User:Claudiamoon/Drafts-letter carrier

Letter Carriers' Monument
Artist	Elliot Offner
Year	1989 (1989)
Type	Bronze monument
Dimensions	170 cm × 170 cm × 140 cm (66 in × 67 in × 56 in)
Location	Milwaukee
Coordinates	43°02′24.52″N 87°54′46.98″W

The Letter Carriers' Monument, is a public artwork by American artist Elliot Offner, located on the corner of 2nd street and Wells street, which is in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. The bronze sculpture consists of three letter carriers. One is a Caucasian male wearing a turn-of-the-century uniform and sporting a mustache. The second figure is an African American male wearing a 1939 uniform. The third is a woman in a contemporary uniform. The monument measures 66 x 67 x 56 inches, and was created in 1989.

Description

The Letter Carriers' Monument is a bronze sculpture set on a black granite base. It depicts "three mail carriers. One male mustached figure wears a turn-of-the-century uniform and helmet, representing NALC's founders. A second figure, an African American, wears a uniform from the time of NALC's Golden Jubilee in 1939. The third figure, a woman, is dressed in modern letter carrier garb." There is an inscription on the 19th century male figure's jacket, which reads: Offner '89. The north and south faces of the base read: In honor of the men and women/ who have delivered for America/ in rain, sleet, and snow./ And in tribute to their Union,/ the National Association of Letter Carriers,/ founded across Plankinton Avenue/ from this site on August 30, 1889./ Dedicated August 30, 1989.

Historical information

The U.S. Postal Service gave employment preference to veterans after the Civil War. As a result, there were many veterans employed by the Postal Service across the United States. "After the Postal Service Administration refused to recognize the eight-hour day, which had been decreed by Congress in 1888,a group of veteran postal workers in Milwaukee decided changes must be made in the conditions of their employment. A meeting of sixty postal worker veterans from eighteen states met on August 30, 1889, following the national encampment of Civil War veterans in Milwaukee." The postal workers united and agreed to form the National Association of Letter Carriers. Their demands were an eight-hour work day, a higher pay scale, a pension plan, and service stripes for every four years of service. The Letter Carriers' Monument was commissioned to celebrate the centennial of the founding of NALC. The celebrations lasted four days and included a parade, exhibits and the dedication of the monument by Vincent R. Sombrotto, NALC's president. More than four thousand letter carriers and their families attended the festivities. The U.S. Postal Service issued a postage stamp depicting the monument's three letter carriers to commemorate the centennial day.

The three letter carriers rendered in the sculpture represent the dignity and diversity of mail carriers through time and across locations. Elliot Offner was commissioned through the Franz Bader Gallery in New York to create the monument. He built the maquette in Cambridge, England while he was there as a visiting artist. He then worked with the Tallix Foundry in Beacon, New York to cast the sculpture. The work was sent to Milwaukee by truck from New York.

"The downtown Milwaukee site of the monument is correct in a historical sense, but unsuccessful in its public presence. Site considerations for the monument were overlooked and it stands on the small crowded triangle with annoying awkwardness."

Artist

Elliot Offner was born on July 12, 1931 in Brooklyn, New York. He passed away on October 15, 2010 in Northampton, Massachusetts. Offner studied at the Cooper Union before receiving his BFA and MFA from Yale University. He joined the faculty at Smith College in 1960 and was appointed Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Humanities in 1974. Offner retired from Smith College in 2004. He worked as a Visiting Artist at Brandeis University, Yale University, Royal College of Art, and Cambridge University. Offner also served as president of the National Sculpture Society. "Offner is best known as a sculptor in the academic tradition, working in many sculptural media, including carved wood, clay, plaster and bronze, and his subjects included both animals and human figures."

Condition

The sculpture is well maintained.