Picture Courtesy of Jim Kuntz

Picture Courtesy of Jim Kuntz

Picture Courtesy of Jim Kuntz

Sculptor: Franklin Simmons (1839-1913)
Architect: Francis H. Fassett
Founder: Fonderia Nelli
Fabricator: Hawkes Brothers.
Descruption: Portrait of a bearded Longfellow, seated with his proper right arm resting on the back of his chair and holding a scroll in his lap in his proper left hand. Three bronze books are placed under his chair.
Statue History:
Commemorates Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who was born in Portland in 1807. The memorial is the work of Maine-born sculptor Franklin Simmons. The base was designed by Portland architect Francis H. Fassett and fabricated by Hawkes Brothers. The base was installed in 1888 and was a gift of Payson Tucker. The sculpture was funded by pennies, nickels and dimes donated by New England school children. Donations and fund raising efforts were organized by members of the Longfellow Statue Association. The names of the children who contributed to the $17,171.10 memorial are in a metal container housed in the memorial's base. At the time of unveiling, Longfellow Square was known as State Street Square. The square was renamed as part of the dedication.

Longfellow History from Wikipedia:
[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American educator and poet whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and "Evangeline". He was also the first American to translate Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy and was one of the five members of the group known as the Fireside Poets.

Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine and studied at Bowdoin College. After spending time in Europe he became a professor at Bowdoin and, later, at Harvard College. His first major poetry collections were Voices of the Night (1839) and Ballads and Other Poems (1841). Longfellow retired from teaching in 1854 to focus on his writing, living the remainder of his life in Cambridge, Massachusetts in a former headquarters of George Washington. His first wife, Mary Storer Potter, died in 1835 after a miscarriage. His second wife, Frances Appleton, died in 1861 after sustaining burns from her dress catching fire. Longfellow himself died in 1882.

Longfellow predominantly wrote lyric poetry, known for its musicality, which often presented stories of mythology and legend. He became the most popular American poet of his day and also had success overseas. He has been criticized, however, for imitating European styles and writing specifically for the masses.]

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