Quincy~ Some Famous Quincy Sculptors

Quincy History Quincy~
Massachusetts
Quincy Historical Society
Sprinq, 1986
Some Famous Quincy Sculptors by H. Hobart Holly with contributions from Evelyn S. Kilbourn on the Kitsons, Edmund Quincy on Richard B. Brooks, and Gerald T. Horrigan on himself mid his father. It was granite from Quincy's
quarries that brought fame to what
became known as The Granite City;
but the granite industry
encompassed more than just the
quarries. With the quarrying
industry came the stone-cutting
industry which not only contributed
to the fame but has lasted after the
quarrying operations have ceased .
From the early days the cutters
worked with imported as well · as
local stone, using the material best
suited for a particular application.
The sto~e-cutting industry was
centered principally in South
Quincy with some shops in West
Quincy and elsewhere, but largely
separate from the quarries. The
cutters were a distinct trade with
their own union which until recently
had its national headquarters in
Quincy. The Quincy cutters were
among the most skilled in the world,
and some possessed talents not
available elsewhere.
The story is told of a prominent
Quincy resident who wanted the
very finest cemetery monument for
his family, so he went to the famous
Tiffany Studios of New York for the
work. He was pleased with the
design submitted and later asked if
he might observe the fashioning in
progress. "Quite easily, Sir, it is
being cut in Quincy."
From the ranks of these highly
skilled stone cutters some sculptors
emerged. Equally important were
the sculptors who · came here
because of demand for their
Statue of Colonel Thomas Cass,
designed by Richard Brooks, located in
the Boston Public Garden.
creative art in association with the
granite industry. The work of the
sculptors has added an important
page in Quincy's history; a page that
has been largely forgotten.
In their time these sculptors were
highly regarded in Quincy and their
work well known locally. Their
commissions, whether executed
here or elsewhere, their exhibitions
and their career activities were well
covered in the local press,
frequently on the front page. Their
works have passed the test of time,
but the recognition of the artists in
their town has diminished.
Richard Edwin Brooks
1865-1919
Richard E. Brooks was born in
Braintree, the son of John Brooks, a
native of England and a spinner by
trade . The nearby granite industry
in Quincy undoubtedly influenced
the development of his artistic
talents and his choice of a
profession. In his early years, he
carved and modelled panels in
terracotta for the exterior of
buildings and private homes from
designs by his first teacher, T. H.
Bartlett. After he had worked as an
apprentice he opened his own
business specializing in commercial
sculpture .
His first important commiSSion
was for a bust of Governor William
E. Russell of Massachusetts. Its
success prompted him to go to Paris
where his talent developed rapidly
under the guidance of Aube' and
Injalbert. Those were the days when
the Symbolist Movement, the
conveyance of impressions by
suggestion rather than realism,
launched by a group of French
artists and writers was at its height.
Brooks' statue Le Chant de la
Vague reflected this influence, both
mysterious and metaphysical. This
graceful nude by the sea was cited
for Honorable Mention in the Paris
Salon of 1895.
One of Brooks' most famous
works was the result of the efforts
and art appreciation of Josiah
Quincy, father of Edmund and third
Boston Mayor of the name, and the
Art Commission that he created.
The statue of Col. Thomas Cass in
the Public Garden was dedicated in
1899. Every detail of its surface is
finished to perfection. The volumes
and proportions, from the tilt of the
hat to the disengaged left leg, show
complete relaxation. This work was
awarded a Gold Medal at the Paris
Continued on Page Two
Page Two -1UINCY IDSTORY - Spring, 1986
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Famous Quincy Sculptors
Continued from Page One
Exposition ot 1900 and a Gold
Medal at an exhibition the following
year that included an Art Nouveau
candlestick and a necklace
designed by Brooks. He received a
Silver Medal at San Francisco's
Panama Pacific Exposition in 1915.
