Soldier’s and Sailor’s Memorial
Artist:Duboy, Paul E., architect, sculptor
With: Stoughton, Charles W., 1871-1945, architect, Stoughton, Arthur A., 1867-1955, architect, Cullen and Dwyer, contractor, fabricator
Status: In Situ and Within Riverside Park
Title: Soldier’s and Sailor’s Memorial, Temple of Fame
Dates: Designed in 1897. Dedicated May 30, 1902.
Medium: Sculpture: East Dorset, Vermont marble; Base: granite.
Dimensions: Sculpture: approx. 100 x 50 x 50 ft.
Inscription: (Around top:) TO THE MEMORY OF THE BRAVE SOLDIERS AND SAILORS WHO SAVED THE UNION (Over door:) IN MEMORIAM (Tablet on east side:) Erected By/The City of New York/MCM (Bronze tablet on rear:) Soldiers’ And Sailors’ Memorial Monument/Of The City Of New York/Commissioners,/Robert A. Van Wyck, Mayor,/George C. Clausen, President, Park Board./John W. Goff, Recorder, Bird S. Coler, Comptroller./Joseph A, Goulden, Chairman, Memorial Committee,/Grand Army of The Republic./Architects,/Charles W. Stoughton, Arthur A. Stoughton/Paul E. Duboy./Builders, Cullen And Dwyer (Bronze table set into one of the broad steps in front of the structure:) Erected By/The City of New York/To Commemorate The Valor/Of The Soldiers And Sailors/Who In The Civil War Fought In Defense OF The Union. (On a high pillar of the balustrade standing southeast of structure, south side:) N.Y. Volunteer./Regiments./ Actively.Engaged./ Seventy Second./Seventy Third.Seventy Fourth./Seventy Ninth./Eighty Second./Eighty Third. (West side:) Farragut./New Orleans.Fair Oaks./Malver Hill./Harpers Ferry.Antietam./Iuka. Cornith/Fredericsburg.Murfreesboro/.Charleston./.Jackson. Chancellorsville. (North side:)Sickles./.Winslow.Kelly./ .Barlow.Thoman./.Cameron.Scott./Murphy.McMahon./Warren. Moesch./Bvay./.Winchester./.Cedar Creek.Fort Fisher./.Wilmington./.Bentonville.Five Forks./Petersburg./.Richmond. Appomattox.
Description: Circular marble temple adorned with twelve columns. Above the columns is a circular band of eagles. An eagle with wings spread is installed over the door at the base of the temple.
Owner: City of New York, Department of Parks and Recreation, New York, New York.
Located Riverside Park, Riverside Drive & 89th Street, New York, New York.
Remarks: The state legislature passed an act in 1893 establishing a Board of Commissioners for the “Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Memorial,” but no action was taken until 1897 when the board held a competition. The Stoughton brothers won the competition with their design for the memorial known as the “Temple of Fame.” The architectural adornments are by Paul E. Duboy. Construction was done by Cullen and Dwyer. The total cost of the memorial was $185,000; the total appropriation for the memorial was $250,000. The Memorial has been closed since 2017, after inspectors found drainage issues that could have led to a collapse. Upper West Side Council Member Gale Brewer led efforts to restore the monument and in 2023, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced that $62.3 million would be earmarked for the reconstruction and upgrading of the sculpture and surrounding plaza.
References:
Gayle, Margot & Michele Cohen, “Guide to Manhattan’s Outdoor Sculpture,” New York: Prentice Hall, 1988, p. 285.
National Park Service, American Monuments and Outdoor Sculpture Database, NY5154, 1989.
Gray, Christopher, “Streetscapes/ Soldier’s and Sailors’ Monument, at 89th Street and Riverside Drive; A 1902 Memorial to the Fallen of the Civil War,” New York Times, October 13, 2002, Section 11, p. 7.