Save America's Treasures - Project Profile

January 2000

Francis Scott Key Monument
Baltimore, Maryland

The Francis Scott Key Monument was rededicated September 11, 1999, to celebrate its restoration.
(Photo ŠRon Solomon.)

s part of her Save America’s Treasures tour in July 1998, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke at the Francis Scott Key Monument of the significance of preserving sculpture for future generations. The Key Monument portrays the poet in bronze with a manuscript of the poem which was to become our national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner. Bronze relief panels depict the bombardment of Fort McHenry, its guns and ramparts. Key himself stands in a marble boat, manned by a bronze sailor, perched atop the crest of a marble wave. The poet offers his manuscript to the allegorical bronze figure of Columbia.

Brothers Charles and Theodore Marburg, members of a prominent Baltimore mercantile family, commissioned the sculpture. Prior to his death in 1907, Charles gave $25,000 to his brother to commission a monument to his favorite poet, Francis Scott Key. The French sculptor Marius Jean Antonin Mercie, then known for the Robert E. Lee (1890) equestrian bronze in Richmond, Virginia, and collaboration on General Lafayette (1891) in the District of Columbia, was selected to create the monument.

The bronze figures of the Key Monument were phased into the Baltimore Bronze Preservation Project in 1984. Although periodic protective wax coatings over the past 15 years helped impede the deterioration of the bronzes, the monument did not receive comprehensive conservation treatment.

The contrast between the before and after photographs underscores the importance of public-private partnership and community involvement in saving America’s treasures.

In 1996, members of the Bolton Hill neighborhood commenced a campaign to restore the city-owned Key Monument, which had become a neighborhood eyesore. The pool was filled with trash; one of the boat’s oars was missing, and green stains from bronze corrosion marred the white marble. The bronze figures and reliefs were suffering from exposure to the elements, with the once gleaming Columbia now covered with algae and black crust. By the summer of 1997, the "Friends of the Francis Scott Key monument raised nearly $10,000 and secured a $10,000 grant from the Maryland Military Monuments Commission; however, this amount fell far short of the $125,000 conservation cost.

In the summer of 1998, Save Outdoor Sculpture!, an initiative of Heritage Preservation, and the National Museum of American Art — announced the contribution of more than $62,000 by Target Stores for the monument’s conservation. Funds raised by the "Friends," in combination with funding from the City of Baltimore, covered remaining conservation costs. Conservation professional Steven Tatti of SAT, Inc., completed treatment of the Key Monument in summer 1999 with remarkable results.

Related Resources

Restored Key Monument to be Rededicated: The story of how Target Stores, a community group, and local government agencies came together to save the Francis Scott Key monument in Baltimore, Maryland.

Save Outdoor Sculpture!: Save Outdoor Sculpture! is a private/public initiative to document all monuments and outdoor sculpture in the United States and to help communities and local groups of all ages and interests preserve their sculptural legacy for the next century.

Biography of Francis Scott Key (1780-1843)
Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine: National Park Service tourism information.

Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine: History, music, and educational resources.

The History’s Channel’s Save Our History: Star-Spangled Banner: Educational materials created to supplement the acclaimed History Channel program. Includes a brief history of the Star-Spangled Banner and educational activities for grades K-8. Also available is a free Teacher's Manual with classroom activities.

Library of Congress: "Star-Spangled Banner" Original Manuscript: Images of an original manuscript of Francis Scott Key's work.

Star-Spangled Banner: A brief history of the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem "The Star-Spangled Banner."

The United States Flag Page: Facts related to the United States flag including evolution, history, symbolism, flag etiquette, how to fold a flag, and where and when the flag is flown.