John Peter Altgeld Monument

John Peter Altgeld Monument, 1915

Gutzon Borglum

Lincoln Park

South of West Diversey Parkway and east of North Cannon Drive

            John Peter Altgeld (1847-1902) was a German immigrant who grew up in Ohio and was the first foreign-born man to be elected as Illinois governor. During his career as a lawyer, judge and politician, Altgeld maintained his dedication to democratic principles and played a role in Progressive social reforms involving workplace safety and child labor laws. He served as governor from 1893-1897 but his political career was, effectively, destroyed by his decision, in 1893, to grant absolute pardon to three imprisoned defendants from the Haymarket Affair of 1886. He cited the lack of evidence and the unfairness of the trail but was vilified in many quarters of the city and was not re-elected.

            A decade would pass before public sentiment in Chicago shifted toward Altgeld, following re-assessments of his life and contributions, as well as the popularity of a 1913 Vachel Lindsay poem, “The Eagle That Is Forgotten,” dedicated to Altgeld. The Illinois legislature appointed a committee in 1913 and appropriated $25,000 for a monument dedicated to the former governor. All of the 40 submissions to the design competition were rejected and the project was awarded to Gutzon Borglum, a Danish-American sculptor who was influenced by the work of Auguste Rodin during his studies in Paris. Borglum designed a group composition, with Altgeld standing above a crouching family, meant to represent “labor.” Altgeld’s outstretched hands may be read as an appeal for mercy and a gently protective gesture, but some complained that he was not “monumental” enough and that it insulted labor by placing the figures in a servile position. 

          The bronze statue was ready for unveiling on Labor Day of 1915 and Mayor William “Big Bill” Thompson settled any controversy by disbanding the committee and stating that “the statue looks good to me and the committee doesn’t.” 

General Philip Henry Sheridan

General Philip Henry Sheridan, 1923

Gutzon Borglum

Lincoln Park

Near Sheridan Road at Belmont Avenue and North Lake Shore Drive

            One of the most dynamic and visual appealing equestrian statues in the city, this bronze portrays the Civil War hero “Little Phil” Sheridan (1831-1888), commander of the Army of the Shenandoah famous for rallying his fleeing troops after a surprise attack by Confederates in Cedar Creek, Virginia on October 19, 1864. Described as the Civil War’s most successful cavalry leader, he went on to become commander of Army headquarters in Chicago and was instrumental in maintaining law and order during the Great Fire of 1871.

            Paid for by the citizens of Chicago, the statue was unveiled in dramatic fashion on July 16, 1924, when Sheridan’s daughter Mary pulled away the flag to reveal the portrait of her father. 

          The artist, Gutzon Borglum (1871-1941) was born in Idaho to Danish parents. This was not his first equestrian portrait of Sheridan, the other located in Washington, D.C., and both demonstrate his skill in creating vigorous portraits in terms of both rider and animal. Borglum is best known, however, for four portraits that are among the most static one might imagine, the heads of former Presidents (Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt) carved into Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. A member of the Ku Klux Klan  and a fan of Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini, Borglum described the Rushmore project as a "National Shrine to Democracy" but emerged from a worldview colored by white supremacy and notions of "manifest destiny." Borglum was working on the portraits when he died and his son, Lincoln, completed the project. 

Lucius Fisher Monument

Lucius Fisher Monument, 1916

Richard Bock

Graceland Cemetery

North central section on western edge of lake

4001 North Clark Street

            Lucius Fisher (1843-1916), whose father was the founder of Beloit College in Wisconsin, fought for the Union in the Civil War and subsequently settled in Chicago. His business interests included Union Bag & Paper Company and Exhaust Ventilator Company and he was the developer responsible for the Fisher Building at Van Buren and Dearborn. The architect who worked on an addition to that structure, Peter J. Weber, also designed this columbarium (a vault for cremated remains).

            This monument is notable because of the striking bronze relief figure created by Richard Bock (1865-1949), a sculptor who collaborated frequently with Frank Lloyd Wright, including the crouching figures at Wright’s Home and Studio in Oak Park. The hooded female figure holding an urn is reminiscent of the English Arts and Crafts movement and the shadows created by the hood and sleeves require passers-by to step in close to view the details.

George Pullman Monument

George Pullman Monument, 1897

Solon Beman

Graceland Cemetery

South of the lake and near the Schoenhofen monument

4001 North Clark Street

            This monument to the inventor of the Pullman sleeping car features a single fluted Corinthian column and a raised exedra (a semi-circular area with seats intended for rest, contemplation or discussions). Designed by Solon Beman, the stately above-ground features belie the unusual aspects of this burial site.

            Pullman transformed railroad travel with his luxury and sleeping cars, one of which was used to transport Abraham Lincoln back to Illinois following his assassination. With his fortune Pullman hired Solon Beman to design the “utopian” town of Pullman south of Chicago. The town was intended to house his workers in a safe and healthy environment. It was also tightly controlled (no alcohol) and was intended to make a profit for investors, with rent, water and gas rates controlled by Pullman. When profits in his business fell in 1893, Pullman slashed wages by more than 25% but did not adjust other rates. Many families were left with a few cents to feed their families after rent and utilities were deducted from their paychecks. On May 12, 1894, with the help of Eugene Victor Debs of the American Railway Union, the workers went on strike. Rather than negotiate, Pullman closed his business, locked up his home and left town.

            Although the strike was eventually broken when President Cleveland sent in federal troops at the request of U.S. Attorney Richard Olney on the grounds that the strike was holding up mail delivery, most of the resentment remained focused upon Pullman. When he died in October of 1897, his family feared that his corpse would be desecrated. Thus, his lead-lined casket was covered in tarpaper and asphalt, sunk into a room-sized concrete block that was overlaid with railroad ties and additional concrete. 

A Man of Sorrows: Charles L. Hutchinson Monument

A Man of Sorrows: Charles L. Hutchinson Monument, 1936

Alfeo Faggi

Graceland Cemetery

East central section across from The Crusader

4001 North Clark Street

            Although frequently misunderstood to be the gravesite of Charles L. Hutchinson (1854-1924), who was President of the Corn Exchange Bank and Board of Trade and, later, a founder of the Art Institute of Chicago, this monument marks the grave of a man with the same name but not related. According to John K. Notz, Jr., the more famous Hutchinson is interred in Graceland, although not in the "high rent district," and the family plot is noted only with two modest headstones specifying other members of his family.  
          The artist who created this monument, Alfeo Faggi (1885-1966) was known for his stylized forms and anti-Classical approach to the figure; this work harkens back to the low-relief tympanum sculptures associated with the Romanesque era. The central figure of Christ is shown surrounded by four figures and the Cross, visible in the right corner. Faggi also contributed works in this style to the St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Hyde Park.