Monumento a la abolición de las esclavitud (Ponce, Puerto Rico)
Dublin Core
Title
Monumento a la abolición de las esclavitud (Ponce, Puerto Rico)
Subject
Subject (Topic)
Abolition of slavery
Enslaved persons--Emancipation
Freedom
Public art
Public sculpture
Puerto Rico--Ponce
Transatlantic slave trade
Abolition of slavery
Enslaved persons--Emancipation
Freedom
Public art
Public sculpture
Puerto Rico--Ponce
Transatlantic slave trade
Subject (Object Type):
Commemorative sculpture
Commemorative sculpture
Description
A bronze sculpture of a seminude, Black man in a kneeling position is located at the southernmost point of El Parque de la Abolición (Abolition Park) in Ponce, Puerto Rico. His hands are open, palms facing upward, with broken manacles hanging from his wrists. The cement base of the monument features a bronze plaque with inscriptions. Behind the figure rises a one-hundred-foot-tall triangular marble obelisk.
Creator
Cott, Victor Manuel, 1898-1962
Source
Photograph by Nélari Figueroa Torres, 2024
Date
1956
Contributor
City of Ponce (obelisk designer)
Rights
Casa Alcaldía de Ponce, Calle Villa, Ponce, 00730, Puerto Rico
Format
JPEG
Language
English
Type
Visual Arts-Sculpture
Coverage
Parque de la Abolición, 294P+9W6, PR-123, Barrio Cuarto, Ponce, 00732, Puerto Rico, United States
Has Part
Inscription on the plaque on the front of the monument, Spanish:
MONUMENTO A LA ABOLICIÓN DE LA ESCLAVITUD CONMEMORA EL DECRETO DE LA ABOLICIÓN DE LA ESCLAVITUD EN PUERTO RICO EL 22 DE MARZO DE 1873 EL OBELISCO CON LA ESTATUA DE UN NEGRO LIBERTO FUE CREACIÓN DEL ARTISTA VÍCTOR COTT. INAUGURADO EN 1956, DURANTE LA ADMINISTRACIÓN DEL ALCALDE ANDRÉSGRILLASCA SALAS, Y RESTAURADO EN EL 2006, DURANTE LA ADMINISTRACIÓN DEL ALCALDE FRANCISCO ZAYAS SEIJO.
22 DE MARZO DE 2008
Inscription on the plaque on the front of the monument, English translation:
MONUMENT TO THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY COMMEMORATES THE ACT THAT ABOLISHED SLAVERY IN PUERTO RICO ON MARCH 22, 1873 THE OBELISK WITH THE STATUE OF A FREED BLACK MAN WAS CREATED BY THE ARTIST VICTOR COTT. INAUGURATED IN 1956, DURING THE ADMINISTRATION OF MAYOR ANDRÉS GRILLASCA SALAS, AND RESTORED IN 2006, DURING THE ADMINISTRATION OF MAYOR FRANCISCO ZAYAS SEIJO.
MARCH 22, 2008
MONUMENTO A LA ABOLICIÓN DE LA ESCLAVITUD CONMEMORA EL DECRETO DE LA ABOLICIÓN DE LA ESCLAVITUD EN PUERTO RICO EL 22 DE MARZO DE 1873 EL OBELISCO CON LA ESTATUA DE UN NEGRO LIBERTO FUE CREACIÓN DEL ARTISTA VÍCTOR COTT. INAUGURADO EN 1956, DURANTE LA ADMINISTRACIÓN DEL ALCALDE ANDRÉSGRILLASCA SALAS, Y RESTAURADO EN EL 2006, DURANTE LA ADMINISTRACIÓN DEL ALCALDE FRANCISCO ZAYAS SEIJO.
22 DE MARZO DE 2008
Inscription on the plaque on the front of the monument, English translation:
MONUMENT TO THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY COMMEMORATES THE ACT THAT ABOLISHED SLAVERY IN PUERTO RICO ON MARCH 22, 1873 THE OBELISK WITH THE STATUE OF A FREED BLACK MAN WAS CREATED BY THE ARTIST VICTOR COTT. INAUGURATED IN 1956, DURING THE ADMINISTRATION OF MAYOR ANDRÉS GRILLASCA SALAS, AND RESTORED IN 2006, DURING THE ADMINISTRATION OF MAYOR FRANCISCO ZAYAS SEIJO.
MARCH 22, 2008
Extent
Obelisk: 1200 in. (3048 cm)
Medium
Bronze; Marble
Bibliographic Citation
Aponte Rivera, Ana Cristina. “Víctor Cott Negrón.” Periodica El Valle 9, September 22, 2014. Accessed August 26, 2024. https://issuu.com/ccvc/docs/peridicoelvalle.
García, Rafael V. Capó. “Monuments to Mestizaje and the Commemoration of Racial Democracy in Puerto Rico.” Visual Anthropology Review 39, no. 2 (Fall 2023): 350–87.
Pagán, Wilbert. “Victor Manuel Cott Negron: Nuestro Primer Escultor Por Excelencia.” El Vocero de Puerto Rico, February 4, 2023. Accessed August 26, 2024. https://issuu.com/vocero.com/docs/v02042023/18.
Rights Holder
Renée Ater
Collection
Citation
Cott, Victor Manuel, 1898-1962, “Monumento a la abolición de las esclavitud (Ponce, Puerto Rico),” Contemporary Monuments to the Slave Past, accessed October 1, 2026, https://mail.slaverymonuments.org/items/show/1250.