Preview
Description
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. Though now embraced as a unique symbol of the state, the statue was the subject of heated debate over the aesthetic and subject. However, a statement issued by the Capitol Commissioners declaring that the statue symbolized, "authority, dignity, independence, and power," put the debate to rest and it has been known as "The Independent Man" since. Since 1900, it has only moved once, in 1975, for repair and a new coat of gold leaf. This photograph was taken in 1980.
Creator 1 Role
Photographer
Creator 2 Dates
1862-1943
Creator 2 Role
Deisgner
Creator 3 Role
Architect
Building Type
Government building
Building Style
Neo-classical
Country Name
United States
Region Name
Rhode Island
City Name
Providence
Street Address
90 Smith Street
Recommended Citation
Thomson, Debra; Brewster, George T.; and McKim, Mead & White, "The Independent Man, "Hope," Rhode Island State House" (2018). Images of Rhode Island Architecture from Special Collections. 6.
https://digitalcommons.ric.edu/ri_architecture/6
Keywords
public art; the independent man; statue; dome; rhode island; statehouse; government buildings; public works; george brewster;
Notes
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ). For more information contact Digital Initiatives at James P. Adams Library, (401) 456-8380, Rhode Island College, 600 Mount Pleasant Ave., Providence, RI, 02903, digitalcommons@ric.edu.