PHOTOS: Independent Man Comes Down
Richard McCaffrey, Photography
PHOTOS: Independent Man Comes Down
GoLocal's Richard McCaffrey captured Tuesday morning's removal of the Independent Man from the top of the State House.
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The Rhode Island Independent Man who has adorned the top of the Rhode Island State House dome is getting a rehab.
The sculpture initially was not to be created in the image of a golden god-like statue, but the sculpture was to be Roger Williams.
Massachusetts-born George T. Brewster created the statue.
Noted Rhode Island College Historian Chester Smolski wrote, The ‘Independent Man’ was first proposed to be a statue of Roger Williams at the annual meeting of the Rhode Island Historical Society in 1895.”
“The statue, to be placed atop the proposed new State House, was designed by George T. Brewster for $3,000, who called the statue “Hope” and changed the design to fit the Renaissance Revival architecture of the building. The statue has only been taken down once in 1975 for repair and a new coat of gold leaf. It is seen here being returned to it’s proper spot on 20 July 1976,” added Smolski, who died in 2008.
