Statuary historian Julia Bachrach of the Park District’s planning department says records indicate that the capital of the column was made of marble quarried in ancient Sparta. The shaft is composed of a rock compound known as breccia. The column is believed to have been brought to Rome during the reign of Hadrian (117-138 AD), who fancied Corinthian architecture and probably used it in a temple. Later the column became part of a fortress erected at Ostia, the port serving Rome, to help provide safe passage to navigators steering ships bearing the plunder of empire.
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Prominent Chicagoans have occasionally suggested banishing the name. In 1983, Vernon Jarrett proposed that Balbo Drive be renamed DuSable, after the Haitian-French trader who was the first non-Indian to settle in Chicago. That year was the 50th anniversary of Balbo’s flight; Lawrence Pucci, the Chicago fashion designer who was then a member of the Chicago Arts Council, responded that “what was needed among ethnic communities was reconciliation, not adversity.” In 1993 Pucci was instrumental in bringing to the Chicago Cultural Center in DuSable’s honor 160 pieces of Haitian art.
Edward Uhlir, the Park District’s director of research and planning, says the resources available for restoration efforts are severely limited. Priorities must be set, and more prominent, less controversial statuary comes first. Lorado Taft’s Fountain of Time in Washington Park is currently the Park District’s major restoration project.
