The Spirit of Youth (A Memorial to Young Womanhood)

The Spirit of Youth (A Memorial to Young Womanhood)

Subject (Topic)
Constance Witherby Park--Rhode Island--Providence
Monuments--Rhode Island--Providence
Wayland--Neighborhoods--Rhode Island--Providence

Subject (Name)
Witherby, Constance, 1913-1929

Subject (Object)
Commemorative sculpture

The Spirit of Youth is dedicated to Constance Witherby, who died at the age of sixteen. A bronze statue of a young woman stands in front of a large bronze rectangle. The woman is modeled in pseudo-Greek dress with a loose gown flowing over her body and sandaled feet. Her long hair flows behind her as she appears to step off the granite base with her left foot. As she solemnly gazes forward, she balances her stride by placing her left hand on the bronze rectangle while using her right arm to propel forward.

Cast in bronze, the statue was installed in 1933 in Constance Witherby Park. Constance’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. S. Foster Hunt, donated over 30,000 square feet of land at Waterman and Pitman Streets to create a park honoring their daughter in 1930. Today, the park still exists and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. After years of neglect and vandalism, the city moved the statue to Blackstone Boulevard in 1992.

Corbett, Gail Sherman, 1871-1952
Gorham Manufacturing Company Founders

Photographs by Eric Sung, Professor, Providence College

November 15, 1933

Henry Wiley Corbett (granite base); Park Department

City of Providence, 25 Dorrance Street, Providence, Rhode Island, 02903, United States

JPEG

English

Visual Arts-Sculpture

Lippitt Memorial Park, Blackstone Boulevard and Clarendon Street, Providence, Rhode Island, 02906, United States

Inscribed on granite base of statue:
The Wind Roars by I Feel It Blow
And Know That I Am Free to Go
Constance Witherby

Foundry stamp on bronze base:
Gorham Co. Founders

Artist signature on bronze base:
Gail Sherman Corbett, Sc., 1933

Bronze; Granite

"Providence Girl Dead in Europe. Miss Constance Witherby Victim of Heart Failure in Switzerland." Providence Journal, September 1, 1929.

"Death Notices: Witherby." Providence Journal, September 2, 1929.

"Council Ask Canvassers Make Registration Easier." Providence Journal, June 24, 1930.

"Parente Defeated in Mahoney Case. . . . Gift of Land Accepted. Thanks Extended to Mr. and Mrs. S. Foster Hunt for Waterman Street Park Site." Providence Journal, September 9, 1930.

"Statue Unveiled at New Park Here. Bronze Figure of Girl Tribute to Constance Witherby, Daughter of Mrs. S. Fraser Hunt. Died in 1929 in 16th Year." Providence Journal, November 16, 1933.

"New Recreation Plan. Bryant College and City Department Act to Spare Park." Providence Journal, October 31, 1951.

"S. Foster Hunt Dies at 81, Industrialist, Civic Leader." Providence Journal, September 28, 1962.

Doyle, Thomas J. "The Death of a Park." Providence Journal, August 23, 1969.

"Mrs. S. F. Hunt Dies; Urban League Leader." Providence Journal, July 4, 1970.

"Witherby Park Given Historic Protection." Providence Journal, December 19, 1975.

Gray, Channing. "A New Look at Monuments in Our Midst." Providence Journal, January 18, 1981.

"Looking at Art Without Braving Museum Traffic." Providence Journal, December 6, 1981.

"Action Line: Who Will Restore Vandalized Statue?" Providence Journal, March 12, 1990.

"Fashionable Diversity Encircles the Square. Wayland is the Northeast Side Neighborhood." Providence Journal, December 15, 1990.

"Legal Notices: City of Providence Invitation to Bid. Department of Public Parks. Constance Witherby Statue Restoration Project." Providence Journal, October 24, 1991.

"Statue Honoring Youth Is Restored, Relocated." Providence Journal, June 16, 1992.

Coon, Stephen. "Constance Witherby ’30." Blackstone Park Conservancy, https://www.blackstoneparksconservancy.org/wp-content/uploads/Witherby-article.pdf.

Department of Art, Culture, Tourism, City of Providence