Administered by City of Atlanta Bureau of Cultural Affairs 675 Ponce de Leon Avenue, N.E Atlanta Georgia 30308
Located Norfolk Southern 1200 Peachtree Street NE Plaza at front entrance Atlanta Georgia 30309
Date:
Commissioned 1907. Cast 1909. Dedicated May 21, 1910. Relocated 1970. Rededicated July 3, 1970. Relocated ca. 1996. Relocated May 2009
Notes:
Save Outdoor Sculpture, Georgia, Atlanta survey, 1994.
Index of American Sculpture, University of Delaware, 1985.
National Park Service, American Monuments and Outdoor Sculpture Database, GA5003, 1989.
Monumental News, June 1908, pg. 440.
Inventory staff, 2000.
SOS Conservation Treatment Award, 2001.
Veloz, Nick, 2010.
Image on file.
(Stamped on lower edge of sculpture, right side:) Daniel C. French (On lower left edge of sculpture:) JNO Williams Inc./Bronze Foundry NY 1909 (On front of base:) SAMUEL SPENCER/1847-1909 (On back of base: ) A GEORGIAN/A CONFEDERATE SOLIDER/AND/THE FIRST PRESIDENT/OF THE/SOUTHERN RAILWAY COMPANY/ERECTED BY THE EMPLOYEES/OF THAT COMPANY (Plaque on brick base:) SAMUEL SPENCER/1847-1906/A GEORGIAN/A CONFEDERATE SOLDIER/FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE SOUTHERN RAILWAY COMPANY/ERECTED BY THE EMPLOYEES OF THAT COMPANY/REDEDICATED JULY 3, 1970 signed Founder's mark appears.
The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.
Summary:
Portrait of Samuel Spencer, founding president of Southern Railway Company, now Norfolk Southern. He is seated in a neo-classical chair, gazing out over the City of Atlanta, and flanked by two bronze light poles carried on the backs of turtles. He has a mustache and small goatee, and wears a suit, tie, and vest. A coat is draped on the arm of the chair on his proper right side.
