 13, 1930. |
