Hiker Monument
From WakWiki
The Hiker Monument, Wakefield Massachusetts
Wakefield's Rockery, located in the middle of Main Street opposite the Post Office was contructed to beautify the area in the 1880s, and at the time was often called the "Grotto". The structure was completed in 1884 at a cost of about $2,600, and included a fountain which splashed water over the vine-covered rocks into the pool below. The bronze Hiker Monument, by sculptor Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson, is sometimes mistaken for a Revolutionary War minuteman, but was actually erected in honor of those Wakefield citizens who fought in the Spanish-American War. The statue was dedicated with a ceremony and parade on October 12, 1926, the 75th anniversary of the Richardson Light Guard. Edward Gibon a past commander of the Richardson Light Guard administered the event. There were a number of speakers at the dedication and the statue was accepted for the town by Selectman and veteran of World War I, Charles F. Young.
The Hiker stands on a rock that bears a plaque with the twenty-nine names of the citizens who risked their lives during the war. A bronze plaque also bears the following text: "This monument erected by the town of Wakefield to commemorate the valor and patriotism of the men of this town who served in the war with Spain, Philippine insurrection, and China relief expedition 1898-1902 ; Dedicated October 12, 1926 under the auspices of Corporal Charles F. Parker, Camp No. 39, United Spanish War Veterans, Department of Massachusetts."
The Hiker sculpture is actually one of a series of around fifty such statues found throughout the United States, the nearest one being in Waltham, Massachusetts. Numerous references in published histories of Wakefield refer to the artist as "Theodore", but this is undoubtedly an error, possibly by someone who assumed that "Theo" must have been a man, and subsequently compounded in later research by other writers. Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson was actually a well-known American sculptor, born in Brookline, Mass. in 1876. She was the first woman to be admitted to the National Sculpture Society. She is also known locally for her sculpture of Thaddeus Kosciuszko in the Boston Public Garden.
References
- Wakefield : 350 years by the lake : an anniversary history / compiled by the Wakefield 350 Writing Committee ; edited by Nancy Bertrand, 1994, p311-312.
- Wikipedia entry for Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson
- Entry for Kitson's Hiker Monument in Waltham, from the National Park Service
