Swing Low: Harriet Tubman Memorial (New York City)
Dublin Core
Title
Swing Low: Harriet Tubman Memorial (New York City)
Subject
Subject (Topic)
Northeastern United States
Public art
Public sculpture
Underground Railroad
Northeastern United States
Public art
Public sculpture
Underground Railroad
Subject (Name)
Tubman, Harriet, 1822-1913
Tubman, Harriet, 1822-1913
Subject (Object Type)
Commemorative sculpture
Commemorative sculpture
Description
Over-life size portrait sculpture of Harriet Tubman. Signed by the artist: A. Saar, 2006. Foundry stamp: DS/Decker Studios.
Creator
Saar, Alison, 1956-
Source
Photographs by Renée Ater
Date
Dedicated: November 13, 2008
Contributor
Quennell Rothschild & Partners, LLP (landscape architects), New York, New York; URS Corporation (engineering), New York, New York; City of New York; Manhattan Borough President’s Office; NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Percent for Art Program; NYC Department of Parks and Recreation; NYC Department of Design and Construction; and NYC Department of Transportation
Rights
NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Percent for Art Program, 31 Chambers Street, 2nd Floor, New York, New York, 10007, United States
Format
JPEG
Language
English
Type
Visual Arts-Sculpture
Coverage
Harriet Tubman Plaza, St. Nicholas Avenue, West 122nd Street, and Frederick Douglass Boulevard, New York City, New York, 07062, United States
Alternative Title
Harriet Tubman Memorial; Harriet Tubman Triangle
Has Part
Bronze plaque:
“Harriet Tubman Memorial. Alison Saar. Swing Low, 2007. Plaza Design in Collaboration with Quennell Rothschild & Partners, LLP. Commissioned by the City of New York. Manhattan Borough President’s Office. NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Percent for Art Program. NYC Department of Parks and Recreation. NYC Department of Transportation. NYC Department of Design and Construction.”
“Harriet Tubman Memorial. Alison Saar. Swing Low, 2007. Plaza Design in Collaboration with Quennell Rothschild & Partners, LLP. Commissioned by the City of New York. Manhattan Borough President’s Office. NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Percent for Art Program. NYC Department of Parks and Recreation. NYC Department of Transportation. NYC Department of Design and Construction.”
Granite wall:
“What a Beautiful Morning It Will Be! O Let My People Go.”
“What a Beautiful Morning It Will Be! O Let My People Go.”
Plaque:
“Swing Low: Harriet Tubman Memorial. Harriet Tubman Triangle.”
“This larger-than-life bronze sculpture depicts abolitionist organizer and Underground Railroad leader Harriet Tubman (c. 1822-1913), and stands at the crossroads of St. Nicholas Avenue, West 122nd Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard in Harlem. Douglass once said of Tubman that except for John Brown, he knew of ‘no one who has willingly encountered more perils and hardships to serve our enslaved people.’”
“Born into slavery in Maryland around 1822, Tubman escaped in 1849 via the Underground Railroad, the network of places and people dedicated to helping slaves find their way to freedom in non-slaveholding communities. Settling first in Philadelphia, then Canada, Tubman spent ten years returning to Maryland at great personal risk, to guide scores of friends and family members to freedom. Determined to end slavery, she later served the Union Army as a scout, spy and nurse in the Civil War. Settling in Auburn, New York after the war, she continued campaigning for equal rights for women and African-Americans. Her humanitarian work, including caring for the sick, homeless and disabled of all races, resulted in the establishment of the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged in that community. She died in 1913 and was buried in Fort Hill Cemetery in Auburn with semi-military honors.”
“The memorial, commissioned through the Department of Cultural Affairs' Percent for Art program, was created by African-American sculptor Alison Saar. The artist has depicted Tubman ‘not as the conductor of the Underground Railroad but as the train itself, an unstoppable locomotive,’ the roots of slavery pulled up in her wake. Saar designed stylized portraits of ‘anonymous passengers’ of the Underground Railroad in Tubman’s skirt, some of which were inspired by West African ‘passport masks.’ Around the granite base of the monument are bronze tiles alternately depicting events in Tubman's life and traditional quilting patterns.”
