06/26/2026
"Good constitutions are formed upon a comparison of the liberty of the individual with the strength of government: If the tone of either be too high, the other will be weakened too much. It is the happiest possible mode of conciliating these objects, to institute one branch peculiarly endowed with sensibility, another with knowledge and firmness. Through the opposition and mutual control of these bodies, the government will reach, in its regular operations, the perfect balance between liberty and power."
Alexander Hamilton, speech to the New York Ratifying Convention, June 25, 1788
Image: One of the most interesting stories surrounds this creation and installation of the statue of Alexander Hamilton, the great patriot who served as the first Secretary of the Treasury. Located east of the intersection of Wrightwood Avenue and Lincoln Park West, the 13 foot high bronze statue is layered in gold leaf and stands proudly atop a red granite base. The benefactress was Kate Sturges Buckingham, who lived most of her adult life at 2036 S. Prairie Avenue, just a few blocks south of the Glessner house. Buckingham is well-known for the magnificent gift she gave to the city in memory of her brother Clarence – Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park – but few are aware of the gift of the Hamilton statue or her other gifts to the city.
When Kate Buckingham died in December 1937, she left the enormous sum of $1 million for the Hamilton statue, which she envisioned for Grant Park, near the fountain memorializing her brother. The piece was completed in 1941 by English-born sculptor John Angel but was placed in storage due to World War II. Further complications in identifying an appropriate site resulted in the statue not being unveiled until July 1952, and not in Grant Park at all, but Lincoln Park. The cost of the statue was a mere $12,000, just over 1% of the amount she gave. However the original Lincoln Park setting cost over $500,000 to construct. The dramatic memorial designed by Marx, Flint & Schonne consisted of a three-level plaza composed of Indiana limestone and black granite, with a red granite base supporting the statue. Behind Hamilton, a black granite pylon soared nearly 78 feet into the air. In 1993, the memorial was disassembled and today only the red granite base remains beneath the statue.
Image source and information, courtesy of The Story of a House https://glessnerhouse.blogspot.com/2011/04/hamilton-statue-in-lincoln-park-has.html
