Statue of Historical Figure: William Lloyd Garrison - Boston, MA

William Lloyd Garrison

by

Olin Levi Warner

N 42° 21.100 W 071° 04.739

Short Description:

The statue of William Lloyd Garrison is located on Commonwealth Avenue Mall between Dartmouth St. and Exeter St. in the Back Bay of Boston.

Long Description:

William Lloyd Garrison was an influential journalist who was an abolitionist, suffragist, and social reformer. He founded and edited the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator and was a founding member of the American Anti-Slavery Society. After the Civil War he became very active in the woman suffrage movement.

A 7' by 4' by 6.33' bronze seated statue of William Lloyd Garrison rests on a  4.75' by 4' by 6.33' granite base. The sculpture was cast 1886 by the Decorative Bronze Company and installed on May 13, 1886. Garrison is holding papers in his right hand. Quills, a book, and an ink stand rest underneath the chair.

The granite base has the following inscriptions:

Front

WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON 

Left side

I AM IN EARNEST-I WILL NOT EQUIVOCATE

I WILL NOT EXCUSE-I WILL NOT RETREAT

A SINGLE INCH AND I WILL BE HEARD

Right side:

MY COUNTRY IS THE WORLD-MY COUNTRYMEN

ARE ALL MANKIND 

On the back:

1805 - 1879