From 1899 to 1905 Richard
Brooks lived and worked in Quincy
with his address at 36 and then 110
School Street. Most of his working
life, however, he spent in France, .
which proved a strong influence on
his work. His work excelled in that
subtlety of expression and lightness
of touch so frequently found in the
best French art. He made a portrait
bust of the principal subject of
Millet's famous painting The
Angelus, not as the young woman of
the painting but as the old, old
woman known in her locality as
"Mere Adele," her face deeply lined
and weathered by the struggle of a
peasant to gain a livelihood from the
land of France. His Le Chant de la
Vague, already mentioned, and The
Bather were acquired by the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New
York which recently had a special
exhibit of his works.
Among his famous statues are
ones of John Hanson and Charles
Carroll of Carrollton in the Capitol
in Washington. D.C.; William H.
Seward and John H. McGraw in
Seattle; Col. Wadsworth of the
Athenaeum that bears his name;
John Haynes; and Roger Ludlow in
Hartford. His bronze bas-relief of E.
F. Andrews. the school's first
principal. is at the Corcoran School
of Art in Washington.
Edmund Quincy vividly recalls
Richard Brooks. who made
medallions of his grandfather, his
father and himself which now hang
in the Josiah Quincy House in
Wollaston. Young Edmund was in
bed with the measles and had to sit
motionless while Mr. Brooks
strained his eyes in the darkened
room to sketch the profile for the
medallion. Mr. Brooks also did a
medallion of William Royall Tyler.
Headmaster of Adams Academy.
Henry Hudson Kitson
1865-1947
Mr. Kitson was born in
Huddersfield, England, and
educated at Oxford and L'Ecole des
Beaux Arts in Paris. He studied
under Bonnaissieux in Paris. Henry
Kitson served for a year in the
Roumanian army and- rose to the
rank of colonel. He executed busts
of King Carol and Queen Elizabeth
of Roumania and was knighted by
the Ki in 1902.
Statue of Admiral Farragut designed
by Henry Kitson. located in Marine
Pork. South Boston.
Mr. Kitson·had a studio in Boston
from 1886 to 1904 when he moved
to Quincy and had his studio in the
barn of his home on Park Lane. nOw
Southern Artery. In 1893 he
married. in Boston. Theo Alice
Ruggles of Brookline, who had been
his student and already an
accomplished sculptor. The Kitsons
separated around 1909 but he
continued to be listed as a sculptor
at the Quincy address until 1915
when his family moved to Sherborn,
Massachusetts and he to
Tyringham in the western part of
the state. In Tyringham Mr. Kitson
continued his sculpture, working on
a clay model of St. Francis of Assisi
the day before his death in 1947.
The best known of Mr. Kitson's
works in this area are the Minute
Man at Lexington, The Pilgrim Maid
in Plymouth, and the Admiral
Farragut in South Boston. In
Boston are his Nathaniel P. Banks
on the State House grounds, Robert
Burns in the Back Bay Fens, and the
Patrick A. Collins monument on
Commonwealth Avenue in which
Mrs. Kitson collaborated. At
Vicksburg, Mississippi, he
executed, with Mrs. Kitson, the
statue of Confederate General
Stephen Lee. the Minnesota
monument, and supervised the
erection of the Massachusetts
monument. Among his other
statues are Sir Richard Saltonstall at
Watertown, Roger Conant at
Salem, the Continental soldier at
Washington's Headquarters at
Newburgh, N.Y. and in Cedar
Rapids, Iowa, Louis C. Elson, Henry
B. Endicott, President McKinley,
General Tilghman, Admiral
Selfridge, and General Martin I.
Smith. Among the busts he
. executed were those of James
Bryce and Walt Whitman. Before
his death he had just completed the
plaster cast of a bust of Mark
Hopkins for Williams College. Mr.
