Wars of America is a colossal bronze sculpture by Mount Rushmore sculptor Gutzon Borglum and his assistant Luigi Del Bianco containing "forty-two humans and two horses",[3] located in Military Park in Newark, New Jersey. The sculpture sets on a base of granite from Stone Mountain.

Wars of America
Wars of America sculpture in Newark, New Jersey
Wars of America is located in Essex County, New Jersey
Wars of America
Wars of America is located in New Jersey
Wars of America
Wars of America is located in the United States
Wars of America
LocationMilitary Park, 614-706 Broad Street, Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
Coordinates40°44′53″N 74°10′13″W / 40.74806°N 74.17028°W / 40.74806; -74.17028
Arealess than one acre
Built1926
ArchitectGutzon Borglom
MPSPublic Sculpture in Newark MPS
NRHP reference No.94001257[1]
NJRHP No.1338[2]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPOctober 28, 1994
Designated NJRHPSeptember 13, 1994

The sculpture was erected in 1926, eight years after World War I ended, but its intent was broadened to honor all of America's war dead. In describing it, Borglum said "The design represents a great spearhead. Upon the green field of this spearhead we have placed a Tudor sword, the hilt of which represents the American nation at a crisis, answering the call to arms."[4]

The work was funded by a $100,000 bequest by Newark businessman Amos Hoagland Van Horn, who also funded Borglums Seated Lincoln, also located in Newark.[5] The sculpture was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 28, 1994.

The base of the Wars of America (1926) monument at Military Park. "The design represents a great spearhead. Upon the green field of this spearhead we have placed a Tudor sword, the hilt of which represents the American nation at a crisis, answering the call to arms."-- sculptor Gutzon Borglum

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References

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  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. ^ "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places - Essex County" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection - Historic Preservation Office. January 10, 2010. p. 3. Retrieved April 7, 2010.
  3. ^ Thurlow, Fearn, "Newark's Sculpture: A survey of public monuments and memorial statuary", The Newark Museum Quarterly, Winter 1975, vol. 6, no. 1, p. 6
  4. ^ "WAR MEMORIALS RISING THROUGHOUT THE WORLD; New York Is Behind Other Cities in Building a Monument To Her Men of 1918, But the Delay Is Thought to Be An Advantage -- Splendid Projects Elsewhere". The New York Times. November 7, 1926. Retrieved June 19, 2010. WAR memorials to the men and women who gave their lives in the great conflict that begun twelve years ago are rising throughout the world. Few communities have neglected their token of gratitude. New York, which it is hoped will eventually build one of the finest of these monuments to patriotic courage, has lagged behind most other representative cities.
  5. ^ Bullard, F. Lauriston, Lincoln in Marble and Bronze, Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, New Jersey 1952 p.214-215