James Michael Curley

James Michael Curley, by artist Lloyd Lillie, on Congress Street, along the Freedom Trail in Boston.

One of the most colorful figures in Massachusetts politics in the first half of the 20th century, Curley served four terms as Democratic Mayor of Boston, including part of one while in prison. He also served a single term as Governor of Massachusetts

Curley became famous when as he was elected, in 1904, to the Boston Board of Alderman while serving time in prison on a fraud conviction. His colorful career included an indictment for influence peddling in 1943. He won a fourth term as mayor of Boston in 1945; despite a second indictment by a federal grand jury, for mail fraud. In 1947, he was sentenced to 6–18 months on the mail fraud conviction and spent five months at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, CT before his sentence was commuted by President Truman. He was defeated for mayor in the 1949 election, thus ending his long political career.

Curley is considered the inspiration for the protagonist Frank Skeffington in the novel The Last Hurrah by Edwin O'Connor, on which director John Ford based his film with the same title.

Bill Russell

Statue of Boston Celtics great Bill Russell, located on City Hall Plaza.

Ether Monument / Good Samaritan

This 40-foot-tall monument in the Public Garden near the corner of Beacon Street and Arlington Street commemorates not a person, but a medical breakthrough: the use of ether as an anesthetic. The first public demonstration of ether anesthesia was conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1846 by Boston dentist William T.G. Morton and Doctor John Collins Warren. Morton administered the ether, and Warren then removed a tumor from an unconscious patient. Ether had enormous benefits, allowing doctors to work more closely and carefully, and giving patients a respite not only from pain, but also from the anxiety associated with surgery. Atop the monument, two figures sculpted by John Quincy Adams Ward enact a Biblical story about the relief of suffering. The Good Samaritan is shown caring for an injured stranger he met on the road.

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Description from Boston Arts Commission

George Robert White Memorial Fountain - "The Angel"

George Robert White Memorial Fountain in the northwest corner of the Public Garden. An allegorical winged female figure atop a granite base installed in an elliptical-shaped pebble and granite fountain. The female figure holds a basket with her proper right arm outstretched and casts bread upon the waters. Two bronze cornucopias flank the central figure.

George Robert White was one of the City's foremost philanthropists who left $5 million to the city of Boston in 1922 to finance “works of public beauty and utility” throughout the City. White’s sole request was to have $50,000 of the funds set aside for the creation of a memorial in his memory. Well-known sculptor, Daniel Chester French, was commissioned to create this memorial in the Public Garden, which was completed and dedicated in 1924.

Location: Boston Public Garden at the corner of Arlington and Beacon Streets.

George Washington

Statue of George Washington in the Public Garden viewed from Arlington Street.

Public Garden Fountain

Lost in the snow

From a different angle.


Another view of the ducklings without snow here.

Edgar Allan Poe in Boston

On October 5, 2014, "Poe Returning to Boston" was unveiled at Edgar Allan Poe Square (the corner of Boylston Street and Charles Street South in Boston). Artist Stefanie Rocknak designed the life-sized statue of the writer. Its funding and installation were overseen by the Edgar Allan Poe Foundation of Boston in honor of the writer's birth in this city on January 19, 1809.

Paul Revere

Skywatch Friday

Tadeusz Kosciuszko (1746–1817) was a Polish, Belarusian and Lithuanian national hero, and an honorary citizen of France who fought in the American Revolution under George Washington. In recognition of his dedicated and faithful service he was brevetted by the Continental Congress to the rank of Brigadier General in 1783, and became a naturalized citizen of the United States that same year.

This statue, erected in 1927 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the enlistment of Kosciuszko into the Continental Army, is the work of Theo Ruggles Kitson (1876-1932), one of the most prolific female bronze sculptors in America who also designed the world renowned statue of the Minuteman at the Lexington Battle Green. The sculpture portrays Kosciuszko holding the plans for the future West Point. The statue is located near the Boylston Street entrance of the Public Gardens.

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Arthur Fiedler

Statue of Arthur Fiedler on the Esplanade, longtime conductor of the Boston Pops (1930-1979). Fiedler established the Pops as a national icon. He moved the Pops beyond its origins in light-classical music into the world of pop culture, showcasing the popular artists of the day as well as the work of young American composers and arrangers. He organized the first free outdoor orchestral concerts on the Charles River Esplanade that led to Boston's now-famous Fourth of July concert. Here's another photo I posted in 2007.

Life Size

Abigail Adams and Phillis Wheatley



Lucy Stone

These statues are part of the Boston Women's Memorial on the mall on Commonwealth Ave. The Memorial celebrates three important contributors to Boston's rich history - Abigail Adams, Lucy Stone, and Phyllis Wheatley. Abigail Adams, served as confidant and advisor to her husband, President John Adams, and was a strong advocate of women’s rights. The poet Phillis Wheatley was the first published African-American. Abolitionist and suffragist Lucy Stone was the first woman to keep her own last name after marriage and one of the first American women to earn a college degree.

The sculptures are by artist Meredith Bergmann and represent her thinking about public art. Unlike conventional statues that are larger than life and set upon pedestals, these statues are more human-sized and invite viewers to interact with them.

William Lloyd Garrison

William Lloyd Garrison was a prominent Boston Abolitionist, social reformer and journalist of the 19th century. He is best known as the editor of the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator, and was one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society. He promoted "immediate emancipation" of slaves in the United States. Garrison was also a prominent voice for the women's suffrage movement.

Statue

Brewer Fountain. View from other side can be seen in an earlier photo, and another photo on Light Impressions here.

Make Way for Ducklings

A rare moment (on a rainy day) when these ducklings aren't overrun with children and their parents.

Rainy Day in the Park

Baby

At the Fenway entrance to the Museum of Fine Arts. The sculpture is by Spanish sculptor Antonio López García.

In the Garden

Skywatch Friday

Arthur Fiedler statue on the Esplanade by the Charles River.


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George Washington

A different view of the Geo. Washington statue in the Public Garden.