Kitson created a number of works
on religious subjects, and his Music
of the Sea is at the Museum of Fine
Arts. He did not complete the model
for a one hundred sixty-five-foot­
high bronze statue of Christ that he
hoped might go to a Balkan country
as a symbol of peace.
Henry Kitson received many
honors for his work and was a
leading American sculptor over his
long career. He is listed in Who's
Who in American Art.
Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson
1871-1932
Theo Alice Ruggles was born in
Brookline, the daughter' of Cyrus
W. Ruggles who was for many years
the postmaster of that town. She
attended the public schools and
early showed an interest in art that
was encouraged by her family. Her
modeling, carving and ice sculpture
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Spring, 1986 - QUINCY mSTORY - Paqe Three ·
Continued from Page Two
as a teenager attracted attent ion to
her talent including that of the noted
sculptor Henry H. Kitson, who
became her mentor and in 1893 her
husband . In Paris under Mr.
Kitson's guidance she studied under
the painter Pascal and the sculptor
Bouvent. In 1889, when only
eighteen years old, she exhibited
her sculpture at the Paris
Exposition, receiving honorable
mention . The following year she
exhibited at the Paris Salon and
received a similar award, the first
American woman to gain that
distinction.
After their marriage, the Kitsons
made their home in Boston and had
a studio there together. In 1904 they
moved to Quincy and lived in a large
house on Park Lane, now Southern
Artery near Black's Creek. As a
neighbor and girlhood friend of the
younger daughter, one of the
contributors to this paper, Mrs.
Kilbourn, well remembers Mrs .
Kitson. The studio where many
notable works were executed was in
the large barn, and strictly off limits
to young visitors. The barn also
housed many animals including a
magnificent black stallion named
Commander which Mrs. Kitson
used as a model for her equestrian
statues. Mrs. Kitson was an active
member of the Quincy Women's
Club where she chaired the Art
Committee and headed other
activities. She was the designer of
the club's seal. The Kitsons
s~parated around 1909. Around
1915 Mrs. Kitson moved from
Quincy to Sherborn and later to
Framingham where she lived until
her death.
Mrs. Kitson produced many
works including over fifty public
monuments. Probably best known
to Quincy area residents are the
Hingham war memorial, the
impressive equestrian "Victory" at
the Harbor, and the Kosiusko
statue in the Public Garden in
Boston. Mr. and Mrs. Kitson
together did the Patrick A. Collins
monument on Commonwealth
Avenue.
One of Mrs. Kitson's earliest
works was the result of her exhibit
at the Chicago Exposition of 1893.
The w 0 men 0 f M i chi g an
commissioned two works symbolic
of the oaks and pines of that state.
These are now in the Detroit
Museum of Fine Arts. Another early
work was the statue of the
Revoluntionary War hero Esek
Hopkins in Providence. Of her Civil
War memorials the best known are
at Vicksburg, Mississippi. Her
"Volunteer" is the feature of the
Massachusetts monument. She
executed the Iowa monument and
collaborated with Mr. Kitson on the
statue of Confederate General
Stephen Lee . She did the
monument for Newburyport,
"Mother Bickerdyke" the Civil War
nurse at Galesburg, Spanish War
memorials at Minneapolis and
Schenectady, the Minuteman at
Framingham, and the Wounded
Color Sergeant for Topsfield. The
"Hiker" is at Arlington National
Cemetery, and her statue of Lincoln
in Providence.
Mrs. Kitson executed many
portrait busts and reliefs. She
created an Adams medallion of
copper from the dome of the First
Parish Church. She designed a
memorial tablet to "SCotty," the
former Boston newsboy who was
killed in World War I. At the time of
her death she was working on a bust
of Thomas A Friison .
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Theo A. Ru~gles Kitson won
many honors an1 recognition ?f.her
talents as a sculptor. She exhIbIted
widely and received medals at major
expositions. Hers was a significant
contribution toward making the
. name Kitson known nationally for
sculptural excellence.
