http://www.sorabji.com/pictures/cemeteries/Calvary_Veterans_Memorial/ Soldiers Monument was built in 1866, making it among the very earliest monuments commemorating the Civil War. It is the burial site for 21 un-named Roman Catholic Civil War Union soldiers. According to Donald Martin Reynolds (Monuments and Masterpieces, Histories and Views of Public Sculpture in New York City), the four corners of this park were once decorated with bronze eagles. Additionally four cannons once marked the corners of the monument itself, but nothing of those cannons remains. As some of the pictures on this page show it is further obvious that numerous elements once present on the obelisk are missing. The Civil War Memorial at Calvary bears obvious similarities to the Civil War Soldiers Monument at Green-Wood Cemetery's Battle Hill. That monument (restored in 2002) was built by the same Draddy family that built this monument.

In 2007 the NYC Parks Department began a restoration of the Calvary Veterans Memorial, placing a fresh coat of paint on one of the four life-size statues. Since then the restoration has stopped and, as illustrated in the later photos of this series, the work done on that one statue is already wearing away.

The monument is in need of repairs and Parks seeks sponsors to preserve this historic site.]]> en-us sorabji.com Gallery 2 RSS Module, version 1.1.7 Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:04:33 -0500 360 http://www.sorabji.com/pictures/d/103169-6/Calvary_Veterans_Memorial.jpg http://www.sorabji.com/pictures/cemeteries/Calvary_Veterans_Memorial/ http://www.sorabji.com/pictures/cemeteries/Calvary_Veterans_Memorial/IMG_8525.JPG.html http://www.sorabji.com/pictures/cemeteries/Calvary_Veterans_Memorial/IMG_8525.JPG.html ]]> mark thomas photo Mon, 30 Mar 2009 11:49:26 -0400 http://www.sorabji.com/pictures/cemeteries/Calvary_Veterans_Memorial/IMG_3870_cropped.jpg.html http://www.sorabji.com/pictures/cemeteries/Calvary_Veterans_Memorial/IMG_3870_cropped.jpg.html
On June 29, 2007, I accompanied a film production crew on a trip around the Calvary Cemetery grounds. Their project ultimately had little to do with Calvary Cemetery and nothing at all to do with the Civil War Memorial, but I showed them this monument on my sight-seeing tour of the grounds. In reviewing some photos from that day I happened to notice this shot capturing the axe-bearer's coattails with a noticeable yellow stain. This yellow stain is not visible in the previous picture taken in April of 2006. This reflects the NYC Parks Department's preliminary work on the statue in which they took samples of the figure from a "discrete location" to determine with confidence the metal with which the figure is made. These tests revealed that the statues are made of bronze. I did not realize at the time that I had captured a picture of the monument's restoration in progress, nor was I even aware at the time that any restoration was under way.]]> mark thomas photo Thu, 19 Mar 2009 16:38:49 -0400 http://www.sorabji.com/pictures/cemeteries/Calvary_Veterans_Memorial/IMG_3141.JPG.html http://www.sorabji.com/pictures/cemeteries/Calvary_Veterans_Memorial/IMG_3141.JPG.html
I am not certain of this but I believe that this mausoleum, located near the mighty Johnston Mausoleum at Calvary, belongs to Maurice J. Power, a contributor to the creation of the Calvary Civil War Memorial.]]> mark thomas photo Wed, 18 Mar 2009 11:57:26 -0400 http://www.sorabji.com/pictures/cemeteries/Calvary_Veterans_Memorial/IMG_8505.JPG.html http://www.sorabji.com/pictures/cemeteries/Calvary_Veterans_Memorial/IMG_8505.JPG.html
Calvary's groundskeepers frequently decorate the Civil War Memorial with flags and candles. This was the first time I remembered seeing that someone had stashed an American flag into the hand of one of the statues.]]> mark thomas photo Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:12:36 -0400 http://www.sorabji.com/pictures/cemeteries/Calvary_Veterans_Memorial/IMG_8503.JPG.html http://www.sorabji.com/pictures/cemeteries/Calvary_Veterans_Memorial/IMG_8503.JPG.html
I was happy to see that the restoration project had begun, though in a way I was sad. I had become so accustomed to seeing these statues in their freakish aqua color that it was strange seeing this one all beautified.]]> mark thomas photo Wed, 18 Mar 2009 11:40:06 -0400 http://www.sorabji.com/pictures/cemeteries/Calvary_Veterans_Memorial/IMG_8495.JPG.html http://www.sorabji.com/pictures/cemeteries/Calvary_Veterans_Memorial/IMG_8495.JPG.html
Being familiar with the Draddy Civil War Memorial at Green-Wood Cemetery I expected that these statues, once restored, would resemble the ones at Green-Wood. Those statues are painted jet black with a very heavy and durable coat of paint. As a mere observer I felt that this coat of paint seemed relatively thin.]]> mark thomas photo Wed, 18 Mar 2009 11:39:27 -0400 http://www.sorabji.com/pictures/cemeteries/Calvary_Veterans_Memorial/IMG_8497.JPG.html http://www.sorabji.com/pictures/cemeteries/Calvary_Veterans_Memorial/IMG_8497.JPG.html ]]> mark thomas photo Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:05:11 -0400 http://www.sorabji.com/pictures/cemeteries/Calvary_Veterans_Memorial/IMG_8490.JPG.html http://www.sorabji.com/pictures/cemeteries/Calvary_Veterans_Memorial/IMG_8490.JPG.html
This and some of the following pictures are from September, 2007, showing how the Axman statue looked soon after its restoration.]]> mark thomas photo Thu, 19 Mar 2009 17:36:15 -0400 http://www.sorabji.com/pictures/cemeteries/Calvary_Veterans_Memorial/IMG_8554_cropped.jpg.html http://www.sorabji.com/pictures/cemeteries/Calvary_Veterans_Memorial/IMG_8554_cropped.jpg.html
I share this picture of a Martin Ansboro marker from Section 7 of Old Calvary to show the "DRADDY BROS." name at the bottom right corner. The Draddy Brothers were responsible for numerous tombstones and funerary art around Calvary Cemetery -- the same cemetery in which they are buried.]]> mark thomas photo Mon, 16 Mar 2009 13:59:04 -0400 http://www.sorabji.com/pictures/cemeteries/Calvary_Veterans_Memorial/DSCN9065.JPG.html http://www.sorabji.com/pictures/cemeteries/Calvary_Veterans_Memorial/DSCN9065.JPG.html ]]> mark thomas photo Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:00:25 -0400