NYC - Bronx: Hall of Fame for Great Americans - Woodrow Wilson
This bust of Woodrow Wilson, elected to the Hall of Fame for Great Americans in 1950, was executed by Walker Kirkland Hancock in 1956. Thomas Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) was the Governor of New Jersey and the twenty-eighth President of the United States. As President, he passed major legislation that included the Federal Trade Commission, the Clayton Antitrust Act, the Underwood Tariff, the Federal Farm Loan Act and most notably the Federal Reserve System. His second term centered around World War I. Although he tried to maintain U.S. neutrality, he asked Congress to declare war on the Central Powers after Germany began unrestricted submarine warfare. Leaving the act of fighting to the military, he began the first effective draft, raised billions through Liberty notes, imposed an ncome tax, set up the War Industries Board, promoted labor union growth, supervised agriculture and food production through the Lever Act, took over control of the railroads, and suppressed anti-war movements. In the late stages of the war he took personal control of negotiations with Germany, especially with the Fourteen Points and the armistice. He went to Paris in 1919 to create the League of Nations and shape the Treaty of Versailles, with special attention on creating new nations out of defunct empires. Largely for his efforts to form the League, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1919.
The Hall of Fame for Great Americans--the original "Hall of Fame", was conceived of by Dr. Henry Mitchell MacCracken, Chancellor of New York University from 1891 to 1910. It was designed as part of the school's undergraduate campus in University Heights in the Bronx, which is today the campus of Bronx Community College of The City University of New York. The Hall of Fame stands on the heights occupied by the British army in its successful attack upon Fort Washington in the autumn of 1776. MacCracken, once said "Lost to the invaders of 1776, this summit is now retaken by the goodly troop of 'Great Americans', General Washington their leader. They enter into possession of these Heights and are destined to hold them, we trust, forever."
The memorial structure is a sweeping open-air colonnade, 630 feet in length, designed in neoclassical style by the Stanford White. Financed by a gift from Mrs. Finley J. Shepard (Helen Gould), the Hall of Fame was formally dedicated on May 30, 1901. The Colonnade was designed with niches to accommodate 102 sculptured works and currently houses the busts and commemorative plaques of 98 of the 102 honorees elected since 1900. Each bronze bust, executed by a distinguished American sculptor, must be made specifically for The Hall of Fame and must not be duplicated within 50 years of its execution. To be eligible for nomination, a person must have been a native born or naturalized citizen of the United States, must have been dead for 25 years and must have made a major contribution to the economic, political, or cultural life of the nation. Of the 17 categories in The Hall of Fame, Authors is the largest, with Statesmen following closely.
The complex of three buildings adjoining the Colonnade--Gould Memorial Library, the Hall of Languages, and Cornelius Baker Hall of Philosophy--were also designed by Stanford White and bear a close conceptual relationship to the Colonnade, with the library as the central focus.
National Register #79001567
NYC - Bronx: Hall of Fame for Great Americans - Woodrow Wilson
This bust of Woodrow Wilson, elected to the Hall of Fame for Great Americans in 1950, was executed by Walker Kirkland Hancock in 1956. Thomas Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) was the Governor of New Jersey and the twenty-eighth President of the United States. As President, he passed major legislation that included the Federal Trade Commission, the Clayton Antitrust Act, the Underwood Tariff, the Federal Farm Loan Act and most notably the Federal Reserve System. His second term centered around World War I. Although he tried to maintain U.S. neutrality, he asked Congress to declare war on the Central Powers after Germany began unrestricted submarine warfare. Leaving the act of fighting to the military, he began the first effective draft, raised billions through Liberty notes, imposed an ncome tax, set up the War Industries Board, promoted labor union growth, supervised agriculture and food production through the Lever Act, took over control of the railroads, and suppressed anti-war movements. In the late stages of the war he took personal control of negotiations with Germany, especially with the Fourteen Points and the armistice. He went to Paris in 1919 to create the League of Nations and shape the Treaty of Versailles, with special attention on creating new nations out of defunct empires. Largely for his efforts to form the League, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1919.
The Hall of Fame for Great Americans--the original "Hall of Fame", was conceived of by Dr. Henry Mitchell MacCracken, Chancellor of New York University from 1891 to 1910. It was designed as part of the school's undergraduate campus in University Heights in the Bronx, which is today the campus of Bronx Community College of The City University of New York. The Hall of Fame stands on the heights occupied by the British army in its successful attack upon Fort Washington in the autumn of 1776. MacCracken, once said "Lost to the invaders of 1776, this summit is now retaken by the goodly troop of 'Great Americans', General Washington their leader. They enter into possession of these Heights and are destined to hold them, we trust, forever."
The memorial structure is a sweeping open-air colonnade, 630 feet in length, designed in neoclassical style by the Stanford White. Financed by a gift from Mrs. Finley J. Shepard (Helen Gould), the Hall of Fame was formally dedicated on May 30, 1901. The Colonnade was designed with niches to accommodate 102 sculptured works and currently houses the busts and commemorative plaques of 98 of the 102 honorees elected since 1900. Each bronze bust, executed by a distinguished American sculptor, must be made specifically for The Hall of Fame and must not be duplicated within 50 years of its execution. To be eligible for nomination, a person must have been a native born or naturalized citizen of the United States, must have been dead for 25 years and must have made a major contribution to the economic, political, or cultural life of the nation. Of the 17 categories in The Hall of Fame, Authors is the largest, with Statesmen following closely.
The complex of three buildings adjoining the Colonnade--Gould Memorial Library, the Hall of Languages, and Cornelius Baker Hall of Philosophy--were also designed by Stanford White and bear a close conceptual relationship to the Colonnade, with the library as the central focus.
National Register #79001567