Photo Hunters: Hands
28 Mar
These sculpted hands of marble were formed sometime in the mid-1800s, by a freed slave. They are the hands of famous abolitionist (and former Congressman and presidential candidate of the old Liberty Party) Gerrit Smith, intertwined with those of his beloved wife, Ann Carroll Fitzhugh. The freedman sculpted this as a labor of love for Gerrit Smith. The Smiths were fervent abolitionists, and Gerrit Smith was called the Stationmaster of the Underground Railroad. He gave money, much of his property, and a life of sacrifice, to runaway slaves and to the abolitionist movement in this country.
This sculpture was in the Smith’s house in Peterboro, NY, for years until a house fire destroyed their home. The sculpture was one of the things saved in the fire, and was brought to the home in 1936 of the Higinbothams of Oneida, NY, family friends of the Smiths. The Higinbotham home is now the Madison County Historical Society. We visited the place a few weeks ago, and I’ve been writing several posts about the wonderful treasures in the house. You can read more about it here.
Here’s a bit of trivia: The Smiths’ grandson, Gerrit Smith Miller, introduced the first herd of Holstein into America when he brought back cows from Prussia!
hi, nice one.
how beautiful and the history is facinating. Judith
How awesome is that! Perfect fit for the theme
!
Creative hands!!
http://upcountrysmiles.com
That’s a wonderful piece of art…and wonderful to have it in your home!
Lovely sculpture and perfect for the theme!
Mine is up!
That’s beautiful!!!!!
Thanks for stopping by this morning and leaving such a nice comment for my Photo Hunt.
What a beautiful sculpture. Have a great weekend
that is an interesting and beautiful post.
That’s very special !!
Beautiful! Just beautiful!
Trying to reverse a personal trend, I’m “celebrating” over at my place – hope you’ll stop by…
By the way, tonight at 8:30 p.m. – your local time – everyone is encouraged to participate in “Earth Hour”. Join tens of millions of concerned citizens throughout the world in calling for action to save our planet for future generations. To get more information and to sign up for Earth Hour 2009, visit http://www.EarthHourUS.org
Beautiful work of art.
Very nice shot…great for the theme.
Mine’s up, too.
http://sandyben.blogspot.com/
A very nice sculpture indeed. Have a great weekend!
Nice sculpture!
very nice, thanks for your comment on my post, she is our pride and joy and we love that sailor, a navy flyboy, my hero.
Very effective, almost understated – give you a big Hand for that one…:)
that is a great photo hunt for the week!
Great idea!
I played today with wedding hands!
that is a very lovely sculpture. a nice take on the theme, too!
nicely-done sculpture and a good photo for this week’s theme. have a good weekend.
Great photo entry. The history is a great addtion.
PERFECT! What a neat sculpture! I bet you were excited when this theme came up!
Oohhhh … very very nice … I love it!
That’s most excellent!
I am jealous I have always wanted one of those kind of sculptures. So beautiful.
That was really interesting! Nice shot and sculpture.
Have a great weekend!
Oh, this is lovely! Very beautiful shot for this week’s theme. Thanks for dropping by to visit. Happy Saturday.
Oh, this is lovely…nce thought for todays theme
I like photos with a good story behind them. Nice one.
Great play on the hunt. This reminds me that my son stuck his hands in that mold mixture and we have a model of his hands. I may have to add to my hunt.
what a wonderful take for the theme. thanks for visiting mine.
Fabulous shot, and great take on the theme!
Good one! is that yet another blog? doesnt’ come up on your list of other blogs.
What a wonderful choice for today’s theme. We loved reading the historical dialog along with the photo. Nicely done!
We’re sorry you had trouble with the embedded comment form. We changed it back to a pop-up. We love your theme! Maybe we should move our blog back to WP so we can get a nice photo theme again!
Great choice for the theme – interesting photo and information.
very nice….looks like a symbol of friendship.
thanks for visiting my site
What a beautiful sculpture. It’s so cool to see others thoughts on the theme. Thanks for visiting my site. See you next time.
Oh, cool! I like it.
Great picture! Thanks for stopping by my PH post! Henna tattoos aren’t permanent, but they do last for several days to a couple weeks!
Intriguing piece of art ~ very nicely photographed.
Oh that is gorgeous!
What a lovely sculpture. My favorite “hands” art is Michelangelo’s painting in the Sistine Chapel of Adam touching the hand of God. This is lovely! Thank you for stopping by.
what a very unique entry! I love it!
PH:Hands
Perfect for today’s theme! Nice!
Gosh, reading about the history of that piece makes me know how special it is. I’m glad it was saved from the fire.
Very nice. Cool shot and perfect for the theme.
Thanks for stopping by and happy weekend.
So perfect for the theme. Thanks for the visit!
Very nice. Thanks for visiting.
love the story behind it! thanks for the visit.
Nice photo and interesting history. Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment. From your profile you seem like a very busy person.
What an interesting tale that comes with them! Beautiful even if this is the only piece left…Happy weekend!
Wow! Beautiful shot and a nice story behind it
Have a great weekend!
a beautiful sculpture and wonderful history!
Love the photo and the story, as always!
Thanks for stopping by.
Wonderful photo of the sculpture! Have a great weekend.
Oooh nice hands…and they look so nice and cool
I think this is one of the most beautifull pieces of art that I have seen in a long time
and it fits perfect with the theme this week!
What a wonderful combination of beauty and history. I enjoyed my visit here, as always.
Beautiful sculpture, story, and photo. Thank you for visiting my photo hunt this week.
I see the love and warmth in these hands.
Excellent entry
That is beautiful..
lovely picture, and so unique, thanks for visiting
Perfect for the theme! Beautiful hands!
Hi! Great photohunt. And no, Henna tattoo’s are not permanent.
Too lovely for words
That is a beautiful pair of HANDS!! And thanks for sharing the story of them for us!! Have a nice weekend!
Your FL furiends,
and Maverick
what a beautiful photo and the story to go with it!!
nice one! sign of being together – forever!
thanks for the visit at my entry.
Nice shot for the theme!
This is wonderful!
Beautiful hands. Perfect for this week’s theme.
Beautiful sculpture! Just read a book about the underground railroad. It was wonderfully written and the story was very touching. I feel great respect for abolisionists! Never heard of that word before.
i love the weekly history lesson ably aided by your wonderful pictures =] have a great week ahead! safe journeys always!
Great choice for this week’s theme!
How lovely – and so interesting, too. I love your travel blog, Mrs. Mecomber.
I had to get new a new antivirus program yesterday so I didn’t to visit yesterday.
Love it!
I played too!
Beautiful and love the history!!
Have a good week.
Beautiful shot !
Thanks for visiting too.
Woah! I doesn’t get much better than this for The Photo Hunt this week!! Nice job!
Great picture for the theme and a great story behind it!!
Sniffie and the Florida Furkids
Nice shot… another excellent bit of history to go with.
Great history of the hands and it’s beautiful.
wow beautiful sculpture of the hands.
Very beautiful and inspiring! Thanks for visiting mine and have a great week.
That’s a beautiful sculpture.
So lovely!
this is a nice memorabilia and i like the story behind it. tfs!
btw, thanks for checking out my entry. see yah next saturday!
Very good!