- Black Aggie
Black Aggie is a local legend in Baltimore and
Pikesville, Maryland . Black Aggie is the folkloric name given a statue placed on the grave of General Felix Agnus inDruid Ridge Cemetery in 1925. The statue is an unauthorized replica, rendered by Edward L. A. Pausch, ofAugustus St. Gaudens ' allegorical figure, popularly called "Grief", at the Adams Memorial inRock Creek Cemetery inWashington, D.C. The statue is of a seated figure in a cowl or shroud.The statue was surrounded by many
urban legends , principally that someone spending the night in its lap would be haunted by the ghost of those buried there, or that the statue would somehow animate itself during the night. The Agnus family, disturbed by the sort of attention the statue received, donated it to theSmithsonian in 1967. It sat for many years in storage at the National Museum of American Art (later named theSmithsonian American Art Museum ) where an authorized recasting of the original Adams Memorial statue now sits.Black Aggie was moved from her previous home at the museum to a courtyard behind the
Dolley Madison House onLafayette Square inWashington, DC where she currently resides.Though it seems hard to access, Black Aggie is easily viewed. You can enter the courtyard of the Dolley Madison House during daylight hours through a covered entryway off the street. Walk straight back and when you reach an outcropping of vegetation on your right, Black Aggie will be there, seated amongst the plants.
Further reading
cite journal | last =Mills | first = Cynthia J. | authorlink = | title = Casting Shadows: The Adams Memorial and Its Doubles | journal = American Art | volume =14 | issue =2
pages = 2–25 | publisher = Smithsonian American Art Museum | date = Summer, 2000 | url =
doi = | id = | accessdate =External links
* [http://www.prairieghosts.com/druidridge.html The Legend of Black Aggie]
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