Gail Sherman Corbett's Hamilton White Monument, Syracuse

One of the finest public monuments in Syracuse is the Hamilton White Memorial installed in Fayette Park (now Fayette Firefighters Park) more than a century ago.  Here is a post about the monument, its talented sculptor Gail Sherman, and the subject of the commemoration, firefighter Hamilton White.

Cross posted from My Central New York , Saturday, July 6, 2013

Gail Sherman Corbett's Hamilton White Monument at Fayette Park

Syracuse, NY. Fayette (or Firefighter's) Park. Hamilton White Monument, Gail Sherman Corbett, sculptor. Postcard.

Syracuse, NY. Fayette (or Firefighter's) Park. Hamilton White Monument, Gail Sherman Corbett, sculptor.. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber (2008)

Gail Sherman Corbett's Hamilton White Monument at Fayette Park
by Samuel D. Gruber

When I started this blog, one of my intentions was to report on the most important, interesting and beautiful (yes, I still use that term occasionally) public monuments in Central New York. A few years ago (!) I wrote about the restoration of the Kirkpatrick Monument at Washington Square, and mentioned the earlier monument to Hamilton Salisbury White created by the same artistic team - Gail Sherman and Harvey Wiley Corbett, (who married in 1905) and restored by the same women, Sharon BuMann. The monument is situated on the west side of Fayette Park (now Fayette Firefighters Memorial Park) and provides a well-designed architectural and yet intimate introduction to the park from Downtown.

Syracuse, NY. Fayette (or Firefighter's) Park. Hamilton White Monument, dlt. Gail Sherman Corbett, sculptor.. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber (2008).

Because my most recent post was about a turn-of-the-20^th century Engine House Number 10, I'd like to now write more about the Hamilton White monument since it received a lot of attention when it was made, and it celebrates one of Syracuse's most colorful characters, and the founder and patron saint of our Fire Department. 

"The monument was erected by popular subscription as an evidence of respect to the memory of Hamilton Salisbury White, a wealthy and prominent citizen of Syracuse who took a keen interest in the improvement of the fire department, devoting much time and money to the discovery and utilization of the latest and best methods of fighting fire, and who met his death a little over six years ago while personally helping to extinguish a serious fire that threatened the business part of the city.” [from full article in The Craftsman, quoted at length below]

Read the entire blog post here.