Statue of William H. Seward

Brief information

This statue originally stood not in the park, but at the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. There it was unveiled in front of the New York State Building, which was an exact replica of Seward's mansion in Auburn. So the monument immediately linked the man, the state, and the theme of Alaska: William Henry Seward was the U.S. Secretary of State, and his name is associated with the purchase of Alaska from the Russian Empire.

A year later, the statue was moved to Volunteer Park in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. Because of this, its present location reads as a second life for an exposition object: before the viewer is not only the image of a statesman, but also a trace of the event for which the monument was created and first shown to the public.

What to notice first

You can compare two equally powerful parts of the monument: the nearly 3-meter bronze figure and the granite pedestal, 3 meters high and 3.3 meters wide. The statue weighs about a ton, but the massive base makes the image even more stable and official. The materials also contribute to this effect: the figure is cast in bronze, while the pedestal is made of granite brought from abroad.

It is worth noting that the monument was not conceived as a solitary park sculpture. Its first location in front of the replica of Seward's mansion explains the strict connection between the figure and the base: it was an exposition memorial marker, placed beside an architectural reference to Seward's home. After the move to the park, the former surroundings disappeared, but the statue itself preserved the scale and solemnity of the temporary exposition concept.