John Quincy Adams Ward
John Ward was the preeminent American sculptor of the late 19th century, one of this country’s most prolific. The Smithsonian’s catalog credits him with more than 200 public works.
In New York, Ward is credited with numerous historical statues, most notably the figure of George Washington that stands outside Federal Hall in the Financial District. Ward also made the statues of the metallurgist Alexander Holley in Washington Square, the newspaper editor Horace Greeley in City Hall Park, the old-timey political boss Roscoe Conkling in Madison Square, the copper magnate and philanthropist William Earle Dodge outside the New York Historical Society building, Shakespeare in Central Park and Henry Ward Beecher outside Brooklyn’s Borough Hall.
Ward had a studio in New York, and was president of the National Academy of Design. He was known as the dean of American sculpture, urging his peers to eschew foreign influences in their work and present American ideas. He also is credited with several non-historical statues in the city, including the Seventh Regiment Memorial, near West 67th in Central Park, and the Pilgrim, across the park near East 72nd Street.
Ward was born June 29, 1830, and died May 1, 1910.
