Peace Monuments in New York (USA)

Click here for peace monuments at the United Nations in New York City.
Click here for website showing sculptures in New York City.

N.B. This web page has two parts: (1) New York City and (2) Remainder of New York State.

(1) New York City

Right click image to enlarge.

1694 - Old Quaker Meeting House, 137-16 Northern Boulevard , Flushing, Queens, New York City, New York (USA). "Remains today much as when it was first built, with dark, warm floorboards, simple benches and hand-hewn timber ceiling beams. By all known accounts, the oldest house of worship in New York State and the second oldest Quaker meeting house in the nation." [Where is the oldest?]

1895 - "Peace, Truth, Honesty, Fortitude, Self-Denial, Fidelity," original American Surety Building, 100 Broadway, just north of Wall Street, New York City, New York (USA). By John Massey Rhind. On second-floor level. Ground floor is presently occupied by Borders Books.

October 12, 1907 - George Fox Stone, opposite old Browne homestead, Bowne Avenue, Flushing, Queens Borough, New York City, New York (USA). "A large granite monument...was dedicated yesterday to the memory of George Fox [1624-1691], the noted Quaker preacher. Members of the Flushing Historical Society and many Friends were present. The stone bears this inscription: 'Here stood the Fox Oaks, beneath whose branches George Fox, founder of the Society of Friends, preached, June 7, 1672.'" Click here for a description of the historic neighborhood around the stone.

1914 - Church Peace Union (CPU), Merrill House 170 East 64th Street, New York City, New York (USA). "The CCEIA was founded in New York City in 1914, when Andrew Carnegie [1835-1919] assembled a group of leaders in religion, academia and politics and appointed them trustees of an organization named the Church Peace Union (CPU). Through the CPU, Carnegie hoped to mobilize the world's churches, religious organizations and other spiritual and moral resources to join in promoting moral leadership and finding alternatives to armed conflict. William P. Merrill [1867-1954], pastor of New York's Brick [Presbyterian] Church, became the first president of the CPU. The timing of its founding was significant. On the very eve of World War I, Carnegie sought to make war obsolete for all time. For its inaugural international event, the CPU sponsored a conference to be held on August 1, 1914, [at Lindau] on the shores of Lake Constance in southern Germany. As the delegates made their way to the conference by train, Germany was invading Belgium... In 1961, the CPU was renamed Council on Religion & International Affairs (CRIA)... In 2005, the Council changed its name to Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs (CCEIA)."

December 6, 1915 - Statue of Joan of Arc, Joan of Arc Park, Riverside Drive at 93nd Street, New York City, New York (USA). "The Maid of Orleans is standing in her stirrups, sword raised as if to cut away some of the summer boughs that nearly hide her from view. She is in armor and pointed west, as though the English had taken up positions across the river in New Jersey... This is the first statue of a woman -- not a female abstraction -- erected in New York, and the first by a female sculptor, Anna Vaughn Hyatt [1876-1973]... Behind nearly every speech [at the dedication] was the thought of the European war. The statue was raised -- a little late -- to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Joan’s birth in January 1412. The 600th anniversary, in a barely more peaceful world, is just around the corner. We wonder what celebrations are in store." [from a New York Times editorial, 25Aug10] Copies in Gloucester, MA, & Blois (France)?

About 1920 - Memorial to W. T. Stead, Central Park, New York City, New York (USA). Sculpted by Sir George Frampton. William Thomas Stead [1849-1912] was "the first truly modern journalist." According to Peter van den Dungen, Stead was an important figure at the 1899 and 1907 Hague peace conferences, and he died on the Titanic en route to a peace conference in the USA. Click here for a 1907 New York Times article about Stead. Duplicate monument at River Parapet, Victoria Embankment, London (England).

1921 - "Victory With Peace" Statue, Freedom Square, Bushwick, Myrtle & Willoughby Avenues, Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York City, New York (USA). Square named in 1919. Monument depicts Nike, the Greek Goddess of Victory, leaning forward with an olive branch, the symbol of peace. Memorializes Brooklyn’s losses during World War I. Sculpted by Pietro Montana [1890-1978]. The face of Nike was modeled after Claudia Deloney, a Hollywood actress and friend of film star Gloria Swanson [1899-1983].

