A statue of horticulturist John McLaren is installed in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, in the U.S. state of California.[1][2][3][4][5]
| Statue of John McLaren | |
|---|---|
 The statue in 2015 | |
 | |
| Subject | John McLaren |
| Location | San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| 37°46′19″N 122°27′53″W / 37.77208°N 122.46472°W | |
Background
editIn 1911 Alma de Bretteville Spreckels and her husband Adolph B. Spreckels, park commissioner and namesake of Spreckels Lake, wanted M. Earl Cummings to capture McLaren's likeness. The San Francisco Examiner reported in 1911 that McLaren had modeled for Cummings, and the statue was to be shown at a Bohemian Club art exhibition.[6] The Examiner reported in 1921 that park commissioners wanted the statue erected in Golden Gate Park "soon." But in 1922, according to the Oakland Tribune, McLaren hid it in a box in the park stables as "[he] did not want to see it".[7][8]
The statue was found after McLaren's death in 1943 and erected in John McLaren Memorial Rhododendron Dell in 1945.[9] It is a bronze 5'7" likeness.[7] It does not sit on a pedestal and has no identification, as Cummings thought everybody would know who McLaren was. Over time the statue has turned green, so it is unassuming and blends into its surroundings. In one hand McLaren is holding a pine cone.
Saw marks are on his right leg from an attempt to steal the statue on December 17, 1953. Two attempts were made, in the first of which the thieves tried to "crowbar the statue off its base." Three days later, on what would have been McLaren's birthday, a hacksaw was used to try to cut the statue down.[10]
References
edit- ^ Brinklow, Adam. "150 Things You Didn't Know about Golden Gate Park for its 150th Anniversary." Curbed San Francisco. April 30, 2020. WEB. Accessed on: April 11, 2021.https://sf.curbed.com/2020/4/3/21201767/golden-gate-park-150-things-anniversary-birthday
- ^ Mojadad, Ida. "A Brief History of Golden Gate Park Memorials." SFWEEKLY. September 27, 2017. WEB. Accessed on: April 10, 2021. https://www.sfweekly.com/news/suckafreecity/a-brief-history-of-golden-gate-park-memorials/
- ^ Pollock, Christopher. "Golden Gate Park." Encyclopedia of San Francisco. A PROJECT OF THE SF MUSEUM AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 2003. WEB. Accessed on: April 10, 2021. http://www.sfhistoryencyclopedia.com/articles/g/goldenGate-park.html
- ^ Chamings, Andrew. "San Francisco's Official Christmas Tree Isn't Where You Think It Is." SFGATE. December 8, 2020. WEB. Accessed on: April 10, 2021. https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/San-Francisco-official-Christmas-tree-lights-park-15776426.php
- ^ "John McLaren: The Man Who Planted Two Million Trees." KALW. September 25, 2019. WEB. Accessed on: April 10, 2021. https://www.kalw.org/show/crosscurrents/2019-09-25/john-mclaren-the-man-who-planted-two-million-trees
- ^ Carvala, Kinen. "'Looking Back': John McLaren." Richmond Review/Sunset Beacon. December 5, 2020. WEB. Accessed on: April 10, 2021. https://sfrichmondreview.com/2020/12/05/looking-back-john-mclaren/
- ^ a b 'Looking Back'
- ^ Peterson, Art. “The Statue of a Heroic Crusader who Spent his Life Fighting to Keep Statues out of Golden Gate Park: Historical Essay.” FOUNDSF. Accessed on: April 23,2021.https://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=The_Statue_of_a_Heroic_Crusader_who_Spent_his_Life_Fighting_to_Keep_Statues_out_of_Golden_Gate_Park.
- ^ Tre. "John McLaren Statue." Atlas Obscura. n.d. WEB. Accessed on: April 10, 2021. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/john-mclaren-statue
- ^ San Francisco Chronicle, December 27, 1953, FINAL HOME ed., p. 42. Accessed on: April 22, 2021 via NewsBank: [1].
External links
edit
Media related to John McLaren by Melvin Earl Cummings at Wikimedia Commons
