Quincy in Adams County, Illinois — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

Lorado Taft (1860 - 1936)

Sculptor of the Debate Memorial

Photographed By Bill Pfingsten, June 11, 2012

1. Lorado Taft (1860 - 1936) Marker

Inscription. Best remembered for his spectacular fountains, Lorado Taft was the creator of some of our nation's outstanding monuments. Some of his most significant include Blackhawk (Oregon, IL, 1911), The Columbus Memorial (Washington, D.C., 1912), The Fountain of the Great Lakes (Chicago, 1913), The Fountain of Time (Chicago, 1922), and Alma Mater (Urbana, IL, 1929). Although most of Taft;s works are in Illinois, he also had many commissions for statues, sculptures, and fountains throughout the United States.

A native of Elmwood, Illinois, Lorado Taft earned a masters degree from the University of Illinois at Champaign. Taft studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris (1880-1885) and became an instructor at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1886. He soon opened his first studio in Chicago and later taught at the University of Chicago. in 1898 he helped to establish the Eagle's Nest Art Colony along the Rock River near Oregon, Illinois. Taft gained fame as an artist and won numerous awards at national and international expositions, including the Columbian Exposition in 1893.

Funded by the State of Illinois in 1936, Taft's now famous bronze bas-relief sculpture commemorates the Quincy Lincoln-Douglas Debate of October 13, 1858. Taft attended the dedication on October 13, 1936, less than three weeks before his

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death.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Arts, Letters, Music. A significant historical date for this entry is October 13, 1875.

Location. 39° 55.956′ N, 91° 24.521′ W. Marker is in Quincy, Illinois, in Adams County. Marker is on Hampshire Street. Marker is in Washington Park. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Quincy IL 62301, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Racial Equality (here, next to this marker); Changing Slavery (here, next to this marker); Morality of Slavery (here, next to this marker); Lincoln-Douglas Debate (here, next to this marker); Dred Scott Decision (here, next to this marker); Political Campaigning in 1858 (a few steps from this marker); Permanency of Slavery (a few steps from this marker); Spread of Slavery Into The Territories (a few steps from this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Quincy.

Lorado Taft (1860 - 1936) Marker and Monument image. Click for full size.

Photographed By William Fischer, Jr., September 16, 2020

2. Lorado Taft (1860 - 1936) Marker and Monument

Marker at left foreground

Lincoln-Douglas Debate - Artist Lorado Taft image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Bill Pfingsten, June 11, 2012

3. Lincoln-Douglas Debate - Artist Lorado Taft

Rear of Lincoln-Douglas Sculpture image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Bill Pfingsten, June 11, 2012

4. Rear of Lincoln-Douglas Sculpture

Lincoln at Quincy
"We have in this nation this element of domestic slavery. We think it is a wrong not confining itself merely to the persons or the States where it exists but that it is a wrong in its tendency to say the least that extends itself to the existence of the whole nation."

Douglas At Quincy
"I hold that the people of the slaveholding states are civilized men as well as ourselves. That they bear consciences as well as we and that they are accountable to God and their posterity and not to us. It is for them to decide therefore the moral and religious right of the slavery question for themselves within their own limits.

Lincoln-Douglas Debate Taft Sculpture image. Click for full size.

Photographed By William Fischer, Jr., September 16, 2020

5. Lincoln-Douglas Debate Taft Sculpture

Credits. This page was last revised on September 27, 2020. It was originally submitted on August 26, 2012, by Bill Pfingsten of Bel Air, Maryland. This page has been viewed 713 times since then and 29 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on August 26, 2012, by Bill Pfingsten of Bel Air, Maryland. 2. submitted on September 27, 2020, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania. 3, 4. submitted on August 26, 2012, by Bill Pfingsten of Bel Air, Maryland. 5. submitted on September 27, 2020, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania.