1921] HISTORICAL CROUPS. Ill 



is actually modeled in the round. In the Lake Erie group the 

 proper placement of the battle-torn sails on either side and of a 

 cleverly devised water set piece in the middle ground accomplishes 

 this end. 



The dimensions of these groups are sixteen and a half feet long, 

 sixteen feet three inches deep, and seventeen feet high ; the glass 

 opening being twelve feet by seven feet three inches. The junc- 

 tions of the rear with the side walls and of the walls with the ceil- 

 ing are curved in a relatively large arc which, of course, lends 

 much to the ease of creating the effect of distance as the visitor 

 looks across to the British toops on the opposite side of the old 

 North Bridge at Concord, or to the British and American vessels 

 in battle lines as seen from the deck of the disabled Lawrence. 



The moment chosen for the scene in the Concord group, is that 

 when the short, but very important battle was at its height. Sev- 

 eral of the British regulars are shown falling from the iire of the 

 Minute Men, and two of the latter in the foreground are depicted 

 mortally wounded, their gory wounds being brought out most 

 realistically in the wax. The moment chosen for the Lake Erie 

 group is that when Perry has passed about half way from the dis- 

 abled Lawrence to the Niagara, which he soon drove through the 

 British line with such telling effect that the battle was won for the 

 Americans. 



These groups are proving of the greatest popular interest and 

 are being used as a means of teaching a general lesson in Revo- 

 lutionary and War of 1812 history by means of the following labels. 



THE BATTLE OF CONCORD 

 April 19, 1775 



"The Colonists came to America to escape measures of religious 

 and political oppression, survivals of the feudal days in Europe. 

 When, therefore. England imposed trade restrictions, the stamp 

 act, and "taxation without representation" upon the colonies, the 

 descendants of these liberty-loving pioneers protested. These pro- 

 tests led to certain acts of resistance, notably the Boston Tea Party 

 (Dec. 16, 1773), and finally culminated in the convening at Phila- 

 delphia of the First Colonial Assembly (Sept. 5 to Oct. 26, 1774). 