Bruce Wilder Saville
1893-1939
Bruce Saville was born in Quincy
of an old Quincy family, grew up in
the Granite City, and received
much of his education here. He was
the son of George G. Saville and the
brother of Clark Saville who was
president of the Quincy Historical
Society 1952-1955. After graduation
from Quincy High School, he
studied at the Boston Normal Art
School with Cyrus E. Dallin, the
noted sculptor, as his mentor. After
a short period of study at the
Museum of Fine Arts, he spent five
years in the Quincy studio of Theo
A. Kitson. His art career was then
interrupted by service in World War
I, an experience which undoubtedly
gave him true feeling for the war
memorials· that he would create . .
His first significant work was a
. bust of his father. This was followed
in 1916 by a bust of Nathan Haskell
Dole, the author, which drew high
praise for its artistic merit. He also
did a bust of Lt. Joseph T. Evans,
USN, and the model for a heroic
statue of John Hancock for the City
of Quincy, p work that was never
accomplished. The next year he
completed a bust of Larz Anderson.
After his war service, Saville
returned to his studio in 1919. There
he created the American trophy for
the James Gordon Bennett balloon
race, completed the Dole bust in
bronze, and was commissioned by
! ~eemo~=t~OO~~i~~;ed toS~~~~:~!
:
"The Infantryman." An exhibition
included "Boy with Fish," a nude
" study that received favorable
~
comment, and a sketch for a Quincy
High School memorial bas relief. In
1921 he executed, for Westfield, a
war memorial that was unusual in
that it honored a regiment.
In 1921 Bruce Saville was
appointed
Head of the Department
Statue of Kosciusko, designed by Theo
of Art at Ohio State University at
Alice Kitson, located in the Boston
(;onClnueu on ,.-age rour
Public Garden.
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February 27, 1939, in his for ty-sixth
year .
John Horrigan
1864-1939
John Horrigan was born in the
small town of Fayston, Vermont
where he received a rudimentary
education in the village school. The
family moved to Fairlee , Vermont
where he engaged in mining and
stone cutting with Cornish workers.
From the age of ten, John
Horrigan's interest was sc ulpture,
and he studied this subject in the
spare time from his job. After about
two years he took up modeling. In
1887 Horrigan came to South
Quincy where he lived and worked
for the rest of his life. His only
education beyond the Fayston
village school was in Quincy
evenings schools and extensive
reading in his home. John Horrigan
married Helen J. Sullivan, a Quincy
school teacher . He secured
employment in the cutting and
sculptoring works of Frederick
. Barnicoat where ' Mr. Barnicoat, a
co.
. Cornishman, introduced him to
working in clay and casting in
;. plaster. Mr. Horrigan received
helpful advice from Richard E.
Brooks who had just returned from
"The Doughboy," designed by Bruce Saville and located in front of the Adams
his art studies in Paris. His first work
Academy Building, Quincy, Mass.
in real clay modeling was for busts of
John Boyle O'Reilly, whom he
Continued From Page Three
Wood memorial for the Boston City
greatly admired after reading his
Columbus, Ohio, a high tribute to
Hospital, portrait sculptures of
biography. He made a portrait from
the artistic abilities of the 28-year­
Gen. Clarence R. Edwards and Col.
life of Patrick Donahue, then editor
old sculptor. While there, he
Osbourne, a fountain with five
and owner of The Boston Pilot, now
executed the imposing war
figures for Detroit, Michigan to
the Boston Archdiocesan paper.
memorial in Columbus. The central
commemorate aviation achieve­
John Horrigan's experience as a
figure was the statue of a young
ment, war memorials for Gardner,
stone cutter and the mastery of that
soldier with the flush of a victor and
Massachusetts and for Glens Falls,
art had a great influence on his
the dignity of America. In 1925, the
New York, and the Wayne
career as a sculptor. He admire<i the
City of Quincy chose this figure for
Monument for Toledo. Mr. Saville
heroic Grecian statues and thought
its memorial "To the Men of Quincy
did the plaques on the obelisks at
in dimensions that a sculptor with
who Served in the World War."
the Granite Railway Incline in West
less cutting talent could not have
Quincy. The original bronzes were
"The Doughboy" now stands in
envisioned. His inclination was
front of the Adams Academy
stolen and replaced by granite
toward religious themes. Mr.
building. Its sculptor,· Bruce Saville,
plaques of the same design.