“The $2.8 million, multi-agency project, which included the landscaping of a formerly barren traffic triangle, was sponsored by former Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields. Designed by Quennell Rothschild and constructed by URS, the renovated triangle features paving blocks and roughly hewn granite to create a natural setting. Plantings native to both New York and Tubman’s home state of Maryland represent the woods and terrain traveled by Tubman and her Underground Railroad passengers, providing a contemplative space in which to consider Tubman’s legacy.”
“City of New York Parks & Recreation; Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor; Adrian Benepe, Commissioner; https://www.nycgovparks.org/news/press-releases?id=20772%20; Text Written: November 2008.”
“Swing Low: Harriet Tubman Memorial. Harriet Tubman Triangle.”
“This larger-than-life bronze sculpture depicts abolitionist organizer and Underground Railroad leader Harriet Tubman (c. 1822-1913), and stands at the crossroads of St. Nicholas Avenue, West 122nd Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard in Harlem. Douglass once said of Tubman that except for John Brown, he knew of ‘no one who has willingly encountered more perils and hardships to serve our enslaved people.’”
“Born into slavery in Maryland around 1822, Tubman escaped in 1849 via the Underground Railroad, the network of places and people dedicated to helping slaves find their way to freedom in non-slaveholding communities. Settling first in Philadelphia, then Canada, Tubman spent ten years returning to Maryland at great personal risk, to guide scores of friends and family members to freedom. Determined to end slavery, she later served the Union Army as a scout, spy and nurse in the Civil War. Settling in Auburn, New York after the war, she continued campaigning for equal rights for women and African-Americans. Her humanitarian work, including caring for the sick, homeless and disabled of all races, resulted in the establishment of the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged in that community. She died in 1913 and was buried in Fort Hill Cemetery in Auburn with semi-military honors.”
“The memorial, commissioned through the Department of Cultural Affairs' Percent for Art program, was created by African-American sculptor Alison Saar. The artist has depicted Tubman ‘not as the conductor of the Underground Railroad but as the train itself, an unstoppable locomotive,’ the roots of slavery pulled up in her wake. Saar designed stylized portraits of ‘anonymous passengers’ of the Underground Railroad in Tubman’s skirt, some of which were inspired by West African ‘passport masks.’ Around the granite base of the monument are bronze tiles alternately depicting events in Tubman's life and traditional quilting patterns.”
“The $2.8 million, multi-agency project, which included the landscaping of a formerly barren traffic triangle, was sponsored by former Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields. Designed by Quennell Rothschild and constructed by URS, the renovated triangle features paving blocks and roughly hewn granite to create a natural setting. Plantings native to both New York and Tubman’s home state of Maryland represent the woods and terrain traveled by Tubman and her Underground Railroad passengers, providing a contemplative space in which to consider Tubman’s legacy.”
“City of New York Parks & Recreation; Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor; Adrian Benepe, Commissioner; https://www.nycgovparks.org/news/press-releases?id=20772%20; Text Written: November 2008.”
Extent
156 x 96 x 132 in. (396.24 x 243.84 x 335.28 cm.)
Medium
Bronze; Chinese granite
Bibliographic Citation
Press Release. “Swing Low: Harriet Tubman Memorial Sculpture is Dedicated in Harlem.” NYC Parks. November 13, 2008. Accessed March 18, 2018. https://www.nycgovparks.org/news/press-releases?id=20772%20.
“Percent for Art Interview: Alison Saar.” NYC Department of Cultural Affairs. Accessed March 18, 2018. https://percentforartnyc.tumblr.com/post/77305087355/percent-for-art-interview-alison-saar.
Rights Holder
Renée Ater
Still Image Item Type Metadata
Original Format
Sculpture
Physical Dimensions
156 x 96 x 132 in. (396.24 x 243.84 x 335.28 cm.)
Geolocation
Item Relations
| Item: Swing Low: Harriet Tubman Memorial (reduced version--Scripps College, Claremont, CA) | dcterms:relation | This Item |
Collection
Citation
Saar, Alison, 1956-, “Swing Low: Harriet Tubman Memorial (New York City),” Harriet Tubman Monuments, accessed October 2, 2023, https://www.harriettubmanmonuments.slaverymonuments.org/items/show/12.