Lincoln Memorial at Waterfront Park

Lincoln Memorial at Waterfront Park is a statue of Abraham Lincoln, depicted as he would have looked before he became President of the United States. The sculpture of him is bareheaded, seated on a rock with an open law book in one hand and the other in an outstretched, welcoming gesture.^[1] The statue is located at Waterfront Park in Louisville, Kentucky.^[2] The Lincoln Memorial in Louisville is part of the Lincoln Heritage Trail.^[3] The statue and its accompanying bas-relief historical panels were created by American sculptor Ed Hamilton. Landscape design for Waterfront Park was by Hargreaves Associates. The 2006 Kentucky General Assembly authorized $2 million for the memorial, which was supplemented by private donations.^[4]

The Abraham Lincoln sculpture

In 2009 Ed Hamilton completed work on his sculpture of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States. The sculpture was dedicated as part of a two-year bicentennial celebration of Lincoln's birth to show the influence of Lincoln's early impressions of slavery witnessed in Louisville's slave markets. The sculpture and bas relief tableaux reflect Lincoln's abhorrence of the institution of slavery and the role of his presidency and the City of Louisville in the conflict of the Civil War, the war which preserved the Union and abolished slavery.^[5]

In December 2023, the bronze tophat resting next to Lincoln disappeared. The tophat is presumed to have been stolen. Hamilton remarked "They had to be strong and determined to pry bronze from a base, good grief!"^[6]

The bas-reliefs and their narrative

The interpretative bas reliefs of the history of slavery created by Ed Hamilton are part of the Lincoln Memorial at Waterfront Park. The narrative panels were unveiled by Hamilton at the same 2009 dedication ceremony as the Lincoln Memorial sculpture.^[7]^[5] The reliefs, placed side-by-side along a path to the statue, contain text and depict various times of Lincoln's life. The first panel describes Lincoln's childhood, and the second shows how slavery and the Civil War divided Lincoln's own family. The third panel's theme is Lincoln's growing political and social awareness, and the fourth and final relief shows seven slaves shackled together, with text quoting how Lincoln grew to hate slavery after witnessing slaves loaded onto a boat in Louisville. Words from Lincoln are written in the granite of the amphitheater, including "As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master."^[8]

The sculptor Ed Hamilton

Sculptor Ed Hamilton in 2009, standing near the Lincoln statue he created, at its dedication ceremony

Ed Hamilton was apprenticed to Louisville sculptor Barney Bright, well known for his work on the Louisville Clock. In May through December 2002 the Speed Art Museum in Louisville mounted an exhibition of Hamilton's sculpture called From the Other Side and published an illustrated exhibition catalog to accompany the show.^[7] Hamilton also designed and created one of the African-American Civil War monuments in Washington, D.C.,^[9] and a Lincoln statue at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky.^[10] Sculptor Hamilton said of the Lincoln sculpture that he wanted to show him as a man of the people:

I didn't want to do another Lincoln like all the other Lincolns...I wanted (it) to be a Lincoln of the people...And so my vision was...I thought wouldn't it be interesting to have him, say a morning time walking to the office...And all of a sudden he came upon this big boulder, and he just took a notion to sit down. And he set his books and his top hat on the boulder, and he started reading one of his books. And all of a sudden, someone caught his attention and with a gesture of saying 'Hey! Come, sit down. Welcome...'^[11]

Waterfront Park

The Lincoln Memorial sculpture is located within the Waterfront Park, a city park by the Ohio River. Waterfront Park is part of the Louisville Riverwalk and the Kentucky Lincoln Heritage Trail. Landscaping of the Louisville Waterfront Park included planting of trees which Lincoln favored.^[12] The dedication of the park was celebrated June 3, 2009, with a public sunset event featuring a 50-piece orchestra performing works by American composer Aaron Copland and Louisville native William Mapother narrating Copland's Lincoln Portrait.^[13]

References

^ "Lincoln Memorial Gets Donation". The Advocate-Messenger (Danville, Kentucky). May 12, 2008. p. 6. Lincoln will be depicted at about the age of 40, without the beard and stovepipe hat. He is seated on a rock-like monolith, with an open book in his right hand and his left hand extended in a welcoming gesture. Hamilton said his intent is to show Lincoln as approachable.
^ "Moments" (PDF). Kentucky.gov. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
^ Taylor, Howard. "Lincoln Heritage Trail Map". learningabe.info. Retrieved July 2, 2016.
^ "Lincoln Memorial Gets Donation". Danville, Kentucky: The Advocate-Messenger. May 12, 2008. p. 6. The $200,000 pledge was made recently by the family of the late Louisville business man Harry Frazier ....
^ ^a ^b "Lincoln Memorial - louisvillewaterfront.com". Retrieved July 2, 2016.
^ Bertucci, Leo (December 10, 2023). "Waterfront Park mystery: Abe Lincoln's top hat has gone missing. Sculptor suspects theft". The Courier-Journal.
^ ^a ^b "Bas Relief Details of Panels from the Louisville Waterfront Park Lincoln Memorial". edhamiltonworks.com. Archived from the original on February 4, 2015. Retrieved July 2, 2016.
^ "Plans for statue honoring Lincoln on schedule". Kentucky New Era. Google News. March 12, 2008. p. 63.
^ "Distinguished Speaker--Dr. Frank Smith, Jr., founding director of the African American Civil War Memorial Freedom Foundation, Washington, D.C.". Gettysburg, Pennsylvania: The Gettysburg Times. November 17, 2009. p. 1.
^ "Lincoln Heritage Trail". The Courier-Journal. No. Main edition. Louisville, Kentucky. December 27, 2015. p. A20. Danville:Centre College Lincoln Statue, also by Ed Hamilton
^ "Lincoln Memorial at Waterfront Park". kentuckytourism.com. Kentucky Department of Travel. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
^ Shafer, Sheldon S. (January 14, 2009). "History takes root at waterfront site of Lincoln sculpture: Memorial will honor president". The Courier-Journal. No. Indiana edition. Newspapers.com. p. B5. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
^ "Special Edition - The Lincoln Memorial". Lincoln Magazine online. June 1, 2009. Retrieved July 2, 2016.