Central Park In Bronze

Location: 67th Street, mid-Park

Artist/Designer: James Wilson Alexander MacDonald

Materials: Bronze, Westerly granite

Installation: 1877

Funding: Public subscription

 

Halleck is the only American memorialized on Literary Walk, as the southern end of Central Park’s Mall is known, and was the first American whose likeness was placed in the Park. Halleck wrote satirical literary and social criticism, as well as poetry.

 

At the statue’s unveiling, President Rutherford B. Hayes was joined by an unruly crowd of about 10,000 spectators. Central Park co-designer Frederick Law Olmsted was outraged by the crowd’s behavior, which resulted in damage to the lawn along the Mall. This incident led to erection of a fence to protect the turf.

 

While Halleck was popular in his day, his fame receded. Few visitors today have any idea who he was.