Horrigan would study all that had
is one of those it commemorates.
In 1932 Bruce Saville moved to
been written on a subject to put
He submitted a model for a Robert
Santa Fe, New Mexico for his health
himself in the spirit, and then let his
Burns Statue in Quincy, but it was
and to study the Indian in his native
own feelings determine the form of
not accepted. In 1924 he was
habitat. There he worked on a
expression. He would initiate with
historical memorial for the National
honored by election to the National
confidence that someone would
Sculptors Society.
Cemetery in Santa Fe. It included a
purchase his work later.
bas relief seventeen feet long by
In 1925 Saville returned to Boston
Probably his most famous work is
nine feet high on the region's history
to devote his full time to exhibition
the Titanic Monument In
work . Among his well -known works
and eight historical statues. While
Washington, D.C ., which he
planning to return to Boston, he
were the Goddard Memorial for
Continued on Page Five
died of influenza at Santa Fe on
Worcester, the Gen. Leonard
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Continued from Page Four
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executed in 1916. De signeH by
Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, the
Spring, 1986 - Q-VINCY HISTORY - Page Five
War statue at Denmark Maine and
the statue of St. John th~ Evangelist
in the Holyrood Cemetery.
Of Mr. Horrigan's many works,
probably the best known to Quincy
people is the Robert Burns statue of
1923 now located at the corner of
Granite Street and Burgin Parkway.
He was cutting a statue designed by
his son Gerald T. Horrigan when it
was destroyed by a fire in his shop.
He cut the present statue to a
somewhat modified design , also by
his son.
In March of 1916 the Quincy
Patriot-Ledger initiated a weekly
series 6n the lives of some
promineht and interesting men of
Quincy. The subject of the first
article was John Horrigan.
Gerald T. Horrigan
1903­
Gerald Horrigan was born and
grew up in South Quincy when
stone cutting were dominant factors
there. His appreciation of granite
was inborn, and his first instructor
in sculpture was his famous fat her ,
John Horrigan. After gradua tion
from high school, Gerald Horrigan
studied from 1921 to 1925 on
scholarships at the Museum of Fine
Continued on Page Six
The Titanic Monument located in
Washington, D.C. and designed by
John Horrigan.
figure is thirteen feet high and
twelve feet , eight inches across the
outstretched arms. It stands on a
pedestal about fifteen feet high
made by the Henry C. Smalley
Granite Company of Quincy. He
also sculpted the huge statue of
"The Crusader" designed by
Loredo Taft. It stands in Chicago, a
memorial to Victor Lawson, late
editor of The Chicago News. When
the Myles Standish Monument in
Duxbury was severely damaged by
lightning, Mr. Horrigan was selected
to execute a restored statue in 1930
using some granite from Swingle's
Quarry in West Quincy.
In 1917 his bronze figure for the
Soldiers Monument in Holbrook
drew high praise, as did the bronze
figure of a soldier at Valley Forge
erected by the State of New Jersey.
Two statues at St. Joseph's
Academy in Brighton were
considered fine examples of
religious art. Among many portraits
and portrait reliefs were statues of
George Goodall at Sanford, Maine
and Judge Nolan and Dr. McDonald
in New York. He executed in both
bronze and granite many Civil War
statues, both Union and
Confederate, and also World War I
figures. John Horrigan did the Civil
Statue of Robert Burns, designed by Gerald Horrigan and located at the corner of
Burgin Parkway and Granite Street, Quincy, Mass .
