Nathan Hale is an artistic work which was unveiled by the Sons of the American Revolution

Sons of the American Revolution

The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution is a Louisville, Kentucky-based fraternal organization in the United States...

 during the celebration of Evacuation Day (New York)

Evacuation Day (New York)

Following the American Revolution, Evacuation Day on November 25 marks the day in 1783 when the last vestige of British authority in the United States — its troops in New York — departed from Manhattan...

, November 25, 1893. It originally stood at the corner of Broadway and Chambers Street

Chambers Street (Manhattan)

Chambers Street is a bi-directional street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It runs from River Terrace, Battery Park City, in the west, past PS 234 and Stuyvesant High School to 1 Centre Street, the Manhattan Municipal Building‎, to the east. In the early 20th century the street...

 in Manhattan. The image of Nathan Hale

Nathan Hale

Nathan Hale was a soldier for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He volunteered for an intelligence-gathering mission in New York City but was captured by the British...

 gazed at passersby in almost the same location, where in 1782, he was hanged by Loyalist

Loyalist (American Revolution)

Loyalists were American colonists who remained loyal to the Kingdom of Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War. At the time they were often called Tories, Royalists, or King's Men. They were opposed by the Patriots, those who supported the revolution...

 partisans during the American Revolution

American Revolution

The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

. Standing eight feet tall, the sculpture was created by Frederick William MacMonnies

Frederick William MacMonnies

Frederick William MacMonnies was the best known expatriate American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts school, as successful and lauded in France as he was in the United States...

, a pupil of August St. Gaudens. It cost approximately $15,000 when completed and mounted.

Sculpture details

The statue was cast in Paris, France and came to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 a fortnight

Fortnight

The fortnight is a unit of time equal to fourteen days, or two weeks. The word derives from the Old English fēowertyne niht, meaning "fourteen nights"....

 before its originally planned unveiling date of June 8, 1893.. It stood on exhibition in St. Gaudens' studio, 148 West 36th Street, where a pedestal for it was prepared by architect Stanford White

Stanford White

Stanford White was an American architect and partner in the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White, the frontrunner among Beaux-Arts firms. He designed a long series of houses for the rich and the very rich, and various public, institutional, and religious buildings, some of which can be found...

. It was placed facing the junction of Broadway and Chambers Street, after the drum-shaped granite pedestal, also eight feet tall, was attached as its stand. The 1782 execution site was as far Uptown, Manhattan as Harlem

Harlem

Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...

 was in 1893.

In this position Hale appeared to be looking at his executioners and proclaiming My only regret is that I have but one life to give for my country. The patriot's
arms are bound. He is attired in a coat and waistcoat, with a frilled shirt which is open. His neck is bare in preparation for the executioner's
noose. Hale's feet are also bound. Six feet tall in real life, Hale's artistic rendition has hands which are held out as far as the rope cords permit. Henry Marquand called the statue the finest produced on the United States side of the Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

.

The Metropolitan Museum has a copy of the statue, as do the Art Museum at Princeton University

Princeton University

Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....

, the National Gallery of Art

National Gallery of Art

The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...

, and the Mead Art Museum

Mead Art Museum

Mead Art Museum is an art museum associated with Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts and is a member of Museums10.The Mead Art Museum has a wide ranging collection of over 16,000 items, with a particular strength in American art, including notable works of the Hudson River School and woodcut...

 at Amherst College

Amherst College

Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...

.