Glass negative showing the fountain designed in honor of prominent Irish or Catholic Revolutionary heroes that was erected 1875-1877 by the national temperance society at Fountain Avenue and Avenue of the Republic on the Centennial grounds. The monument designed in the shape of a maltese cross by Herman Kirn contains statues of Father Theobold Matthew (Irish temperance reformer), Charles Carroll (only Catholic signer of the Declaration), Commodore Barry (Irish-born naval commander known as the Father of the American Navy), and Archbishop Caroll (first Catholic Bishop of the U.S.) mounted on fountain pedestals. The statues surround the central sculpted figure of Moses who holds the Ten Commandments. The Moses sculpture rests upon a rock-mound within a marble basin. Water flows over the rocks into a pool. The Fountain, commissioned by the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America, was created as an attraction for the 1876 Centennial Exposition., Photographer remarks: Dull day. Detail not sharp. Developed at G.V.s. [George Vaux's]. Poor picture. V[arnished]., Time: 5PM, Light: Not very strong., Digitization and cataloging has been made possible through the generosity of David Marriott Morris, Eleanor Rhoads Morris Cox, and William Perot Morris in memory of Marriott Canby Morris and his children: Elliston Perot Morris, Marriott Canby Morris Jr., and Janet Morris and in acknowledgment of his grandchildren: William Perot Morris, Eleanor Rhoads Morris Cox, Jonathan White Morris, and David Marriott Morris., Edited.
Creator
Morris, Marriott Canby, 1863-1948, photographer
Date
March 31, 1883
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Marriott C. Morris Collection [P.9895.60]
