Stairs, seating area, clock, and waysides: granite; Fence: steel
Type:
Sculptures-Outdoor Sculpture
Sculptures
Owner/Location:
Owned by City of Lowell Lowell Historic Preservation Commission 50 Arcand Drive, John F. Kennedy Civic Center Lowell Massachusetts 01852
Administered by United States Department of the Interior National Park Service Washington Washington District of Columbia
Administered by Lowell National Historical Park 67 Kirk Street Lowell Massachusetts 01852
Located Lucy Larcom Park Merrimack & Anne streets Lowell Massachusetts
Date:
Dedicated June 29, 1996
Notes:
Save Outdoor Sculpture, Massachusetts survey, 1997.
Image on file.
(On stairs:) TRY AGAIN!/INDUSTRY, NOT SERVITUDE/AS IS WOMAN, SO IS THE RACE (On seating area:) TRUTH LOSES NOTHING BY INVESTIGATION (On clock:) PETITION TO MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE/WE THE UNDERSIGNED PEACEABLE, INDUSTRIOUS AND HARDWORKING MEN AND WOMEN OF LOWELL, IN VIEWOF OUR CONDITION -THE EVILS ALREADY COME UPON US, BY TOILING FROM 13 TO 14 HOURS PER DAY, CONFINED IN UNHEALTHY APARTMENTS, EXPOSED TO THE POISONOUS CONTAGION OF AIR, VEGETABLE, ANIMAL AND MINERAL PROPERTIES, DEBARRED/FROM PROPER/PHYSICAL EXERCISE,/MENTAL DISCIPLINE/AND MASTICATION/CRUELLY LIMITED,/AND THEREBY/HASTENING US ON/THROUGH PAIN,/DISEASE AND/PRIVATION,/DOWN TO A/PREMATURE GRAVE/PRAY/THE LEGISLATURE/TO INSTITUTE/A TEN HOUR/WORKING DAY/IN ALL/OF THE FACTORIES/OF THE STATE./SIGNED/JOHN QUINCY ADAMS THAYER/SARA G. BAGLEY/JAMES CARLE/AND 2,000 OTHER/MOSTLY WOMEN/VOICE OF INDUSTRY/JANUARY 15, 1845
(On fence:) SO UP AND DOWN BEFORE HER LOOM/SHE PACES ON, AND TO AND FRO,/TILL SUNSET FILLS THE DUSTY ROOM,/AND MAKES THE WATER REDLY GLOW,/AS IF THE MERRIMACK'S CALM FLOOD/WERE CHANGED INTO A STREAM OF BLOOD./TOO SOON FULFILLED, AND ALL TOO TRUE/THE WORDS SHE MURMURED AS SHE WROUGHT:/BUT, WEARY WEAVER, NOT TO YOU/ALONE WAS WAR'S STERN MESSAGE BROUGHT:/"WOMAN!" IT KNELLED FROM HEART TO HEART,/"THY SISTER'S KEEPER KNOW THOU ART!"/LUCY LARCOM (On waysides:) WE SAY "STICK TO YOUR TEXT,"/AND PURSUE A SEADY COURSE,/WITH A DETERMINED SPIRIT,/AND YOU WILL COME OFF VICTORIOUS./VOICE OF INDUSTRY/VOICE OF INDUSTRY, NOVEMBER 21, 1845 unsigned
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:
A granite and steel installation that focuses on the words and ideas of the Lowell Female Labor Reform Association (LFLRA), the country's first female labor organization. The installation consists of several inscribed granite pieces --a clock set at 8:30; a seating area with three semicircular benches; a set of three steps; wayside curbs; and a circular steel fence with an inscription fashioned with cut-out letters.
