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November 17, 2008

Prison Ship Martyrs Monument Rededicated

martyr-monument.jpg
A tipster sent in this photo of the re-dedication of the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument in Fort Greene Park. Some 200 folks gathered in the rain yesterday to salute the Stanford White-designed 148-foot Doric column (which had been dedicated exactly 100 years earlier), representing the 12,000 or so Revolutionary War combatants who were captured by the British and died on prison ships in Wallabout Bay (the Park Slope writer Michael Drinkard wrote a novel about it). The torch atop the column was "re-lit" (with electric lights) after being darkened since 1921, reports Brooklyn Heights Blog, and it took ten years of fundraising and organizing by the Fort Green Park Conservancy to make it happen. Gowanus Lounge also has coverage, with a couple good photos. Anybody out there go?
Memorial to Revolutionary War Patriots Shines Anew in Brooklyn [NY Daily News]
Prison Ship Martyrs Monument Rededicated at Fort Greene Park [WNYC]
An “Eternal Flame” Relit Over Brooklyn [Brooklyn Heights Blog]
Prison Ship Martyrs Centennial: Cold & Somber [Gowanus Lounge]
Photo by JAtkins.




Posted by lisa at 10:33 AM | Comments (15)
Categories: Fort Greene

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Comments

This is just beautiful.
I am so happy that there are people who can dedicate themselves to this sort of community project. So many are self-absorbed in their career/baby cocoons. It is good to know that there are community-minded citizens in Brooklyn who are together enough to take care of all their own personal shit and still have time to volunteer for causes like this. I do my share and I know how demanding it is, but it truly makes you a better person.
Kudos to them!

Posted by: sam at November 17, 2008 10:44 AM

I was there for a number of events on Saturday and Sunday, but I was brought to tears when they finally lit the monumnet Saturday at approx 5:20pm.

I am grateful for the people who worked so diligently to make this happen. I see this monument from my bedroom, I feel like I live on the mall in Washington D.C.

Posted by: GreeneTuck at November 17, 2008 11:35 AM

I agree, it is truly lovely. Now that the fence is down, I just marvel at the monument and its siting.

Posted by: Schultz at November 17, 2008 12:13 PM

I too was there, see it from most rooms in my apartment, and am generally pleased to see it back open to the public and illuminated. I must say though, it was misleading for them to say that the eternal flame would be re-lit! How anti-climatic when they turned on the spotlights instead.

Posted by: Guvna at November 17, 2008 12:40 PM

I was wondering about this. So, the "relighting" of the "memorial urn" just means they're floodlighting the whole monument? Is that really it?

Posted by: zinka at November 17, 2008 1:58 PM

Zinka, yep thats it. There was once some talk about using some sort of fiber optic technology in relighting the flame, but I guess it didnt materialize.

Posted by: Guvna at November 17, 2008 2:42 PM

The torch of Lady liberty is floodlit. What would you prefer? Whale oil?

Posted by: sam at November 17, 2008 2:55 PM

I happened to be in the park with a friend one night quite a few months ago when they were testing the fiber optic 'eternal flame.' They had it running, and it actually looked pretty cool. We walked up to monument and got to chat with some of the workers there. Not sure what happened to the flame over the weekend. Technical glitch?

Posted by: Fort Greene Place at November 17, 2008 2:55 PM

Edwin Burrows, a history professor at Brooklyn College and Pulitzer Prize-winning co-author of Gotham (that gigantic tome about the history of NYC until 1898) is finishing up a book on Revolutionary War prisoners. Should be out soon.

Posted by: sixyearsandcounting at November 17, 2008 5:07 PM

I was also hoping for some flame-action. Oh well. I went this afternoon to check out the monument and the plaza area that has been fenced off for so long. It looks beautiful and I am so glad that this part of the park has re opened!

Posted by: greenebee at November 17, 2008 5:08 PM

Here is an excerp from the restoration plans: "The bronze flame on top of the urn will be illuminated by discreet fiber optic fixtures to provide a soft lighting effect, similar to the 1905 lighting design." So I guess they did what they planned to do. It is unfortunate that they deem that to be relighting an eternal flame. I guess it would've been less dramatic for them to have announced that they would be providing a soft lighting effect to the urn on the top of the column. LOL

Posted by: Guvna at November 17, 2008 5:37 PM

Dont mind me. As I stated above, I am genuinely happy to have it restored and illuminated. I was just a victim of marketing by the conservancy. I am over it now :o)

Posted by: Guvna at November 17, 2008 5:40 PM

Guvna, what they're doing is *not* a fiber-optic lighting. The whole outside of the monument is lit up, not just the flame. It's floodlights.

Posted by: zinka at November 17, 2008 6:10 PM

Zinka, I think its a combination: Floodlights on the column, and fiber optic lighting focused on the bronze flame seated on the top of the urn. I took a good look at it last night with binoculars from my window.

Posted by: Guvna at November 18, 2008 10:32 AM

Not-really-related, but nifty factoids anyway:

1.) This is the 3rd "incarnation" of the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument - the first one was set up by the Tammany Society in 1844 near Brooklyn Navy Yard waterfront, the 2nd one was a crypt in FGP itself (don't know if it still exists... any locals up for a historical hunt?).

2.) According to a few sources (Wikipedia doesn't count!), the Prison Ship Martyrs' Monument is THE TALLEST free-standing Doric column in the world. Granted, it's a pretty narrow niche, but still - if that's the case, hey, count it as another "world record" in Brooklyn's long list thereof. :D

3.) There seems to be some uncertainty about the actual height - 145 vs 148 feet. Depends on whether you count the decorations on top?, I guess. Or historians repeating themselves? Hm... anyone care to climb the tower with a measuring tape? :D

Posted by: tjonnyc at November 18, 2008 6:56 PM

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