Photo Record
Images
Metadata
Object |
Negative, Glass Plate |
Photographer |
White, Wills Thomas |
Year Range from |
1899 |
Year Range to |
1920 |
Location |
Vermont, Bennington, Monument Avenue |
Description |
Glass plate negative of a photograph showing the placing of the capstone on the Battle Monument, which is surrounded by scaffolding. Two large flags flying from the top, and Monument Avenue is filled with carriages. |
Information |
This negative was created to reproduce an earlier photograph of the capstone being placed on the Bennington Battle Monument. See 2015.6.931 for the original negative and 2019.15.104 for an original print. On November 25, 1889 a crowd of 3,000 gathered to watch the capstone of the Bennington Battle Monument be hauled up the elevator and swung to its final placement 301 feet above the ground. The stone weighed about 2,200 pounds and was decorated for the trip with a Masonic banner and a bouquet of flowers. The ascent was paused at several stages to allow photographer Madison Watson to document the event. This photograph was taken just as the stone was ready to be swung into place. The celebration did not include other ceremony or speeches, though a cannon was fired. After the placement a group of men including several newspaper reporters rode the elevator up (a novel experience for the time) and took turns standing on the capstone waving their hats in the air above the platform. |
Related People |
White, Wills Thomas |
Subjects |
Bennington Battle Monument (Bennington, Vt.) |
Credit line |
Gift of the Bennington Banner |
Catalog Number |
2007.110.199 |