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 Title:
Stephen A. Douglas Memorial
Artist:
Leonard Wells Volk
Commissioned
by: Unknown
Location:
800 E. 35th Street, the Douglas Tomb State Memorial Park
Medium:
Marble Column, Bronze Statue
Commentary:
Standing atop a 46 foot marble column, the bronze statue of Steven
A. Douglas looks over a huge area of land which he once owned
near (now in) Chicago. It is the tallest memorial in the city,
so tall, in fact that you can barely make out the features of
the detail sculpture at the top.
Stephen Douglas was a wealthy Chicago landowner who became Illinois'
most famous senator. Known as the "little giant", he
had many achievements to his name and served the state well. He
is best known, however, for opposing Abraham Lincoln during the
Lincoln-Douglas debates. In those debates, Douglas took the position
that slavery should be allowed in new states being formed, while
Lincoln was against it. Lincoln expressed his position so well
that he shortly became a leader in the new Republican party, and
then president.
Though Douglas opposed Lincoln's election, he did all he could
to support him once he was in office.
It is interesting that this magnificent tribute to a supporter
of slavery is just blocks away from the moving "Victory",
which memorializes African Americans who fought in World War I.
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