04/20/2026
176 years ago, Daniel Chester French was born in Exeter, New Hampshire. When his family moved to Concord, Massachusetts, they would become neighbors to Ralph Waldo Emerson and the Alcott family.
It would be Louisa May's sister, May Alcott, who would introduce Daniel to the art and eventual profession of sculpture:
"I may be permitted to record the peculiar debt I owe her in introducing me to the potentialities of sculpture. I had been whittling and carving things from wood and gypsum, and even from turnips, as many boys do, and, as usual, “the family” thought the product remarkable. My father spoke about them to Miss Alcott, the artist of the community, and she, with her ever-ready enthusiasm, immediately offered to give me her modeling clay and tools. I lost no time in harnessing the horse and driving over for them, and in experimenting with the seductive material, although I didn’t know even how to moisten it. I still have one of the modeling tools she gave me. While I know of some misguided people who will not consider that she is to be commended for this service to me, I am constantly grateful."
- Daniel Chester French,
Glendale, Massachusetts, June 14, 1926 [Prelude pg. xx-xxi, May Alcott: A Memoir]
Among his many works are The Minute Man and the seated Abraham Lincoln (collaborated with the firm Piccirilli Brothers) located in the Lincoln Memorial.
