Asbury, Francis, Memorial

About this property

Francis Asbury, also known as the Francis Asbury Memorial, is a public equestrian statue, by American artist Henry Augustus Lukeman, located at 16th Street and Mt. Pleasant Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C., in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood. It was originally surveyed as part of the Smithsonian's Save Outdoor Sculpture! survey in 1994. This bronze sculpture features Francis Asbury seated upon his horse wearing a cape and hat. In his proper right hand he holds a bible. The horse is bending its head down to lick its left leg. The sculpture sits on a granite base (approx. 100 in. x 140 in. x 200 in.). On the proper left side of the sculpture, near the base, it is signed "Augustus Lukeman Sc 1921." During the leap year of 1919, President Woodrow Wilson and the 66th Congress of the United States gave approval to the site and location for the Francis Asbury Statue. This formal event which occurred on February 29, 1919 allowed for the newly formed Francis Asbury Memorial Foundation to begin its work to raise monies for the Francis Asbury Statue. For design of the statue, The Francis Asbury Memorial Foundation chose Mr. Evarts Tracy. The distinguished designer from the New York architectural firm, Tracy and Swartwout, was not only a talented architect and designer, he was the great-great grandson of Roger Sherman, a signer of the American Declaration of Independence. In addition to his design architectural design experience, Mr. Evarts Tracy was commissioned years earlier to design camouflage techniques for the troops on the front line of World War I. The design of the Francis Asbury Statue by Mr. Evarts Tracy began in the year 1919. Upon completion of the design, the Francis Asbury Memorial Foundation chose the Roman Bronze Works of New York to build the equestrian memorial. In 1921, the Roman Bronze Works in turn commissioned the independent artist, Henry Augustus Lukeman to sculpt the Asbury Statue. On October 15, 1924 at 2:30 pm, a dedication ceremony for the Francis Asbury Statue took place with several thousand people in attendance, including dignitaries from Washington D.C. In one of the photos taken of the ceremony, President Calvin Coolidge stands at the podium, ready to give his speech containing a famous phrase about Francis Asbury, “He is entitled to rank as one of the builders of our nation.” Another photo from the day of the dedication displays the patriotic manner in which the statue was veiled before the ceremony. Two large American flags flank either side of the statue. “The shot taken from the crowd level is a stunning depiction of Francis Asbury and the flags of his adopted country. A country in which he spent nearly his entire life leading the people of the frontier to Jesus Christ.”

Location

Categories

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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