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IMAGE AND TEXT: Bulfinch's Faneuil Hall
Transcript
IMAGE and TEXT: Bulfinch's Faneuil Hall
DESCRIPTION: This black and white line drawing shows Faneuil Hall and the adjacent Quincy Market Place after 1825. It is a cut out of a larger image. The point of view is from the south and angled so that you can see the entirety of the south and east sides of Faneuil Hall and only a small portion of the west end of Quincy Market. Unlike the image on the front side of the brochure, this image shows Faneuil Hall at its current size. The building is four stories tall with a cupola that is three stories tall located on the east end of the building. Since the drawing is done in black and white lines, the level of detailing on the building itself is not high. The first level of the building is obscured on the long side by canopies of a white material hanging off of the building. This makes it look like there are some tents on the side of the building. There are many soldiers shown standing in front of the building with their rifles at their shoulders, pointing straight in the air. This image is depicting the moment that a group of Massachusetts volunteers prepared to depart their homes and fight in the Civil War in 1861. Faneuil Hall often hosted events like this due to its central location. The part of the first story that you can see the most of is the east side. More tents extend around the corner and block the first two arch openings in the brick facade, which are arched shaped. In total, there are six of these arch shaped windows. In the center of this side of the building, there is an arched shaped entrance into the Hall. Each of these windows and the door have decorative pillars in between each of them. These pillars extend from the base of the windows and door to about a foot above the arch and end in a decorative molding on the building. It is not clear what materials are used for the pillars or the decorative molding. The second and third stories of the building both have multiple arch shaped windows which are spread evenly across both the south and east sides. In total, there are 10 windows on the south or long side and seven windows on the east or short side. Each of these windows have multiple panes, though the detailing is difficult to see on the south side. In between the windows, on both levels, are more of the pillars. The ones for the second story emerge out of the decorative line from the first floor and extend into another decorative molding for the third floor. The pillars for the third story extend out of this decorative molding and end in another molding that runs along the roof line. Above the arched windows of the south or long side are small half circle arch windows. On the roof above four of these windows are small arches in the shingles or wood of the roof that raise slightly above the rest of the structure. The pediment of the east, or shorter side, has a larger half circle arch window located in the dead center just above the final decorative molding. Around that, separated by a few feet, is a decorative and raised arch that looks to be made of a different material than the building. At either end of this level, there are small circular windows in the extreme corners of the pediment. Located just above the east side of the pediment is a cupola. In the drawing, it appears to be made of wood. The base is a large rectangle extending straight up out of the building. There is one small arch shaped window each on the two sides that are shown in the image. Above these windows, the cupola extends from the center, but is smaller than the rectangle. There are three sides that can be seen in this image as the cupola is shaped like an octagon or eight sided shape. Each side has a large arch shaped window, though it may also be an opening. The shading does not make it apparent. The dome of the cupola is above these sides and is shaped like a sloped tent. Though the building should be shown with its grasshopper weathervane at the top, the angle that the artist chose does not show it. Rather, it looks like there is a long, skinny piece of metal extending straight up and out of the top of the cupola a few feet. The weathervane might have been turned away from the artist at this time. There is a small chimney rising out of the approximate center of the roof line. It is shaped like a skinny rectangle and looks to be a few feet in height. At the top of the chimney, two small cylinder shapes are seen. Presumably, these are from two fireplaces in the building, though there is no smoke shown rising out of them.
CAPTION: Faneuil Hall and Quincy Marketplace after 1825.
RELATED TEXT: After the Revolution, the size of Faneuil Hall became inadequate to meet the needs of the growing town. In 1805, Boston called upon Charles Bulfinch, one of America’s foremost architects, to expand Faneuil Hall. In a masterful design, Bulfinch doubled the width and height of the building without altering its basic style. The market area was enclosed by heavy doors. A new “Bulfinch interior” was installed in the meeting room, which remains virtually unchanged today.
With the adoption of the City Charter in 1822, government by town meeting ended, and the Hall was no longer the center of local political activity.
However, it remained a forum for the debate of national issues. Anti-slavery advocates held numerous rallies in the 1840s and 1850s, featuring speeches by William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, Charles Sumner, and Frederick Douglass. Preservation of the union, temperance, and women’s suffrage were also the subject of large gatherings. Noted speakers included Daniel Webster, Jefferson Davis, and Susan B. Anthony. The Hall’s reputation as the “Cradle of Liberty” continued.
Description
Audio description of text and relevant image showing Faneuil Hall from the outside as it has looked since 1806. The architectural expansion was designed by Charles Bulfinch.
Duration
5 minutes, 46 seconds
Credit
UniDescription/Gould and Pollock
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