Nuns of the Battlefield

Nuns of the Battlefield

Artist	Jerome Connor
Year	1924 (1924)
Type	Bronze
Dimensions	182.88 cm × 274.32 cm (72.00 in × 108.00 in)
Location	Washington, D.C., United States
	38°54′20.83″N 77°2′24.89″W / 38.9057861°N 77.0402472°W / 38.9057861; -77.0402472
Owner	National Park Service

Nuns of the Battlefield is a public artwork by Irish artist Jerome Connor, located at the intersection of Rhode Island Ave NW, M St & Connecticut Ave NW in Washington, D.C., United States. "Nuns of the Battlefield" surveyed in 1993 by the Smithsonian for their Save Outdoor Sculpture! program. It serves as a tribute to the over six hundred nuns who nursed soldiers of both armies during the Civil War, and is one of two monuments in the District that represent women's roles in the American Civil War.^[1][2] The statue is a contributing monument to the Civil War Monuments in Washington, DC, of the National Register of Historic Places.

Description

The face of the sculpture has a large bronze panel relief showing twelve nuns dressed in traditional habit. This panel is installed on a rectangular granite slab that sits on a granite base. Each end of the slab has a bronze female figure seated. The proper right side figure has wings, a helmet, robes and armor to look like an angel representing patriotism. Sitting, she holds a shield in her proper left hand and a scroll in her lap with her proper right hand. She is weaponless to represent peace. On the proper left side of the slab another winged figure sits wearing a long dress, a bodice and a scarf around her head to represent the angel of Peace. Her hands are folded on her lap.

The lower right side of the relief is signed: JEROME CONNOR 1924

The lower left side of the relief is inscribed:

BUREAU BROS.

BRONZE FOUNDERS PHILA

ENN

On the granite above the relief it is inscribed:

THEY COMFORTED THE DYING, NURSED THE WOUNDED, CARRIED HOPE TO

THE IMPRISONED, GAVE IN HIS NAME A DRINK OF WATER TO THE THIRSTY.

On the granite below the relief:

TO THE MEMORY AND IN HONOR OF

THE VARIOUS ORDERS OF SISTERS

WHO GAVE THEIR SERVICES AS NURSES ON BATTLEFIELDS

AND IN HOSPITALS DURING THE CIVIL WAR.

On the rear of the slab near the base it is inscribed:

ERECTED BY THE LADIES AUXILIARY TO THE ANCIENT ORDER OF HIBERNIANS OF AMERICA. A.D. 1924

BY AUTHORITY OF THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES.^[1]

Artist Jerome Connor

Born in Ireland in 1874, at the age of 14 his family moved to Massachusetts. His father was a stonemason which led to Connor's jobs in New York as a sign painter, stonecutter, bronze founder and machinist. Inspired by his father's work and his own experience, Connor used to steal his father's chisels as a child and carve figures into rocks.

In 1899 he moved into the Roycroft Institution where he assisted with blacksmithing and eventually started creating terracotta busts and reliefs. After four years at Roycroft he became well known as a sculptor being commissioned to create civic commissions in bronze for placement in Washington, D.C., Syracuse, East Aurora, New York, San Francisco, and even in Ireland.

In 1925 he moved to Dublin where he opened his own studio, but, lack of financial support and patrons caused his work to slow. He died on August 21, 1943 of heart failure.^[3] There is a plague in his honour on Infirmary Road, overlooking Dublin's Phoenix Park with the words of his friend the poet Patrick Kavanagh:

He sits in a corner of my memory

With his short pipe, holding it by the bowl,

And his sharp eye and his knotty fingers

And his laughing soul

Shining through the gaps of his crusty wall.^{[citation needed]}

History

The idea for the monument originated with Ellen Jolly, president of the women's auxiliary branch of the Ancient Order of Hibernians who grew up hearing stories of battlefield tales told by nuns. Proposing the sculpture just after the turn of the century, her request was denied by the War Department until proof of servitude was provided. For ten years Jolly worked to gather evidence and presented it to Congress in 1918.^[2]

The sculpture was authorized by Congress on March 29, 1918 with the agreement that the government would not fund it.A committee, led by Jolly, on behalf of the Ancient Order of the Hibernians, raised $50,000 for the project.^[1][2]

Jerome Connor was chosen since he focused on Irish Catholic themes, being one himself.^[2]

Acquisition

A construction delay was caused due to the final location of the sculpture. Jerome Connor wanted the sculpture either at Arlington National Cemetery or at the Pan American Union Building. Neither choice was supported by the War Department or the DC Fine Arts Commission and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decided on the final location near Dupont Circle. Once the location was chosen, the Arts Commission requested that the sculpture be changed by Connor. They requested that he alter the size, move inscriptions on the front, rearrange the front steps and make the angels "active." A year later, in 1919, Congress finally approved of the design.^[2] Construction began on July 28, 1924.^[1]

Finally, Jerome Connor ended up suing the Ancient Order of the Hibernians for nonpayment.^[1]

The monument was dedicated on September 20, 1924 as part of a weekend long meeting of over 5,000 Catholics from all over the country. One nun, Sister Magdeline of the Sisters of Mercy, who served in the Civil War attended the event and was received with a "thunderous applause." Archbishop O'Connell of Boston spoke and upon finishing, Jolly revealed the sculpture by removing an American flag that covered it. Sailors hoisted signal flags spelling "faith, hope and charity" and a flock of white pigeons were released.^[2][4]

Information

The nuns represented on the relief are from the Sisters of St. Joseph, Carmelites, Dominican Order, Ursulines, Sisters of the Holy Cross, Sisters of the Poor of St. Francis, Sisters of Mercy, Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, Sisters of Charity, Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, and Congregation of Divine Providence.^[5]

Further reading

• J. Goode, Washington Sculpture, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008. ISBN-10: 0-8018-8810-7, A cultural history of outdoor sculpture in the Nation's capital.

External links

• Culture Now
• Nuns of the Battlefield on DCMemorials.
• Roadside America

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Save Outdoor Sculpture! (1993). "Nuns of the Battlefield, (sculpture)". SOS!. Smithsonian. http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?&profile=all&source=~!siartinventories&uri=full=3100001~!16187~!0#focus. Retrieved 18 December 2010. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Jacob, Kathryn Allmong. Testament to Union: Civil War monuments in Washington, Part 3. JHU Press, 1998, p. 125-126.
3. ^ "Jerome Connor 1874-1943 Sculptor". Jerome Connor. Annascual. http://www.annascaul.net/jerome_connor_sculptor.php. Retrieved 18 December 2010. 
4. ^ John W. Tuohy. "Nuns of the Battlefield". When Washington Was Irish. http://whenwashingtonwasirish.blogspot.com/2010/10/nuns-of-battlefield.html. Retrieved 18 December 2010. 
5. ^ Craig Swain (2008). "Nuns of the Battlefield". Northwest in Washington, District of Columbia — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic). The Historical Marker Database. http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=10176. Retrieved 18 December 2010.