Evening star., 1961-06-25
Cities
and People
You Cunnot
Conquer Love
By ROBERT ]. LEWIS

THE "artnappers" of sa-
Il lem, H., have made
away with the bronze figure
Of William Jennings Bryan.
But Dickinson College will
never be able to do the same
with the statue of DR.. Ben
.jamin Rush.
! DR.. Rush was one of the
founders of this college.
But this statue is a SYM
Dol Of too much to be al
lowed to vanish from Wash
ngton.
The voice Of DR.. Rush
was one of the earliest to be
raised in this country for the
abolition of Negro slavery.
Descendant to a Quaker
immigrant, he possessed a
fierce hatred of slavery
which led him to establish,
in 1774, along with James
Pemberton, the first anti
slavery society in America.
He called on pre-Revolu-
tionary advocates of liberty
to bear testimony" against
slavery as an institution that
"degrades human nature and
diSSolveS that universal tie
of benevolence which should
connect all the children of
man together in one great
family"
THE BRONZE sculpture of
DR.. Rush was placed on the
grounds of what is now the
Navy Bureau of Medicine
and Surgery, at Twenty
third and E streets NV, in
1904. 1t has been there ever
since.
The sculptor was r. Hin
ton Perry, who was also
sculptor Of the Court of Nep-
tune figures in front of the
Library of Congress and Of
the four lions flanking the
entrances to the Connecti-
cut Avenue Bridge.
The statue was a gift of
the American Medical Asso-
citation to the American
people.
At its dedication, President
Theodore Roosevelt was the
principal speaker.
The creation Of this statue
paid tribute to the memory
of a man who was described
at the unveiling ceremonies
as the first great American
physician.
He established the first
free medical dispensary in
the United States in his ma
tive city of Philadelphia.
He was physician general
to the Continental Army
commanded by Gen. George
Washington.
He wrote books on medi-
cine, is credited by the
ANA with being the worlds
first specialist in mental ILL
ness, was a member of Con-
tinental Congress, and
signed the Declaration Of In
dependence.
DICKINSON Colleges in
terest in acquiring the statue
of DR.. Rush came about al
most by accident.
DR.. Gilbert Malcolm, the
colleges president, explained
it the other day.
1.-TWO of our graduates who
live in Washington-Eric F.
Cox and Walter M. Beach
read in the papers that the
statue would be displaced by
approach roads for the new
Theodore Roosevelt Bridge"
he said.
Both sent me the clip
pings"
A college of the high cali
ber of Dickinson has many
ways open to it in a cam
paign of this kind.
Frank MaSland, for exam
pie, got busy. Mr.. MaSland
is a Carlisle carpet manu-
facturer and is vice presi-
dent of the colleges board Of
trustees. He also is chair
man Of the advisory board
on National Parks, Historic
Sites, Buildings and Monu-
ments.
Contacts were made with
Secretary of the Interior
Udall, Senators Clark and
Scott of Pennsylvania, and
with Representative Good
ling, in whose congressional
district the college is located.
An approach also was made
to the ANA to see If it OBJ
jected to removal of the
statue.
These efforts are legiti-
mate, and are continuing.
They illuminate the senti-
ment a college has for a
great humanitarian who was
one of it's founders.