Nuns of the Battlefield
Encyclopedia
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
. The statue is a contributing monument to the Civil War Monuments in Washington, DC
, of the National Register of Historic Places
.
. 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:
On the granite above the relief it is inscribed:
On the granite below the relief:
On the rear of the slab near the base it is inscribed:
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. 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
:
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.
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.
Jerome Connor was chosen since he focused on Irish Catholic themes, being one himself.
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. Construction began on July 28, 1924.
Finally, Jerome Connor
ended up suing the Ancient Order of the Hibernians for nonpayment.
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.
, 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
.
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
artist Jerome Connor
Jerome Connor
Jerome Connor was an Irish sculptor.-Life:...
, located at the intersection of Rhode Island Ave NW
Rhode Island Avenue (Washington, D.C.)
Rhode Island Avenue is a diagonal avenue in the Northwest and Northeast quadrants of Washington, D.C. and the capital's inner suburbs in Prince George's County, Maryland. Paralleling New York Avenue, Rhode Island Avenue was one of the original streets in Pierre L'Enfant's plan for the capital. ...
, M St
M Street (Washington, D.C.)
The name "M Street" refers to two major roads in the United States capital of Washington, D.C. Because of the Cartesian-coordinate-based street-naming system in Washington, the name M Street can be used to refer to any east-west street located twelve blocks north or south of the dome of the United...
& Connecticut Ave NW in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. "Nuns of the Battlefield" surveyed in 1993 by the Smithsonian for their Save Outdoor Sculpture!
Save Outdoor Sculpture!
Save Outdoor Sculpture! is a community-based effort to identify, document, and conserve outdoor sculpture in the United States. By fostering awareness and appreciation, SOS! aims to advocate proper care of a nationwide public resource....
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
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. The statue is a contributing monument to the Civil War Monuments in Washington, DC
Civil War Monuments in Washington, DC
Civil War Monuments in Washington, D.C. is a group of 18 statues, that are spread out through much of central and northwest Washington, D.C. The statues depict 11 Union generals, and only one Confederate general, Albert Pike, who is depicted as a Mason rather than a military man. Two Union...
, of the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Description
The face of the sculpture has a large bronze panel relief showing twelve nuns dressed in traditional habitReligious habit
A religious habit is a distinctive set of garments worn by members of a religious order. Traditionally some plain garb recognisable as a religious habit has also been worn by those leading the religious eremitic and anachoritic life, although in their case without conformity to a particular uniform...
. This panel is installed on a rectangular granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
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
Angel
Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...
representing patriotism
Patriotism
Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...
. 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
Peace
Peace is a state of harmony characterized by the lack of violent conflict. Commonly understood as the absence of hostility, peace also suggests the existence of healthy or newly healed interpersonal or international relationships, prosperity in matters of social or economic welfare, the...
. 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.
Artist Jerome ConnorJerome ConnorJerome Connor was an Irish sculptor.-Life:...
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
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
, East Aurora, New York
East Aurora, New York
East Aurora is a village in Erie County, New York, United States, southeast of Buffalo. The Village of East Aurora lies in the eastern half of the Town of Aurora.The population was 6,673 at the 2000 census...
, 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. There is a plague in his honour on Infirmary Road, overlooking Dublin's Phoenix Park
Phoenix Park
Phoenix Park is an urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying 2–4 km west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its 16 km perimeter wall encloses , one of the largest walled city parks in Europe. It includes large areas of grassland and tree-lined avenues, and since the seventeenth...
with the words of his friend the poet Patrick Kavanagh
Patrick Kavanagh
Patrick Kavanagh was an Irish poet and novelist. Regarded as one of the foremost poets of the 20th century, his best known works include the novel Tarry Flynn and the poems Raglan Road and The Great Hunger...
:
- 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.
History
The idea for the monument originated with Ellen Jolly, president of the women's auxiliary branch of the Ancient Order of HiberniansAncient Order of Hibernians
The Ancient Order of Hibernians is an Irish Catholic fraternal organization. Members must be Catholic and either Irish born or of Irish descent. Its largest membership is now in the United States, where it was founded in New York City in 1836...
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.
The sculpture was authorized by Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
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.
Jerome Connor was chosen since he focused on Irish Catholic themes, being one himself.
Acquisition
A construction delay was caused due to the final location of the sculpture. Jerome ConnorJerome Connor
Jerome Connor was an Irish sculptor.-Life:...
wanted the sculpture either at Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...
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
Dupont Circle
Dupont Circle is a traffic circle, park, neighborhood, and historic district in Northwest Washington, D.C. The traffic circle is located at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue NW, Connecticut Avenue NW, New Hampshire Avenue NW, P Street NW, and 19th Street NW...
. 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. Construction began on July 28, 1924.
Finally, Jerome Connor
Jerome Connor
Jerome Connor was an Irish sculptor.-Life:...
ended up suing the Ancient Order of the Hibernians for nonpayment.
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
William Henry O'Connell
William Henry O'Connell was an American cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Boston from 1907 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1911.-Early life:...
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.
Information
The nuns represented on the relief are from the Sisters of St. JosephSisters of St. Joseph
The title Sisters of St. Joseph applies to several Roman Catholic religious congregations of women. The largest and oldest of these was founded in Le Puy-en-Velay, France...
, Carmelites
Carmelites
The Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Carmelites is a Catholic religious order perhaps founded in the 12th century on Mount Carmel, hence its name. However, historical records about its origin remain uncertain...
, Dominican Order
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
, Ursulines
Ursulines
The Ursulines are a Roman Catholic religious order for women founded at Brescia, Italy, by Saint Angela de Merici in November 1535, primarily for the education of girls and the care of the sick and needy. Their patron saint is Saint Ursula.-History:St Angela de Merici spent 17 years leading a...
, Sisters of the Holy Cross
Sisters of the Holy Cross
The Sisters of the Holy Cross headquartered on the same grounds as Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana, is one of three Catholic congregations of religious sisters which trace their origins to the foundation of the Congregation of Holy Cross by the Blessed Father Basil Anthony-Marie Moreau,...
, Sisters of the Poor of St. Francis, Sisters of Mercy
Sisters of Mercy
The Religious Order of the Sisters of Mercy is an order of Catholic women founded by Catherine McAuley in Dublin, Ireland, in 1831. , the order has about 10,000 members worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations....
, Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy
Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy
The Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy , - was founded by Mother Teresa Eva Potocka in Warsaw, Poland on November 1, 1862.This was the first "Mercy House"...
, Sisters of Charity
Sisters of Charity
Many religious communities have the term Sisters of Charity as part of their name. The rule of Saint Vincent for the Daughters of Charity has been adopted and adapted by at least sixty founders of religious orders around the world in the subsequent centuries....
, Sisters of Charity of Nazareth
Sisters of Charity of Nazareth
The Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth was founded in 1812 near Bardstown, Kentucky when three young women responded to Bishop John Baptist Mary David's call for assistance in ministering to the needs of the people of the area. Nineteen year old Catherine Spalding was elected its...
, and Congregation of Divine Providence
Congregation of Divine Providence
The Congregation of Divine Providence was founded by Father Jean-Martin Moye, a French priest who saw the lack of educational opportunities for females in his parish in Lorraine, France....
.
Further reading
- J. Goode, Washington Sculpture, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008. , A cultural history of outdoor sculpture in the Nation's capital.