“Liberty is not license” declared Judge Solomon Hedenfeldt. He spoke at the dedication of the Triumph of Light. Today we stand where that statue once stood. Let’s journey back to a time when San Francisco celebrated liberty with a grand monument.
The Triumph of Light Obelisk. Or rather the pedestal of what was once the Triumph of Light. It marks the spot of a forgotten statue. It stood here from 1887 to the late 1950s.
Adolph Sutro gifted the Triumph of Light to San Francisco. Sutro was a silver baron, philanthropist, and former mayor. He also brought us Sutro Baths and the Cliff House. He donated land that became U.C. San Francisco. Sutro owned this hill. He considered it the geographic center of the city.
Sutro commissioned Belgian artist Antoine Wiertz. Wiertz created an allegorical piece. It depicted the victory of liberty over despotism. Liberty was shown as a torch-carrying lady. Despotism was a cowering muscled hulk.
The statue stood twelve feet high. The Goddess of Liberty held a torch and a sword. She triumphed over the personification of evil. Sutro dedicated it on Thanksgiving Day in 1887. He hoped the light would inspire good deeds.
At the time there was an unobstructed 360-degree view. You could see from the Mission to the Richmond. Imagine how impressive the Triumph of Light must have looked. It stood tall surrounded by open land.
Years passed and the statue suffered vandalism and neglect. The Triumph of Light fell into disrepair. Ugly apartments blocked its commanding view. Fewer San Franciscans knew of its existence.
By 1954 the city deemed the Triumph of Light beyond repair. There was talk of replacing it with a Bufano sculpture. Sometime in the 1950s the Triumph of Light disappeared. The city removed it without fanfare. Strangely they left the pedestal.
Now all that remains is the raised wooded circle. It surrounds the monument’s base. It’s located where Upper Terrace dead ends. The panoramic views are obstructed by buildings. Still it is a spectacular site.
Interestingly a science-fiction novel featured the statue. Alvarado Mortimer Fuller wrote A.D. 2000 in 1887. The protagonist sleeps in a chamber inside the Triumph of Light’s base. He wakes up in 2000s San Francisco.
Today the Triumph of Light is a San Francisco mystery. The statue is gone but its story remains. The pedestal stands as a vestige of a bygone era. It reminds us of a time when art inspired dedication to liberty. May its memory inspire us still.