Alexander Lyman Holley

Memorial Inscription:
HOLLEY
Born in Lakeville, Conn., July 20, 1832
Died in Brooklyn, N.Y., January 29, 1882
In honor of Alexander Lyman Holley foremost among those whose genius and energy established in America and improved throughout the world the manufacture of Bessemer steel this memorial is erected by engineers of two hemispheres

Holley Summary

The Alexander Lyman Holley Memorial was dedicated on October 2, 1890, by the "engineers of two hemispheres."  Three societies had initiated the memorial--ASME, ASCE, and AIME, and they commissioned the work from two up-and-coming artists who later became well-known, sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward and architect Thomas Hastings. The memorial was restored in 1999 through the Adopt-A-Monument program administered by the Municipal Art Society of New York City. Contributions made through the ASME Foundation included the same three societies--ASME, ASCE, and AIME, plus the Steel Service Center Institute of Cleveland, Ohio, and matching funds from Save Outdoor Sculpture!, underwritten largely by Target Stores.

Alexander Lyman Holley Memorial

The statue of Alexander Lyman Holley (1832-1882) memorializes an engineer who exemplified the best of his profession and contributed greatly to his country's prosperity as it became a dominant economic power. Known best for adapting the Bessemer process of steel making to U.S. needs, his work immediately brought rapid production to ironworks and rolling mills, coupled with high standards of excellence. His efforts significantly reduced steel prices and enabled unprecedented growth in the industries that moved America forward, including railroads, bridges, and ships. It changed the whole structure of our lives. When he died at age 49, he was engaged in bringing the engineers of the world together and had shaped the foundations for several engineering societies, which in his memory commissioned this memorial to him. The caliber of individual effort that embodies Holley's work is a tribute to the inventiveness, collaboration, and vision of enduring value to today's engineer and the public.

Among engineers, Holley's enthusiasm was contagious, his eloquence captivating, and his character commanding. He was practical, aiming to simplify, to facilitate, to save labor, and to economize. His capacity for careful and discriminating observation and notable drawing talents were marks of an engineer obvious from very early in his life. He received 15 patents, authored several books and wrote hundreds of articles. He had a brilliant and versatile intellect and was acknowledged as an authority by mechanical, mining, and civil engineers alike. He was considered the foremost U.S. steel and plant engineer and designer of his time, especially in regard to applying research to modern steel manufacturing processes. His ideas and concepts directly influenced both education and industry for decades beyond his death. Mechanical engineer Charles T. Porter (1826-1910) eulogized his character: "That beaming countenance with speaking eyes, upon which it was such a joy to look, . . . was the outward manifestation of a great soul, instinct with every feeling, that, in the appropriate words of another, can ennoble or can adorn our nature."

Upon his death in 1882, three engineering societies jointly raised funds and commissioned this memorial: The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME International) of which he was the "leading spirit" in its founding, the Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers (AIME) of which he was a past president (1875), and the American Society of Civil Engineers of which he was a past vice president. Built in 1889 and dedicated on October 2, 1890, Holley's memorial was given to the City of New York by the "engineers of two hemispheres" and was witnessed by an international group including societies from Germany and France. It was dedicated "as an expression of civic fame and human affection . . . . for the instruction and encouragement of generations."

Sculptor and Architect

John Quincy Adams Ward (1830-1910), well-known for works such as the statue of George Washington in front of Federal Hall on Wall Street (1883), sculpted the bronze portrait bust of Holley. The foundry mark shows it was cast by the Henry-Bonnard Bronze Company of New York, 1889. The bust (3 foot, 6 inches high) is mounted on the central pillar (9 feet high) of a highly decorative tripartite pedestal, made of Indiana limestone. The pedestal was created by architect Thomas Hastings (1860-1929), who would later co-design the New York Public Library and design the Frick mansion, among others. Considered quite unusual, the monument combines the architecture, sculpture and carvings of the beaux arts style and is probably one of the few examples of this style that survive as statuary.