~: _.,. ~a - QUINCY HISTORY - SpriD!!. 19~ · .
Contjnued from Page Fjve
Arts in DU~ll,.;... .Ilere he studied
under Charles Grady and Frederick
W. Allen. During this period he
e xecuted the World War I memorial
for Hull, the design of the Robert
Burns statue in Quincy that was cut
by his father, and a number of
portrait busts and portrait reliefs.
He later did the sculpture for the
World Wa r 1 memorial for
Winthrop.
In 1927, the younger Mr.
Horrigan went to Europe for four
years of study, work and travel.
While he spe nt most of his time in
Paris, he also vis ited Italy and Spain.
He was sent to Spain by Andrew
O'Connor to aid in construction of
the ' heroic monument at Palos
overlooking the harbor from which
Columbus sailed in 1492 and
commemor a t ing that event.
Designed by Ge rtrude Vanderbilt
Whitney, the si xty-foot symbolic
figure stands on a forty·foot base. At
his studio in Pa ris. he executed a
number of works including figures in
marble. He was impressed with the
European use of granr(e' for
sculpture and structures, including
polished granite .
On his return to Quincy he
received a commission from
Monsignor Richard Haberlin for a
family memorial, a Gothic screen
with a Madonna and Child figure.
He also did a life-size statue of John
Cifrino holding the Christ Child in
one arm and extending a loaf of
bread in charity with the other. Mr.
Cifrino, who was noted for giving
bread for charities, came to Quincy
to pose for the head.
In 1933, as Chairman of the
Sculptural Division of the Quincy
Arts League. Gerald Horrigan was
instrumental in arranging an
outstanding exhibition in the
Granite Trust Company building
and sponsored by Delcevare King,
to which many prominent sculptors
contributed. He showed "Adrienne,"
"Joseph Vincent Moreschi" and
"Unfinished Nude." The latter in
marble, from a sketch he made in
rans, was a feature of the show tor
its beauty, grace and firmness of
line . A contest to name the statue
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Bas-relief. designed by ·Joseph Coletti. on the entrance to the Thomas Crane
Library. Quincy, Mass.
Joseph A. Coletti
was a novel event. Cyrus Dallin's
1898-1973
famous "Massasoit" was one of two
Joseph A. Coletti ~tands as one of
pieces by the noted sculptor.
America's foremost sculptors. His
. The younger Mr. Horrigan
work i represented in museums
executed many religious· and
here ~nd abroad, in many churches
memorial works. In 1957 he
and p'ublic buildings, in statues,
modeled a figure of Joan of Arc for
busts and 'medallions that won him
Bishop Wright at St. Paul's
many honors.
Cathedral in Worcester. For
Born in San Donato, Italy, Mr.
memorials he modeled figures such
Coletti came to Quincy with his
as the Ascension; angels and
family at the ,age of two years.. His
sculpt ~ crosses; the bronze doors ·
father was engaged in the granite
for the CoClU{i mausoleum in
industry and the young Coletti
Westerley, Rhode--1slanq; · the
worked for a time as a tool
doughboy for the Pawtucket,
sharpener. After completing his
Rhode Island World War I
studies in the Quincy Public
monument; the figure on the Boston
Schools, he attended the
Policemen's monument; a fireman's
Massachusetts School of Art an~_
figure for a .New · York State
apprenticed himself to the sculptor
monument; and the eagle on
John Evans. Joseph Coletti worked
Quincy's Viet Nam monument.
with John Singer Sargent as the
famous
artist's only pupil. Nter
Among Mr. Horrigan's many
preparatory
work at Northeastern
portraits were full length figures of
University,
he entered Harvard
Private Lee in North Carolina and
from
which
he was graduated in
one of the Mayor of Danville,
1923.
He
then received two
Virginia; a bronze female portrait in
traveling
fellowships
in fine arts
Forest Hills Cemetery; and portrait
from
Harvard.
