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Margaret Haughery Statue, Coliseum Square, NOLA.
Margaret Haughery was a beloved historical figure in New Orleans,LA in the 1880s. Margaret devoted her life’s work to the care and feeding of the poor and hungry, and to fund and build orphanages throughout the city. She worked closely with New Orleans Sisters of Charity, associated with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans (the second-oldest diocese in the present-day United States).A woman of unsurpassed charity, Margaret became famed for her lifelong championing of the destitute. Countless thousands of all creeds considered her a living saint worthy of canonization. Born into poverty and orphaned at a young age, she began her adult life as a washwoman and a peddler — yet she died an epic businesswoman and philanthropist who received a state funeral. Immediately following her death, a committee was appointed to oversee the erection of a statue in Margaret's honor. Alexander Doyle, a young sculptor, was commissioned. The statue was fashioned from old photographs, first molded in clay. This was sent to Italy where it was reproduced in Carrera marble. The statue was returned to New York from Italy after a time, but the commissioners of the monument declined to accept it, owing to imperfections in the marble. The sculptor at once procured another block and assured the commission that a
perfect statue, according to model, would be shipped so as to reach New Orleans by May 1884.
Margaret Haughery Statue, Coliseum Square, NOLA.
Margaret Haughery was a beloved historical figure in New Orleans,LA in the 1880s. Margaret devoted her life’s work to the care and feeding of the poor and hungry, and to fund and build orphanages throughout the city. She worked closely with New Orleans Sisters of Charity, associated with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans (the second-oldest diocese in the present-day United States).A woman of unsurpassed charity, Margaret became famed for her lifelong championing of the destitute. Countless thousands of all creeds considered her a living saint worthy of canonization. Born into poverty and orphaned at a young age, she began her adult life as a washwoman and a peddler — yet she died an epic businesswoman and philanthropist who received a state funeral. Immediately following her death, a committee was appointed to oversee the erection of a statue in Margaret's honor. Alexander Doyle, a young sculptor, was commissioned. The statue was fashioned from old photographs, first molded in clay. This was sent to Italy where it was reproduced in Carrera marble. The statue was returned to New York from Italy after a time, but the commissioners of the monument declined to accept it, owing to imperfections in the marble. The sculptor at once procured another block and assured the commission that a
perfect statue, according to model, would be shipped so as to reach New Orleans by May 1884.