1923 - Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site, National Park Service (NPS), 28 East 20th Street (between Park Avenue South & Broadway), New York City, New York (USA). Demolished in 1916. Rebuilt in 1919 by the Women's Roosevelt Memorial Association. Rededicated in 1923 and subsequently refurbished with many furnishings from the original house by the President's widow, Edith, and his two sisters. Theodore Roosevelt [1858-1919] was US President 1901-1909 and received the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize.

March 24, 1924 - First Roerich Museum, 310 Riverside Drive, New York City, New York (USA). "At the time, the only museum in America dedicated to the work of a single artist. Soon afterwards, this mansion was demolished, and in its place in 1929 was built a 29-storey skyscraper, called Master Building (see below)."

Right click image to enlarge.

(2) Remainder of New York State

1628 - The Reconcilation of King Henry III & Henry of Navarre, Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, Rochester, New York (USA). By Peter Paul Rubens [1577-1640].

1910 - New York Peace Monument, Point Park, Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga, Tennessee (USA). Depicts soldiers from North and South shaking hands. Built by State of New York.

February 1914 - Church Peace Union (CPU), Merrill House 170 East 64th Street, New York City, New York (US. "The CCEIA was founded in New York City in 1914, when Andrew Carnegie [1835-1919] assembled a group of leaders in religion, academia and politics and appointed them trustees of an organization named the Church Peace Union (CPU). Through the CPU, Carnegie hoped to mobilize the world's churches, religious organizations and other spiritual and moral resources to join in promoting moral leadership and finding alternatives to armed conflict. Rev. William Pierson Merrill [1867-1954], pastor of New York's Brick [Presbyterian] Church, became the first president of the CPU... In 1961, the CPU was renamed Council on Religion & International Affairs (CRIA)... In 2005, the Council changed its name to Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs (CCEIA)."

August 17, 1925 - International Peace Bridge, Niagara River, US/Canadian Border between Buffalo, New York (USA), & Fort Erie, Ontario (Canada). Entry #1208 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

1927 - Peace & Victory Monument, Crandall Park on upper Glen Street, Queensbury, New York (USA). "A bronze figure sculpted by Bruce Wilder Scoville in New York City is a tribute to the men from the Town of Queensbury and the City of Glens Falls who gave their lives from the Civil War to the Korean War. Names have been added over time."

1948 - Peace Monument, Potter's Field, Hart Island, East River, Bronx, New York City, New York (USA). "The inmates on the island who spent long hours digging grave petitioned for permission to build a monument for those interred on the island. With permission granted, both prisoners and staff cooperated to create a thirty-foot memorial in 1948.The Hart Island memorial monument some decades ago. The word "peace" is inscribed on one side and a simple cross on the other."

October 1929 - Roerich "Skyscraper-Museum," Master Building, Riverside Drive, New York City, New York (USA). "On the first three floors were situated all the Roerich Institutions, including the Museum, and on all the other floors were apartments for rent to students, teachers, and anyone who wanted to be part of a cultural community." Designed by Harvey Wiley Corbett [1873-1954], the skyscraper "is uniquely graduated in tone from deep purple at the base to white at the top, symbolizes 'growth,' houses more than 1,000 of Prof. Roerich's exotic paintings, is dedicated to international culture, world peace." Click here for a colorful account of the museum's official opening in Time Magazine. Click here for more information. Museum ended in 1938 (click here for more information). N.B. In 1921, Corbett designed the Peace Arch (qv) between British Columbia (Canada) & Washington state (USA).

1949 - Nicholas Roerich Museum, 319 West 107th Street (Upper West Side), New York City, New York (USA). Occupies house built in 1898. Click here for a good description of the museum (and its predecessor) written by a visiting Russian.

September 11, 1955 - Statue of Shinran Shonin, 331 Riverside Drive, New York City, New York (USA). Shinran [1173-1263] is founder of the Jodo Shinshu (Pure Land) school of Buddhism. This statue was in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Presented to the USA by Seiichi Hirose of Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, as "a testimonial to the atomic bomb devastation and a symbol of lasting hope for world peace."

July 17, 1958 - Peace Monument, Robert Moses-Robert H. Saunders Power House & Dam, St. Lawrence-Franklin Deleno Roosevelt Power Project, St. Lawrence River between Massena, New York (USA), and Cornwall, Ontario (Canada). The dam's 32 turbine-generators are divided equally by the international border, with the two sections operated independently by the New York Power Authorty (NYPA) and Ontario Power Generation (OPG). Queen Elizabeth II dedicated the monument on the international border inside the power house.

