I have finally finished shooting for the Civil War project, which I’ve written about previously. The last images were not of generals or memorials to the dead, but pictures of Abraham Lincoln and Henry Ward Beecher, two of the most important people in American history.

Henry Ward Beecher, Columbus Park, downtown Brooklyn
sculptor: John Quincy Adams Ward (1830–1910)

Beecher, obviously, is the lesser known of the two, but he was a preacher of enormous influence who used the pulpit to loudly advocate the abolition of slavery and the right to vote for women. His sister Harriet Beecher Stowe was the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the best selling novel of the 19th century, a book that had a tremendous impact on public opinion leading up to the Civil War. There is a recent Beecher biography–which I have not yet read–by Debby Applegate called The Most Famous Man in America. Here is a review in the New York Times.

Henry Ward Beecher and recycling containers

The statue of Beecher is imposing, two children on one side, an African American woman on the other. It benefits from an important location in Columbus Park adjacent to the courts and Brooklyn’s Borough Hall. Were Beecher alive today he might well be in favor of recycling, but the two containers standing beneath him are, perhaps, in the wrong place.

Abraham Lincoln, Concert Grove in Prospect Park
sculptor: Henry Kirke Brown (1814–1886)

Much less fortunate is the location of Abraham Lincoln in Prospect Park. The statue was originally in Grand Army Plaza, but it was moved when the ceremonial arch was constructed.
Lincoln can be found–with some difficulty–in Concert Grove, which has a number of significant busts of composers. Unfortunately, however, this part of the park has been marred by the addition of a skating rink and a nearby parking lot. Lincoln stands majestically holding a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation overlooking the rundown ice rink, abandoned during the summer.

Abraham Lincoln

Abe deserves better than this.

I understand that there are plans to relocate the rink to the parking lot, and then restore the view of the lake. Perhaps, then, Lincoln will be properly honored.

From the Gowanus Lounge, a Brooklyn blog:

The current rink, which is more than 40 years old, has has long been a thorn in the side of Prospect Park purists. Created during the reign of Robert Moses, the rink replaced what had been Music Island, a small island with a stage facing the audiences in the park’s Concert Grove. Its construction altered what is said to have been one of the park’s most beautiful vistas.