Even while the nation was engaged in World War I, Philadelphia
decided to commemorate the Civil War. The city appropriated funds
for a memorial and Hermon Atkins MacNeil was selected for the
commission. These two pylons – one depicting sailors, the other
soldiers – w
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ere intended to stand as gates to the “Parkway Gardens.” They were
moved to accommodate the construction of the Vine Street
Expressway, but still mark the entry to the park from the city. One
of the inscriptions reads: “In giving freedom to the slave, we
assure freedom to the free.”
