Hartford’s Spanish-American War veterans are honored with an allegorical monument in the city’s Bushnell Park.
The Spirit of Victory monument, near the intersection of Elm and Trinity streets, features a winged figure standing atop the bow of a ship with an eagle figurehead that we assume represents the United States.
Victory stands with a torch in her raised right arm, and her left hand holds a shield decorated with the United States flag.
The base of the monument is a large granite base with inscriptions on its front (west) face. The dedication, which is split between the north and south sides of the monument, reads, “To commemorate the valor and patriotism of the Hartford men/Who served their country in the war with Spain 1898.”
The back of the monument has a small plaque listing its 1927 dedication date. The bench is also decorated with two bronze plaques. On the north side, a muscular sailor is loading ammunition, and on the south side, an infantryman kneels with a rifle.
The Spirit of Victory was created by noted sculptor Evelyn Beatrice Longman who is perhaps best known for Electricity and the Spirit of Communication, the “golden boy” statue that served as a symbol of AT&T for many years. Longman also created decorative elements on the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, and her Connecticut works include World War monuments in Naugatuck and Windsor, and The Craftsman, also known as Industry (1931), outside the main entrance of A. I. Prince Technical High School.
Longman’s signature is inscribed atop the bow of the ship, near Victory’s feet.
