The William Lanson Statue

-
By Andreina Barajas Novoa


Often, we might lose a city’s most prominent figures to time. Such was the case for the city of New Haven’s prominent engineer, activist, and “Black governor,” William Lanson. In order to recognize Lanson and his extensive contributions to New Haven, the Amistad Committee, a Connecticut-based non-profit that educates the public about African American history, and the New Haven City Plan Department coordinated the construction of a statue to Lanson, writes reporter Simisola Fagbemi in the Yale Daily News. Lanson’s contributions to the city of New Haven often go unnoticed. According to the Connecticut History site, “in 1810, Lanson was the only contractor able to complete the complicated 1,350-foot extension to the town’s Long Wharf.” From working on the Farmington Canal and other building contracts, Lanson was able to purchase more property, and such status gave him the right to vote, writes Katherine J. Harris in the book African American Connecticut Explored. However, only after a ten-year long effort led by the Amistad Committee did Lanson get proper recognition for his contributions to New Haven by having a statue built in his honor.

The Amistad Committee had envisioned such a project since 2010, and it was not until they received a grant to expand the Connecticut Freedom Trail, which is a group of historic sites that offer a glimpse into the African American experience in the state, were they able to start to make their vision a reality, writes Fagbemi. Following the grant, the Amistad Committee persuaded former Mayor Toni Harp to make the William Lanson statue a city project, after which the plans started to come together. The call to artists was released on November 18, 2019 according to a New Haven City document, and nearly a year later the statue was installed, and a ceremony was held on September 26, 2020. In the introduction of the city document for a call to artists, it mentions how the creation of the William Lanson statue is only a fraction of the bigger picture, which is to create a William Lanson Memorial Plaza along the Farmington Canal Trail. The overall budget of the project was $80,000 and the timeline for it was to have the artist begin the designing stage of the statue in the Winter of 2020 and have it then fabricated and installed in the Spring/ Summer of 2020, as depicted in the city document.

Of course, after a nationwide search, the City of New Haven chose the artist Dana King to create the William Lanson statue. King is an Oakland-based sculptor who, even in the midst of COVID-19, took two planes to get to New Haven to supervise the installation writes Lucy Gellman of the Arts Council Greater New Haven. Not only did the installation and ceremony take place during a pandemic, but it also took place during months of civil unrest and protests led by the Black Lives Matter movement. So, as King stood watching over William Lanson to ensure a safe installation, so did conservator Francis Miller who helped remove the statue of Christopher Columbus from Wooster Square earlier this year, wrote Gellman. Not only was the statue considered by many to be a symbol of colonialism and racism removed, but what followed was the installation of a prominent black figure. The two seemed inextricably intertwined.

Such progress is worthy of rejoice, and student activist Antonia Wright would agree. Wright spoke during the William Lanson unveiling ceremony, and she felt that the Lanson statue makes her feel represented and motivated to research more about Black history as mentioned in the New Haven Independent by writer Maya McFadden. In addition, artist Dana King talks about her reasoning behind choosing bronze for the William Lanson statue: “creating Black bodies in bronze is my public protest… This is the only kind of work I create, because our bodies are always on display, and our bodies are harmed for being Black…so when I create Black bodies in bronze, you can’t hurt us anymore,” King relates in the Yale Daily News. King’s words resonate with thousands of Black Americans who are unfortunately harmed and sometimes killed by police brutality; however, the bronze statue will remain impervious to such harm.

More than just Lanson's bronzed figure, King incorporated other symbolism in the statue as well. Lanson was respectfully placed according to King’s vision: Lanson is positioned to eye the Farmington Canal Greenway rather than the street, writes McFadden in the New Haven Independent. This is because of Lanson’s contribution to the Farmington Canal, which makes it seem as if he is forever reflecting on his creation. So, we know that bronze lasts forever, and that the placement of the statue was to make it seem as if Lanson is forever reflecting on his creation, but what lasting impact does the statue leave on its residents? Well, for young Black students especially, it gives them a role model, someone to look up to, and Lanson’s presence helps inform the community on the often-overlooked contribution of Black leaders in history. So with Lanson’s bronze body may he live forever to teach New Haven a bit about its rich African American history.



Figure 1: Little girl stands alongside the William Lanson statue during the unveiling ceremony that took place on September 26, 2020. Courtesy of the New Haven Independent.



