“We have met the enemy and they are ours”
Oliver
Hazard
Perry
"We have met
the enemy and
they are ours
Dedicated
to the Pennsylvanians
who built and served
aboard Perry's Erie-based
ships for the decisive
Battle of Lake Erie
September 10, 1813
Erected
August 23, 1985
to honor the
two hundredth birthday
of the
hero of the
Battle of Lake Erie
Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry
Born August 23, 1785 · South Kingston, Rhode Island
Died August 23, 1819 · Port of Spain, Trinidad
From the original statue sculpted by Captain William Green Turner (1833-1917) in Florence Italy in 1884 and dedicated with the following words at Washington Square, Newport, Rhode Island on September 10, 1885:
"The statue is designed to represent Perry...
as he appeared in that supreme moment of his life, when he had just gained the deck of the Niagara before he had recovered his knocked-off cap, and while in distinct succession he was giving orders to... 'bear down on the enemy's line' ...orders which infused new enthusiasm into all the American crews..."
This statue
erected on the bicentennial of Perry's Birth
August 23, 1985
by the
Erie
County Historical Society
through a grant from
The Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission
with the assistance of
State Assemblyman Bernard J. Dombrowski
and additional major contributions from
Erie Insurance Group · The City of Erie · E.E. Austin & Son · Captain Thomas B. Hagen · The First National Bank of Pennsylvania · The Hammermill Foundation · J. Robert Baldwin · The Times Publishing Company · Marine Bank · Erie Council of the Navy League · Zurn Industries
Dedication Speaker for the Secretary of the Navy
Rear Admiral William A. Walsh, U.S. Navy
Unveiled by
Commander Oliver Hazard Perry, III, U.S. Navy
Commodore Perry Bicentennial Committee
Captain Thomas B. Hagen, Chairman
John R. Claridge · Rear Admiral Charles A. Curtze · Rear Admiral Stephen E. Jones · Rear Admiral Denys W. Knoll · Edward J. Lopus · Commander Eric M. Marshall · Congressman Thomas R. Ridge · Michael J. Ripton · Robert F. Taft · Mayor Louis J. Tullio · Vice Admiral Thomas R. Weschler
Additional assistance and cooperation from
The Flagship Niagara League, Dr. M. Roy Strausbaught and Fred Langill · City of Newport, R.I., Patrick J. Kirby, Mayor · U.S. Navy · Herman C. Weber, Jr., AIA, Weber Murphy Fox Architects
Podium design,
Merle T. Westlake, AIA, the Stubbins Associates, Architects, Cambridge, MA. · Statue foundry, Tallix, Inc., Peekskill, N.Y.
Don't Give Up The Ship
Perry's famous battle flag with the dying words of his friend, Captain James Lawrence of the frigate Chesapeake.
Made by a group of Erie women led by Margaret Forster Stewart in her East 4th Street home.
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