STRATFORD RESTORES ITS CIVIL WAR STATUE / Published: August 16, 1987
RELATIVELY few century-old monuments cast in zinc survive these days, but in Stratford, townspeople have rescued a treasured statue honoring their Civil War heroes.
With funds raised partly from a raffle, a gala charity ball and a walkathon, the Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Academy Hill is being restored. Come fall, the 35-foot-tall monument showing a soldier bearing a sword, should be ready for rededication ceremonies.
The statue has always been cherished by the town, according to the curator of the Stratford Historical Society, Hiram C. Tindall, who says Academy Hill where it stands ''is the heart and soul of Stratford.'' Generations of children have raced around the monument and climbed its lower pedestal.
Over time, the statue developed a tilt, but almost nobody worried about the statue's durability until two or three years ago when cracks were discovered in the base. An examination by experts revealed that the statue was loose and wobbled in high winds, and that its entire steel frame had deteriorated.
For safety's sake, the sculpture was temporarily removed.
Almost immediately, a campaign to restore the monument began. Some state help was promised but the bulk of the $125,000 cost would have to come from Stratford residents, who formed a committee to lead the fund-rasing.
For Catherine Clinton Lawrence, there were personal as well as civic reasons why she was willing to hawk raffles at a nearby shopping center. ''Only for the statue would I do it,'' she said, ''and never again.''
As a small girl - she is a seventh-generation member of an original Stratford family - she visited her grandmother in the summer, she said, and played in the family's garden bordering Academy Hill. She now lives in the house.
The statue has special significance also because her great-grandather, Asa Seymour Curtis, was one of the Civil War veterans who helped erect the monument.
''He was a musician and teacher who hated war,'' she said. ''But he also felt he had to defend his belief in the abolitionist movement. He was involved in a group which, like many others, operated as an underground association because being an abolitionist was unpopular. People were torn about what to do about the slavery question.''
The monument now being restored reflects the sentiments of the times; on the base are the names of four of the soldiers honored, identified as volunteers and as being ''colored.''
The original monument was dedicated on an October day in 1889 that coincided with the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the settlement at Stratford.
The town believed its monument would endure, Mr. Tindall said, and in fact described it at the time as being ''indestructible and eternal.'' Actually, it has been refurbished on several occasions, he said, ''but that's the way it always is.''
While earlier cracks had been repaired - sometimes poorly - the danger of the statue falling from its pedestal was enough to galvanize the campaign for repairing the monument.
The restoration has not been an easy undertaking: there were disputes about the contract for the repair work, then the struggle to raise the money for the job - about 10 times the statue's original cost. Also there were tough technical difficulties to resolve - one key piece of the monument displaying the insignia of the Grand Army of the Republic disappeared in 1979, presumably stolen.
After the contract was awarded to Merritt Contractors Inc. of Bridgeport, a losing bidder protested and the State Historical Commission stepped in to investigate. The commission found no irregularities and the restoration went ahead, albeit with some grumbling about the delay.
When the statue originally was cast and installed, the Monumental Bronze Company in Bridgeport did a thriving business in filling orders for such memorials. According to a specialist from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, Carol Grissom, the technique of using zinc had been developed and statues could be produced inexpensively, at about one-tenth the cost of bronze.
Cities and towns were springing up in the late 19th century and there was a demand for public memorials, she said, and mail orders poured into the Bridgeport manufacturer. Civil War monuments were popular and so also were statues for cemeteries. But zinc, while cheaper, is brittle. Also, in many instances, statues tended to sag in time.
The restoration in Stratford was entrusted to Christine Roussel Inc. of New York, which has worked on a number of major pieces including two Paul Manship statues in Rockefeller Center and a piece by Henry Moore at Lincoln Center.
Once the 8,500-pound statue and part of the base were removed by rigging, Ms. Roussel and her son, Marc, set up shop in the construction yard of the Merritt Company. Her partner in the restoration work, John Pollis, was hospitalized but kept in touch.''We want our work to last because it's our legacy,'' he said.
Because the missing panel on the statue could not be located, Ms. Roussel had to make a new one, reproducing on it a replica of the insignia of the Grand Army of the Republic, the association of Civil War veterans that commissioned the original statue to honor those who died or were wounded in combat.
After a long search, she found one of the badges appropriate for the Connecticut units. The insignia is a five-pointed star and shows a soldier and sailor clasping hands.
Meanwhile, Stratford fund-raisers hope the local business community will help pay for the next expense -placing the statue back on its base on Academy Hill.
Photos of Marc Roussel restoring Civil War statue in Stratford (NYT/Judith Pszenica); Photo of Christine Roussel with her son, Marc, supervisor of the restoration project (NYT/Judith Pszenica)
With funds raised partly from a raffle, a gala charity ball and a walkathon, the Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Academy Hill is being restored. Come fall, the 35-foot-tall monument showing a soldier bearing a sword, should be ready for rededication ceremonies.
The statue has always been cherished by the town, according to the curator of the Stratford Historical Society, Hiram C. Tindall, who says Academy Hill where it stands ''is the heart and soul of Stratford.'' Generations of children have raced around the monument and climbed its lower pedestal.
Over time, the statue developed a tilt, but almost nobody worried about the statue's durability until two or three years ago when cracks were discovered in the base. An examination by experts revealed that the statue was loose and wobbled in high winds, and that its entire steel frame had deteriorated.
For safety's sake, the sculpture was temporarily removed.
Almost immediately, a campaign to restore the monument began. Some state help was promised but the bulk of the $125,000 cost would have to come from Stratford residents, who formed a committee to lead the fund-rasing.
For Catherine Clinton Lawrence, there were personal as well as civic reasons why she was willing to hawk raffles at a nearby shopping center. ''Only for the statue would I do it,'' she said, ''and never again.''
As a small girl - she is a seventh-generation member of an original Stratford family - she visited her grandmother in the summer, she said, and played in the family's garden bordering Academy Hill. She now lives in the house.
The statue has special significance also because her great-grandather, Asa Seymour Curtis, was one of the Civil War veterans who helped erect the monument.
''He was a musician and teacher who hated war,'' she said. ''But he also felt he had to defend his belief in the abolitionist movement. He was involved in a group which, like many others, operated as an underground association because being an abolitionist was unpopular. People were torn about what to do about the slavery question.''
The monument now being restored reflects the sentiments of the times; on the base are the names of four of the soldiers honored, identified as volunteers and as being ''colored.''
The original monument was dedicated on an October day in 1889 that coincided with the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the settlement at Stratford.
The town believed its monument would endure, Mr. Tindall said, and in fact described it at the time as being ''indestructible and eternal.'' Actually, it has been refurbished on several occasions, he said, ''but that's the way it always is.''
While earlier cracks had been repaired - sometimes poorly - the danger of the statue falling from its pedestal was enough to galvanize the campaign for repairing the monument.
The restoration has not been an easy undertaking: there were disputes about the contract for the repair work, then the struggle to raise the money for the job - about 10 times the statue's original cost. Also there were tough technical difficulties to resolve - one key piece of the monument displaying the insignia of the Grand Army of the Republic disappeared in 1979, presumably stolen.
After the contract was awarded to Merritt Contractors Inc. of Bridgeport, a losing bidder protested and the State Historical Commission stepped in to investigate. The commission found no irregularities and the restoration went ahead, albeit with some grumbling about the delay.
When the statue originally was cast and installed, the Monumental Bronze Company in Bridgeport did a thriving business in filling orders for such memorials. According to a specialist from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, Carol Grissom, the technique of using zinc had been developed and statues could be produced inexpensively, at about one-tenth the cost of bronze.
Cities and towns were springing up in the late 19th century and there was a demand for public memorials, she said, and mail orders poured into the Bridgeport manufacturer. Civil War monuments were popular and so also were statues for cemeteries. But zinc, while cheaper, is brittle. Also, in many instances, statues tended to sag in time.
The restoration in Stratford was entrusted to Christine Roussel Inc. of New York, which has worked on a number of major pieces including two Paul Manship statues in Rockefeller Center and a piece by Henry Moore at Lincoln Center.
Once the 8,500-pound statue and part of the base were removed by rigging, Ms. Roussel and her son, Marc, set up shop in the construction yard of the Merritt Company. Her partner in the restoration work, John Pollis, was hospitalized but kept in touch.''We want our work to last because it's our legacy,'' he said.
Because the missing panel on the statue could not be located, Ms. Roussel had to make a new one, reproducing on it a replica of the insignia of the Grand Army of the Republic, the association of Civil War veterans that commissioned the original statue to honor those who died or were wounded in combat.
After a long search, she found one of the badges appropriate for the Connecticut units. The insignia is a five-pointed star and shows a soldier and sailor clasping hands.
Meanwhile, Stratford fund-raisers hope the local business community will help pay for the next expense -placing the statue back on its base on Academy Hill.
Photos of Marc Roussel restoring Civil War statue in Stratford (NYT/Judith Pszenica); Photo of Christine Roussel with her son, Marc, supervisor of the restoration project (NYT/Judith Pszenica)