Figure 2: View of the William Lanson statue as he holds a powerful stance, while clenching his fist in support of Black power. Taken nearly two months after the ceremony on November 16, 2020. Courtesy of the author.



Bibliography 


“Call to Artists: William Lanson Memorial Monument.” November 18, 2019. The New Haven

        City Plan Department, the Amistad Committee, Inc. Accessed October 20, 2020.

        https://www.newhavenct.gov/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?t=41032.59&BlobID=35749.



Fagbemi, Simisola. “City Unveils Statue of William Lanson Black Engineer and Activist.” Yale

        Daily News Blog. Yale Daily News, September 28, 2020. Accessed October 20, 2020.

        https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2020/09/28/city-unveils-statue-of-william-lanson-black-

        engineer-and-activist/.



Gellman, Lucy. “Lanson Statue Builds A Bridge From Past To Present.” vast.png. Arts Council

        Greater New Haven, September 28, 2020. https://www.newhavenarts.org/arts-

        paper/articles/william-lanson-comes-home.



Harris, Katherine J., Close, Stacey K., and Mitchell Wm. Frank. African American Connecticut

        Explored. Edited by Elizabeth J. Norman. Wesleyan University Press, 2013 Connecticut

        Explored Inc.



Hinks, Peter P. “The Successes and Struggles of New Haven Entrepreneur William Lanson.”

        Connecticut History | a CTHumanities Project, February 6, 2020.                                                               https://connecticuthistory.org/successes-and-struggles-of-new-haven-entrepreneur-

         william-lanson/.



McFadden, Maya. “‘Mr. Lanson Is Back Home.’” New Haven Independent. New Haven Independent,             September 28, 2020. https://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/william_

         lanson_statue_unveiling/.












Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Donald Grant Mitchell's Edgewood Estate

-
Image
By Sam Jensen In the year of 1837, at the young age of fifteen, Donald Grant Mitchell’s romance with New Haven began with his arrival at Yale College. Mitchell was, from the beginning, enthralled by the architectural beauty of the city, and the nature which surrounded and complemented it as a whole. In Waldo Dunn’s biography of Mitchell, the scene of his arrival to New Haven is depicted in detail. Dunn writes, “We of the present need, perhaps, to be reminded of the New Haven and the Yale of 1837… New Haven was then an isolated town of some 13,000 inhabitants—a kind of backwoods Athens. Not until two years later was railway connection with the outside world established… Even prior to 1837, however, the beauty-loving zeal of James Hillhouse had been instrumental in transforming New Haven into the ‘City of Elms,’ ” (Dunn, 43). Having arrived before heavy industrialization, Mitchell’s Yale days were set in a more quiet and quaint City of Elms than it had become by the end of his life.
Read more

Brown & Von Beren, Architects

-
By: Eric Berlepsch Brown and Von Beren Architects was a highly accomplished duo of architects who designed many important buildings during both the later nineteenth century and the early parts of the twentieth century in. The duo was based out of New Haven, Connecticut, and did architectural work all over the city, as well as across the state. The two men, David R. Brown and Ferdinand Von Beren, were both well known in New Haven during their times and made a large contribution to the building of Westville, as well as other areas in New Haven and in Connecticut. David Brown was the senior member of the duo, and he was born on May 30, 1831 in the city of New Haven. He attended public schools while growing up, and consistently was enhancing his knowledge of architecture, his future profession. He was taught architecture by another well known and highly accomplished New Haven architect named Henry Austin. After learning from Austin, he was named his partner, an honor Brown would late
Read more

Spanish-American War Monument

-
Image
By  Hannah Marcano On the afternoon of October 25, 1925, several thousand people assembled for the commemoration of the newly-erected Spanish-American War Monument in New Haven’s Edgewood Park.  National, state, and municipal authorities led the commemoration and paid tribute to the men who gave their lives in the conflict, reported the New Haven Evening Register .  There was to be a parade for the monument which would include “every military organization in the city,” but it was cancelled due to the rainy weather that day. The countless citizens that arrived, undeterred, were described to be “crowded into the armory in Meadow Street,” rather than at the monument itself. The monument was made by Michel Martino, a local sculptor who worked on monuments and Works Progress Administration projects around the city, writes historian Laura Macaluso. The sculpture was cast by American Art Foundry located in New York. The statue depicts a heroic image of a soldier in combat, rifle in hand. Two
Read more