July 25, 1962 - Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, National Park Service (NPS), 12 Sagamore Hill Road, Oyster Bay, New York (USA). Home of Thodore Roosevelt from 1885 until his death in 1919. Known as the "Summer White House" during his presidency. Theodore Roosevelt [1858-1919] was US President 1901-1909 and received the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize.

"Broken Obelisk:" Four identical monuments by Barnett Newman [1905-1970]. Each is 6,000 pounds of Corten steel more than 25 feet high -- a pyramid topped by a reversed obelisk ascending yet torn, or 'broken,' at its top, obviously some kind of symbolic object roughly resembling traditional monuments of combined pyramid and obelisk. Newman himself described the sculpture in terms conventional to his art: 'It is concerned with life, and I hope I have transformed its tragic content into a glimpse of the sublime.'"

1963 - Broken Obelisk, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden, Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), 11 West 53rd Street, New York City, New York (USA). A sculpture by Barnett Newman. Four versions of it exist.

1963 - Broken Obelisk, Central Plaza (Red Square), near Suzallo Library, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington (USA).

February 27, 1971 - Broken Obelisk, Rothko Chapel, Houston, Texas (USA). First exhibited in front of the Seagram Building in New York City, and then the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. In 1969, Houson city officials said they would reject this as a public memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. [1929-1968]. Dominique & John de Menil proposed that it be placed in front of City Hall with the words "Forgive Them, for They Know Not What They Do" before erecting it permanently at the Rothko Chapel.

2003 - Broken Obelisk, Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin (Germany). A fourth was cast in 2003 by permission of the Barnett Newman Foundation and temporarily installed in front of the Neue Nationalgalerie.

1964 - "Freedom of the Human Spirit," New York World's Fair, Flusing Meadow, Queens New York City, New York (USA). By Marshall W. Fredericks [1908-1998]. Moved in 1996 to the main entrance of the Arthur Ashe Stadium, National Tennis Center (NTC), also in Flushing (right image). The artist made a second casting of the 28-foot tall sculpture in 1986, and it was installed in his hometown, Birmingham, Michigan (left image).

1966 - Pacim in Terris, 96 Covered Bridge Road, Warwick, New York (USA). Sculptures & sculpture garden created by Dutch-born Dr. Frederick Franck [1909-2006]. Dedicated to Dr. Albert Schweitzer (with whom Dr. Franck practiced dentistry in Gabon 1958-1961), Pope John XXIII (whom he sketched during the Second Vatican Council), and the Buddhist sage Daisetz T. Suzuki (who "taught me to think"). Images show entrance sculpture, St. Francis sculpture, Seven Generations, & Hiroshima--The Unkillable Human.

1969 - "The Sphere" (World Peace Monument), Battery Park, New York City, New York (USA). Made in Bravaria (Germany) by Fritz Koenig. Erected in 1969 between the two World Trade Center (WTC) towers to symbolize world peace through world trade. Damaged on September 11, 2001. Left unrepaired and reerected in Battery Park as a memorial to the victims of the attack. Eternal flame ignited September 11, 2002.

1975 - Isaiah Wall, Ralph Bunch Park, East 43rd Street & First Avenue, New York City, New York (USA). Quotes Isaiah 2:4: "They shall beat their swords into plowshares." Shadow in image is cast by adjacent "Peace Form One." Entry #718 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

1977 - Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial, Martin Luther King, Jr., Park, Near Best Street, Buffalo, New York (USA). Plaque reads: "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed, 'We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.' M.L.K. Jr. 1929-1968."

1978 - Peace Pentagon (Muste Building), A.J. Muste Memorial Institute, 339 Lafayette Street, New York City, New York (USA). Organized in 1974 to carry forward the commitment of A. J. Muste [1885-1967] to nonviolent radical change, the institute bought the "Peace Pentagon" office building in 1978 to provide a stable and affordable base for itself and other activist groups in New York City. Now in need of major repairs and in danger of being sold. Click here for "Save the Peace Pentagon."

1980 - "Peace Form One", Ralph Bunch Park, East 43rd Stret & First Avenue, New York City, New York (USA). Stainless-steel obelisk 50 feet (15 meters) high, honoring Ralph Bunche [1903-1971]. Adjacent to the Isaiah Wall. The sculptor, Daniel Larue Johnson, was a personal friend of Bunche, and dedicated the sculpture to Bunche, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950.Entry #731 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

March 21, 1984 - John Lennon Memorial, Strawberry Fields, Central Park, New York City, New York (USA). Reproduction of a mosaic from Pompeii. Gift from the city of Naples (Italy). Dedicated by Yoko Ono on what would have been Lennon's 45th birthday. Entrance on Central Park West at West 72nd Street, directly across from the Dakota Apartments, where Lennon lived for the latter part of his life and where he was murdered.