He
returned
to this
reliefs of Arthur "foote for Mr.
country
in
1926
and
established
his
Foote's widow, and one of Thomas
.studio
in
Boston.
J. Watson for a new IBM building in
Mr. Coletti is probably best
Endicott, New York. /-'
known for his architectural
Gerald T. Horrigan was the son of
sculpture. When working with John
a famous father who achieved
Singer Sargent he assisted him with
prominence in his father's field by
the sculptured ceiling at the Boston
his own talents.
Continued on Page Seven
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Public Li brary and the rotunda of
the Museum 01 tine Arts. His first
commission after returning from
Europe was the sculpture for the
cha pel of St. George's School in
Newport, Rhode Island, consisting '
of sixty·three sculptured pieces.
This was followed by the Archibald
Cary Coolidge memorial at
Harvard's Widener Library, a
tympanum for the chapel of
Mercersburg Academy in
Pennsylvania, and the narthex of
the Harvard World War I Memorial
Chapel. He executed the sculpture
for the north transept portal at the
Cathedral of St. John the Divine in
New York City. His Farmers and
Geese panel is in the Mansfield Post
O{fice. Well known are his panels
Riuerters and Granite, and the
Cranes for the pediment at the
Thomas Crane Public Library in
Quincy.
His notable statues include the
Ferdinand Gagnon monument in
Manchester, N.H .; S1. Joseph
statue at St. Joseph's Seminary in
North Easton; the thirty,foot high
Mourning Victory at ~. ~-Salem;
General Logan at the Airport; and
~en.
... - .
David I. Walsh on the
Esplanade in Boston. His
monument to the Rev. Michael
Joseph McGivney, founder of the
Knights of Columbus, dedicated in
1956 in Waterbury, Connecticut,
has received special acclaim. His
portrait busts include John
Nicholas Brown, Ralph Adams
Cram, Alan Nevins, John
DeFerrari, and Dr. George Berry.
Mr. Coletti created many
medallions and medals that
received wide recognition: the
Ignace Paderewski medallion in
Poland, Samuel Eliot Morison that is
in the Vatican, the seventh
centennial medallion for the Dante
Society of ' America, the two
hundredth anniversary · of the
Boston Tea Party, the Boston
tercentennial, and The Boston
Globe centennial. He designed the
Edward W. Bok medal for the
Harvard Advertising awards, the
Harvard Alumni Association medal,
the Harvard Glee Club medal, the
Eugene Dodd medal for the
Harvard Architectural School, 'and
the Vermont Academy medal.
Joseph Coletti's honors were
many and for varied accomplish·
ments. In 1948 he was elected an
~ ~.
.
Honorary Membe r o f the Har vard
Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. In 1959
his statue of St. George was placed
'o n permanent exhibition in the
National Gallery of Modern Art in
the Pitti Palace at Florence, Italy ­
the first American so honored. Mr.
Coletti served for six years as
Chairman of the Massachusetts Art
Commission. He was recognized
not only for the works of art that he
created but as a master of his art of
sculpture. A handsome book on
The Sculpture of Joseph Coletti by
Alan Priest was published in 1968.
. ..
(To the aboue biographies could
be added the names of many other
Quincy sculptors who haue created
notable works of art. Anthony
DiBona was an artist of great
promise who died before his
potential could be realized. Richard
Recchia produced many notable
works in his Boston and Rockport
studios. ,Carl Andre has gained
international note for both painting
and sculpture. EdYJard P. Monti,
using innouatiue cutting techniques,
sculptsjigures of Quincy granite in
his South Quincy shop thus
continuing the Quincy tradition in
the field of sculpture.)
. 1~1 ··'
. ~;~:::~;~"" ..
' ..
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..
.,
Bas·re/ief, designed by Joseph Coletti, on the entrance to the Thomas Crane Library, Quincy, Mass.
