Visiting New York's Sexiest Civil War Monument: The Battle of the Monitor and the Merrimac Monument in Greenpoint, Brooklyn

Pat Young

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
Featured Book Reviewer
Joined
Jan 7, 2013
Location
Long Island, NY
For Memorial Day, Michele and I visited Msgr McGolrick Park in Greenpoint, Brooklyn to look at what is known as the “Sexiest Civil War Monument.” This monument to the battle between the Monitor and Merrimac was installed 75 years after the fight. The Monitor itself was built a mile away at Bushwick Inlet. It was interesting to see this because I had just read a book on Civil War Memory in the 1930s and here standing in front of me was an example. I will post more on this monument tomorrow.

sexy1.JPG



sexy2.JPG


There is another Civil War sailor on a monument in Brooklyn that depicts a shirtless sailor (Soldiers and Sailors Arch) but why this fellow forgot his pants is a mystery to me.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Ok Pat, I will get to it, though it is post-Civil War. McGolrick was "the pastor of the nearby St. Cecilia’s Roman catholic Church from 1888 until his death in 1938. McGolrick, an Irish immigrant, was a major fundraiser for the parish, which built new church, convent, rectory, hospital, lyceum, school, and playing field under his direction."

From the description of the monument: This statue honors the esteemed Swedish-American engineer and inventor John Ericsson (1803 - 1889), as well as the Monitor, the ironclad ship he designed. Created by the Italian-American sculptor, Antonio de Filippo (1900 - 1993), this sculpture was dedicated in 1938. The statue depicts a heroic male nude pulling a rope attached to a capstan, and symbolizes Ericsson's role in military-maritime technology, and honors the memory of the men of the Monitor.

sexy3.JPG

sexy4.JPG
 
Okay! Thanks for the fill-in about the park. The statue is, indeed, heroic in pose. Interesting concept and symbolism.
 
Last edited:
Sexiest Civil War Monument ?

:eek:

This is a subject I've never remotely considered.

But it is kind of interesting !

"Sexiest" is subjective as . . . most beautiful.

But to each their own.

But since this a thread topic , the State of Iowa's monument may qualify for sexiest as well.


View attachment 309523
http://www.iowacivilwarmonuments.com/cgi-bin/gaarddetails.pl?1210273429~2


:smoke:
"The nude woman is on the north side and has been controversial - it is said to be an allegorical figure of Iowa representing our state as a beautiful, youthful mother offering nourishment to her children."
Then why not a mother suckling her child? As it is, it invites prurient graffiti. After I visit the Corn State, birthplace of that pinko-commie, Henry Wallace, armed with my Ironlak aerosol cans, Iowan attitudes toward this face of the monument will change for sure.
 
If you go, bring a picnic lunch. The park is about two city blocks in size. It has many picnic tables and grassy areas to throw down a picnic blanket. There are popular playgrounds here and a small splash area for the kids to cool off in.
sexyA1.JPG

sexya2.JPG

sexya3.JPG

sexya4.JPG

sexya5.JPG
 
Okay! Thanks for the fill-in about the park. The statue is, indeed, heroic in pose. Interesting concept and symbolism.
Here is more on the park and statues.

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/msgr-mcgolrick-park/history

The park was completely restored about 25 years ago and the statues appear to be regularly cleaned. There are a few areas of the park that could use weeding.

While there are some chips in the Monitor monument's base, overally it is in very good condition. The park itself is heavily visited by local residents. There must have been close to 200 people there when I visited, mostly children and their parents enjoying the extensive playgounds and splash area.

The neighborhood is very safe and there is, as I mentioned, free parking alongside the park. There are a handful of small local restaurants within two blocks of the park that can be easily walked to. If you have a car, I would suggest driving to one of the Polish restaurants that are a bit further away. Greenpoint had a large working class Polish community through much of the 20th Century. While many of the immigrants have moved away there are still a half-dozen inexpensive Polish eateries where you can get a hearty lunch and a Polish beer for under $20, including tip.
 
Interesting.
After we visited the park, Michele and I went to Christina's Polish Restaurant
853 Manhattan Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11222
718 383 43 82


The food plate I got, which included Kilbasa, stuffed cabbage, Polish hunter's stew, and pirogies was only 12 bucks.

christina.JPG

christina3.JPG

christina4.JPG

christina2.JPG
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Sexiest Civil War Monument ?

:eek:

This is a subject I've never remotely considered.

But it is kind of interesting !

"Sexiest" is subjective as . . . most beautiful.

But to each their own.

But since this a thread topic , the State of Iowa's monument may qualify for sexiest as well.


View attachment 309523
http://www.iowacivilwarmonuments.com/cgi-bin/gaarddetails.pl?1210273429~2


:smoke:
I would expect such immoral displays in France, but not in the good ol' US of A:
https://www.20minutes.fr/faits_dive...litantes-femen-con****ees-exhibition-sexuelle
 
Sexiest Civil War Monument ?

:eek:

This is a subject I've never remotely considered.

But it is kind of interesting !

"Sexiest" is subjective as . . . most beautiful.

But to each their own.

But since this a thread topic , the State of Iowa's monument may qualify for sexiest as well.


View attachment 309523
http://www.iowacivilwarmonuments.com/cgi-bin/gaarddetails.pl?1210273429~2


:smoke:
Art is usually representative of something and this is what I found when I read the article:

"The nude woman is on the north side and has been controversial - it is said to be an allegorial figure of Iowa representing our state as a beautiful, youthful mother offering nourishment to her children."

As an expression of what it is meant to represent, I think it's beautiful. Yes, and 'sexy'!

Two words I definitely never expected to see in a sentence together ... Civil War and 'sexy' :eek:

You've outdone yourself with the title of this thread @Pat Young :laugh:
 
Sexiest Civil War Monument ?

:eek:

This is a subject I've never remotely considered.

But it is kind of interesting !

"Sexiest" is subjective as . . . most beautiful.

But to each their own.

But since this a thread topic , the State of Iowa's monument may qualify for sexiest as well.


View attachment 309523
http://www.iowacivilwarmonuments.com/cgi-bin/gaarddetails.pl?1210273429~2


:smoke:
Personally, I like Iowa's better. But that reminds me... Iowa must've had some kind of "problem" or at least fixation; here's a pair of detail shots of their beautiful State monument/memorial at Shiloh:

Image (4).jpg

The story on this one is Posterity Recording (with a by then-vanished pen) the names of Iowans on Fame's Roster or some such.
I prudishly avoided the Lady's equally exposed body part that was polished bright by previous attention it had received from other visitors!
Image (5).jpg


For completion, here's a more recent photo from last year of the whole restored monument, including the formerly missing pen:

DSC06072.JPG
 
Last edited:
Back
Top