Abraham Lincoln Walks At Midnight (Charleston, West Virginia)
Union
This monument is located in front of the West Virginia State Capitol, and consists of a 5.75-foot granite pedestal upon which stands an 8-foot tall bronze statue of President Abraham Lincoln. The statue was originally designed by artist Fred M. Torrey in 1935 and depicts a walking Lincoln, without his iconic top hat, wearing a floor-length robe or cloak, with his right hand placed on his chest, over his heart. The inscription on the east side of the pedestal references the 1914 poem by American poet Vachel Lindsay, which portrays President Abraham Lincoln’s restless spirit roaming the streets of Springfield, Illinois at night, eternally haunted by the atrocities of the Civil War.
The monument celebrates President Abraham Lincoln as the ‘creator’ of the state of West Virginia. On April 20, 1863, Lincoln issued a proclamation that would admit the state at the end of a 60-day period, with statehood conditioned on its approval of the Willey Amendment (which would resolve the issue of slavery in West Virginia). West Virginia was admitted into the Union on June 20, 1863.
Charleston resident Louise Bing solicited Fred M. Torrey to purchase the sculpture of Lincoln in honour of West Virginia’s centennial celebration. Torrey initially offered a 42-inch bronze model of the sculpture for $5,000, before Bing raised a total $35,000 to have the sculpture enlarged to its current dimensions. However, Torrey passed away before being able to complete the project. An artist by the name of Bernard Wiepper was then commissioned to create an 8-foot tall model of Torrey’s original 42-inch sculpture, which was dedicated on the state of West Virginia’s 111th anniversary of independence.
Monument type:
Statue - high ranking official
Artist:
Fred M. Torrey
Dedication Date:
1974-06-20
Address:
Kanawha County
West Virginia
USA
Inscription:
[East Side]
'Abraham Lincoln Walks At Midnight' from poem by
Vachel Lindsay
Sculptor
Fred Martin Torrey 1884-1967
Born in Fairmont, West Virginia
Dedicated
June 20, 1974
Arch A. Moore, Jr. Governor
[South Side]
Abraham Lincoln created the state of West Virginia by proclamation and signature.
West Virginia joined the Union June 20, 1863
[West Side]
Funds for statue contributed by school children of West Virginia and other interested citizens.
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Conception Date:
1935-01-01
Opening Date:
Material:
Bronze,Granite
Size:
0m x 0m x 4.191000000000001m
Creator:
Bernard Wiepper
Cost / Value:
Erected by:
State of West Virginia
Funded by:
Local Funding (refer to inscription on west side of pedestal)
Run by:
Indigenous Land
Organization/Curator:
Data Sources:
Read below for one of our contributor’s reflections on this monument