Harden and the Whaleman

This photo shows Evan "riding" with The Whaleman statue (often called the Whaleman’s Memorial), located outside the New Bedford Free Public Library on Pleasant Street in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Sculpted by the renowned American sculptor Bela Lyon Pratt in 1912 and cast in bronze by the Gorham Company. Architect Nathaniel Cannon Smith designed the granite background wall and base. Local New Bedford whaler and boatsteerer Richard Lewis McLachlan posed as the model for the athletic harpooner. Inscribed in stone behind the figure is the classic whaler’s motto: “A DEAD WHALE OR A STOVE BOAT” (where stove refers to a boat smashed or crushed by a whale).

Commissioned as a gift to the city by former U.S. Representative William W. Crapo, it was dedicated on June 20, 1913, to honor the generations of whalers who built the city's fortune. It remains one of the most recognizable historic symbols of New Bedford.

Note the building behind--nearly unchanged. See also Harden Young at the same statue.