Commemorative statue · Dedicated September 4, 1938

Mothers' Memorial (Whistler's Mother in Bronze)

Location

Centre Street near 6th Street, Ashland, PA

Dedicated

September 4, 1938

Designer / maker

Emil Siebern (designer) · Julius Loester (sculptor); WPA labor

Status

Extant

Coordinates

40.78382, -76.33723 · Open in Maps · Verified location

The Mothers’ Memorial in Ashland is a bronze rendering of James McNeill Whistler’s Portrait of the Painter’s Mother, cast three-dimensionally as a tribute to mothers. The roughly eight-foot bronze was erected by the Ashland Boys’ Association and dedicated on September 4, 1938.

The design and its makers

The figure was designed by Emil Siebern and modeled by the sculptor Julius Loester, and the project was carried out with Works Progress Administration labor during the Depression. The bronze rests on a three-ton granite terrace inscribed with Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s line, “A Mother Is the Holiest Thing Alive.” At the unveiling, the veil was drawn by the two oldest mothers in Ashland, reported at the time as being 88 and 91 years old.

A landmark on Centre Street

Standing on Centre Street near 6th Street, the memorial is a well-known Ashland landmark and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020. It anchors a short stretch of Ashland commemoration that also includes the borough’s veterans memorials farther east on Centre Street.

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Sources

• Spotlight Series: The Ashland Mother's Memorial — Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office (PA SHPO)
  License: government
• Whistler Mother Painting in Bronze — Historical Marker Database (HMDB) m93187
  License: reference
• Ashland Mother's Memorial — Atlas Obscura
  License: publisher

Frequently asked

When was the Ashland Mothers' Memorial dedicated?

It was unveiled on September 4, 1938. Ashland's two oldest mothers, reported to be 88 and 91, drew the veil at the ceremony.

What does the memorial depict?

An eight-foot bronze reproduction of James McNeill Whistler's painting 'Arrangement in Grey and Black: Portrait of the Painter's Mother.' It sits on a granite terrace inscribed with Coleridge's line, 'A Mother Is the Holiest Thing Alive.'

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