Crane lifts the statue “Columbia Triumphant” at Columbus Circle, circa 1970

Rigger James Hilliard and other Iron Workers from Local 197 of the Stone Derrickmen and Riggers secured the gilded bronze statue of “Columbia Triumphant” to a crane at the Merchants’ Gate entrance to Central Park. The statue rises above its resting place atop a 44-foot limestone pylon commemorating the sinking of the battleship Maine.

See this photo in the exhibit Landscape of Lost Arts and learn about the union members and artisans who’ve built and re-built the landscape of the city.

Ironworkers Local 197 Collection, Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, NYU