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5. Lincoln Memorial at Waterfront Park
Function– The function is to show Lincoln as an educated man with books and sophisticated clothing. The bas-reliefs, “tell of four different stages of Lincoln’s life and experiences in Kentucky,” according to the Louisville Waterfront Park web site. Lastly, some famous quotes are engraved around him in an amphitheatre. The statue is made of bronze and is sitting on a large rock. The marker is not weathered because it has only been up a short time. Therefore, it does not need to be renovated.
Important – This is important to bring the image of the man to Kentucky where he lived only as a young boy. Kentuckians enjoy seeing the end result of the boy who has his roots in the state. It portrays the images of slavery that Lincoln witnessed at this very site when he boarded the steamboat with the slaves. Lincoln viewed this scene in 1841 while he was traveling from Louisville to St. Louis.
Location – The statue is in Kentucky, but looking across the river to Indiana where he lived after leaving Kentucky. Also according to the Courier Journal, the statue’s, “location is near where, in 1841, Lincoln and friend Joshua Speed boarded a steamboat to travel from Louisville to St. Louis. The trip, which was preceded by a stay on Speed’s slave-run hemp plantation, haunted Lincoln and shaped his views, historians say. He later wrote that the sight of the slaves “was a continual torment.”
Meaning – The statue is meant to honor a great Kentuckian who started out from little, but looked to the future to do great things. Equipped with his books he looks toward his future in Indiana and then Illinois. It also shows Lincoln’s first adult experience with slavery around this site in Louisville. This is an experience that had an effect on him later in life. The family of Harry Frazier Jr. and the Kentucky Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission erected this statue. It was unveiled on June 4, 2009. There was a large ceremony at sunset complete with a 50-piece orchestra and celebrity guests such as Muhammad Ali. This is important to the community because slavery and race relations are still a hot topic.
Background information – Sculptor Ed Hamilton created this statue, which weighs 18,000 pounds. The Journal also reports “the $2.4 million project — funded by the state, the family of the late Harry Frazier Jr. and the Kentucky Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission — also includes the four metal bas-relief sculptures on granite slabs that depict Lincoln’s boyhood, his Kentucky friends and a war that divided the nation.” The project took over two years to complete. The statue shows Lincoln at around age 40 sitting on a rock holding a law book with a Shakespeare and Holy Bible positioned beside him. The Louisville Waterfront Park details that the “amphitheater with granite seating carved with famous quotes from Lincoln and a tree-canopied landscape, was designed by world-renowned landscape architects Hargreaves Associates.” The statue was unveiled on June 4, 2009.