1985 - Peace Fountain, Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, Morningside Heights, New York City, New York (USA). By Greg Wyatt, sculptor-in-residence at the Cathedral. "The sculpture depicts the struggle of good and evil, as well as a battle between the Archangel Michael and Satan. The sculpture also contains the Sun, the Moon, and several animals. Although it is called a fountain, there is currently no water on the site." Entry #732 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

1986 - Statue of Mahatma Gandhi, Union Square Park, 14th Street at Broadway, New York City, New York (USA). Entry #701 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

1986 - Peace Table #1 for USA, Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York City, New York (USA). By mastercraftsman George Nakashima [1905-1990] of New Hope, Pennsylvania (USA). Dedicated with a concert for Peace conducted by Leonard Bernstein.

August 28, 1989 - Bayard Rustin Plaque, Ralph Bunch Park, East 43rd Street & First Avenue, New York City, New York (USA). Honors Bayard Rustin [1912-1987]. Quote on plaque: "The principal factors which influenced my life are non-violent tactics; constitutional means; democratic procedures; respect for human personality; a belief that all people are one." Entry #681 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

Date? - "Doves," New York City, New York (USA). Mural by Puerto Rican street artist Antonio Garcia (better known as Chico). Depicts the pope and ___?

1991 - World Peace Sanctuary, World Peace Prayer Society, 26 Benton Road, Wassaic, New York (USA). Entry #626 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

1993 - Grafton Peace Pagoda, Petersburg, Rensselaer County, New York (USA). Entry #652 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

1993 - Statue of Martin Luther King, Jr., Lincoln Park, Albany, New York (USA). Photo taken after ice storm on January 15, 2007. Entry #624 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

Date? - World Wall for Peace (WWFP), Siena College, Loudenville, New York (USA).

1998 - "Hope", Raoul Wallenberg Walk, First Avenue at East 47th Street, New York City, New York (USA). Monument honoring Raoul Wallenberg [1912-1947?]. Entry #705 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

November 11, 2001 - Wall of Nations Memorial, Ground Zero, New York City, New York (USA). Commemorates 83 countries (in blue on map) whose citizens were lost in the attack on the World Trade Center (WTC). Left image shows President George W. Bush & UN Secretary General Kofi Annan at the wall.

September 11, 2002 - "Bell of Hope," Trinity Church, 79 Broadway (at Wall Street), New York City, New York (USA). Inscribed, "To the greater glory of God and in recognition of the enduring links between the City of London and the city of New York." Cast July 26, 2002, by Whitechapel Bell Foundry which cast the Liberty Bell in 1752. Weighs 294.84 kilograms.

October 14 2003 - Alfred Nobel Monument, Theodore Roosevelt Park, 81st Street & Columbus Avenue, New York City, New York (USA). Honors the 306 American laureates of the Nobel Prize. Additional laureates are added during an annual inscription ceremony. Sculpted by Swedish sculptor Sivert Lindblom, and presented in part by the Swedish Embassy. Adjacent to the American Museum of Natural History ("probably the most-visited museum in the world"). Click here for a New York Times article about Nobel laureates from New York City.

2004 - John Lennon Center for Music & Technology, Five Towns College, Dix Hills, Long Island, New York (USA). Dedicated by Yoko Ono in 2005. Left image courtesy of executive director Sanford Hinden. Right image shows chairman Martin Cohen.

February 2006 - The Peace Tower, Whitney Museum of American Art, Sculpture Court, Madison Avenue at 75th Street, New York City, New York (USA). Created for the 2006 Whitney Biennial by Mark Di Suvero & Rirkrit Tiravanija. Two hundred other artists each contributed a 2x2 foot panel. Left image shows "The Artists' Tower of Protest" (aka Peace Tower) against the War in Viet Nam as conscructed by Di Suvero in Los Angeles in 1966. Click here for journalistic description.

October 2007 - Swing Low: A Memorial to Harriet Tubman, Harriet Tubman Square, 122nd Street, St. Nicholas Avenue & Frederick Douglass Boulevard, New York City, New York (USA). Former slave Harriet Tubman [1820-1913] was an abolitionist, humanitarian, and Union spy during the American Civil War.