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Page Eight - QUINCY HISTORr - Spring, 1986
A Freeman contributed by H. Hobart Holly
Everyone who has traced his
family back to a n early settler has
seen the expression "made a
Freeman" with a date, many
without knowing the meaning of the
honor co nfirmed on his ancestor.
Essentially , it was an oath of
allegiance that gave to a man the
right to vote and to hold public
office. "The Oath of Freeman"
ado pted by the General Court of
Massachusetts on May 14, 1634
reads as follows :
being, by God's
"I,
providence, an inhabitant and
ffreeman within the jurisdiccion of
this comonweale , doe freely
ack nowledge my selfe to be subject
to the govermt thereof, and
therefore doe heere sweare, by the
greate and dreadfull name of the
everlyveing God, that I wilbe true
and faithfull to the same, and will
accordingly yeilde assistance and
support thereunto , with my pson
a nd estate, as in equity I am bound ,
Bas-relief, designed by Joseph Coletti, on the entrance to the Thomas Crane
Library, Quincy, Mass.
and will also truely indeavr to
maintaine and preserve all the
libertyes and privilidges thereof,
submitting my selfe to the
wholesome lawes and orders made
and established by the same; and
furthr that I will not plott nor
practise any evill against it, nor
consent to any that shall soe doe,
but will timely discover and reveale
the same to lawfull aucthority nowe
here estftblished, for the speedy
preventing thereof.
"Moreover, I doe solemnly bynde
myselfe, in the sight of God, that
when I shalbe called to give my voice
touching any matter of this state,
wherein ffreeman are to deale , I will
give my vote and suffrage, as I shall
judge, inmy owne conscience may
best conduce and tend to the
publique weale of the body, without
respect of p(er)sons, or favor of any
man .
"Soe helpe mee God, in the Lord
Jesus Christ."
Two Calendars '- Two Dates ADAMS ACADEMY Is n
QUINCY HISTORY
Published by the Quincy Historical Society at
Adanis ~Academy, 8 Adams Street, Quincy,
Massachusetts 02169, telephone 773·1144.
David Day
President
Dr. James Cameron and Daniel Johnson
Editors
The Quincy Historical Society, incorporated
November 16, 1893, maintains the Adams
Academy Building as a museum, library,
visitor infonnation center and place of
meeting. The purposes of the Society are: to
represent historical interests in the
community, to preserve materials and infor·
mation related to Quincy history through
exhibits, programs and eduJ:;ationai exhibits,
and to publish -materials of historical
significance .
contributed by H. Hobart Holly
The 250th commemoration of the
birth of John Adams found many
people confused that the record
shows the birth date as October 19,
1735, while the anniversary of that
birth falls on Octob~r 30, 1985. The
answer is a change in the calendar .
Prior to 1752 the British Colonies
in North America used the Julian
Calendar'that was instituted in 46
BC. The years that followed were
figured, and still are, as 365 l1.t days
whereas the actual day is slightly
less than that. As a result, over the
years that the Julian Calendar was
in use, an error of 11 days
accumulated. When the change was
made to the Gregorian Calendar, it
was decided to correct the error by
dropping 11 days . Accordingly,
September 3, 1752, old style,
became September 14, 1752 new
style . Thus a person born on
September 2, 1752 would have
celebrated his two days old birthday
on September 15th new style, and
everyone older celebrated his
birthday anniversary 11 days later
according to the new calendar than
by the old.
A second change that took place
when the Gregorian Calendar was
adopted has also caused some
confusion. Under the Julian
Calendar the year began in March,
actually March 25th. Thus January
1639 followed December 1639 . ·
When old records referred to the
4th day of the 5th month, the date
was July 4th . To alleviate confusion ,
January, February, and March
dates through the 24th are written
with both the Julian and Gregorian
year shown ; for example, January
25, 1639/40, or February 15, 1735/ 6.