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The Boston Common: Parkman Plaza

 
As the stone located in front of the Visitor Information Center reads, Parkman Plaza was dedicated to a man named George F. Parkman who was born in 1823 and died September 16, 1908. But who was George F. Parkman? 




George Francis Parkman, a member of the Boston Brahmins, never married.  He didn't have any children and his only sister, also childless, died in 1885. Therefore, upon his death, George F. Parkman left nearly all of his estate to the City of Boston, making it one of the largest bequests ever made to the city, a  $5 million fund for the maintenance and improvement of the Boston Common and other public parks.








Even though he was a Brahmin and lived a comfortable life, George Francis was a recluse and rarely left the family home at 33 Beacon Street, one of the streets surrounding the Common. George’s mother and sister also lived in reclusion after the horrible death of their father, George Parkman Sr., who was gruesomely killed and is the subject of Simon Schama's "Murder at Harvard."[1]








To honor George's bequest, the city decided to built the Parkman Bandstand in 1912. The Parkman Bandstand was built in the site of Cow Pond, also known as Horse Pond, which had been filled in 1838 after there were no more cows pasturing in the Common. 




Religion



Later in 1960, Parkman Plaza was designed by Derby, Robinson, & Shepard to honor his memory. The American sculptors Adio DiBiccari and Arcangelo Cascieri were commissioned three bronze figures Religion, Industry, and Learning for the Plaza.  






Industry
Learning

Bronze figures depicting Industry and Learning in
Parkman Plaza.










[1] Simon Schama's "Murder at Harvard article from the Harvard Gazette.
http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2002/10.03/23-murder.html
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Location: Lincoln St, Boston, MA 02111, USA

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