Senator Susan Collins and other U.S. senators have been working with Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.’s non-voting delegate to the U.S. House) regarding legislation to ensure that the Maine Lobsterman statue on the D.C. waterfront will remain on display after a major redevelopment is completed there in the near future.
The statue is a replica of a sculpture created for the 1939 World’s Fair in New York. It was moved to Washington, D.C. through the efforts of Cundy’s Harbor Camp Fire Girls, in 1983, to serve as a memorial to Maine’s lobstermen.
According to Collins’ press secretary, Elizabeth Anderson, the D.C. City Council is looking at a major redevelopment along the Southwest Waterfront. However, current law restricts land use of the Southwest Waterfront and congressional action is required to change that law.
Anderson said the Senate recently cleared the path for the redevelopment by clarifying the legal status of that property.
Anderson explained that one area that is being redeveloped includes Maine Avenue and nearby Water Street where the Maine Lobsterman Memorial is currently located. She said that a bill to ensure that the statue will be protected was passed unanimously by the Senate and that it appears the bill will pass the House. She added that Senator Collins has pushed to have the statue placed in an equally prominent or more prominent location on the waterfront and to have an unobstructed view of the water.
The original Maine Lobsterman sculpture was cast by Victor A. Kahill who was commissioned by the state of Maine to sculpture a monument epitomizing the spirit of Maine’s people and their contribution to the economy for the centerpiece of the Maine exhibit at the 1939 World’s Fair. The artist chose Harpswell lobsterman H. Elroy Johnson who frequently visited the State House to participate in discussions regarding fishing policies.
When the state failed to raise enough money for the completion of the statue, the artist painted the original plaster mold bronze rather than casting it in bronze and its was this sculpture that was displayed at the World’s Fair. It was later placed on display in Portland where it deteriorated before being stored in a warehouse until after Johnson died.
Shortly after Johnson’s death, the Maine Legislature appropriated money to cast three bronze copies of the statue, which were placed on display in Augusta, Portland and near Bailey’s Island. The Cundy’s Harbor Camp Fire Girls, inspired by their leader Ruth Heiser, later raised enough money by selling cookies and soliciting contributions to move the Bailey’s Island statue to Washington, D.C.
According to the May 24, 1979 Senate Congressional Record (p. 12849), former U.S. Senators Edmund Muskie and William Cohen sponsored a joint resolution to authorize the erection of the Maine Lobsterman statue on Maine Avenue. Muskie said that the statue would serve as a tribute to all Maine lobstermen who have devoted their lives to the sea. He requested that a narrative history of the statue, which had been printed in the 1979 Harpswellian (an annual publication of the Cundy’s Harbor Camp Fire Girls), be included in the Congressional Record, which was so voted.
According to the Record, when the Maine Lobsterman sculpture was initially unveiled, local lobstermen expressed disappointment at the lobsterman statue’s attire because they would have preferred he wore a sou’wester. It states that they also would have preferred that the man in the sculpture be standing as he pegged his lobster rather than kneeling. Their other complaint was that Johnson’s dog wasn’t incorporated into the sculpture as representative of all dogs who go lobstering with their masters.
The Record mentions that perhaps the State regretted the omission of the dog from the sculpture, as well, noting that at
the unveiling of the statue, Johnson’s dog Bruin (who was said to be an expert at distinguishing “shorts” from “counters”)
was issued a bona fide lobster license by the Commissioner of Sea and Shore Fisheries.
Wanda Curtis is a freelance writer living in Jefferson.